Availability of DNA test helps to unravel mystery of mixed breeds
Ever wondered if your dog has a touch of Afghan Hound or Great Pyrenees in its genes? Caroline Bullock was told that her mixed breed dog was part French Bulldog, but when the veterinarian disputed this opinion, she wanted to find out once and for all.
After searching the internet, she discovered Biopet, an American laboratory that analyses a dog's DNA from a pool of 63 breeds. However, the technology is not available outside the United States. 'We contacted the labs, but the only way to set up the [DNA] test was by setting up our own operation,' Bullock says. 'We thought a lot of other people would also like to know their dog's DNA make-up, so we could share it with other people as well.'
After six months of planning, Bullock launched the Mutt Genie website in October. On the website, curious dog owners can purchase the DNA test kit, which involves obtaining two saliva swabs from inside of the dog's mouth. Then the swabs are sent to Mutt Genie in Hong Kong, and they forward it to the US laboratory in Tennessee. Results come back in about a month.
'Sometimes [the results] confirm what they thought and sometimes there are surprises with breeds they didn't expect,' Bullock says. The laboratory has a pool of 63 breeds, which account for 92 per cent of the American dog population. Bullock says most of the breeds found in Hong Kong can be found in Biopet's DNA pool, except one.
She says: 'It doesn't include Japanese Spitz, which is popular here, but the test covers similar breeds and those would come out in the results.' She adds the laboratory is constantly adding new breeds and Japanese Spitz will probably be added in the future.
The results are divided into five levels, based on percentages. Level 1 shows your dog has more than 75 per cent of one breed. Level 2 represents anywhere from 37 to 74 per cent of your dog's DNA, while Level 3 to Level 5 represent decreasing percentages for each level. 'Level 1 would mean it's only that [one] breed. If it's Level 2, typically it would indicate one of the parents was that breed or a strong likelihood [of that having been the case]. As you go down the levels, it is less and less [likely],' Bullock explains. The laboratory claims the tests are 90 per cent accurate.
Dog owner Laura Ferrington says she simply had to find out her dog's DNA. 'When we take the dogs out, people always ask us what they are. It's a guessing game to find out what makes them as special as they are, so I did [the test] just for the fun of it.'
Ferrington originally thought her dog, Baz, was a mixture of German Shepherd and Border Collie, but the results showed origins of Lhasa Apso and Irish Setter. 'I was very surprised. It wasn't what we expected at all. Lhasa Apso were originally Tibetan guard dogs which are feisty - like she is and, for the Irish Setter, I can see the same gait in her movements,' she says.
Janice Jensen, founder of Hong Kong Animal Speak, says: 'We have all sorts of dogs on the streets mating, and for years I've seen these gorgeous dogs running around in the New Territories. It's not a magic trick how different breeds go in there, but it doesn't make them any less valuable.'
Bullock says the number of breeds in a dog commonly varies from two to six. However, the highest number she has, so far, found is eight by a dog named Renee, adopted by model Lisa S and Daniel Wu. 'She's the most exotic so far, she has got more breeds in her than the others we've tested,' Bullock says.
Another reason Bullock wanted to set up Mutt Genie is to promote the special feeling of owning a mixed breed dog. 'These dogs are more interesting and exotic than breed dogs because they have different breeds and backgrounds.
'Some people see [mixed breeds] as just mutts, and they want to have a pure breed as a designer thing. But a mutt is not a non-branded item, it's actually very exclusive, and we want people to feel that it's prestigious to have a dog that no one else has. It's a way to celebrate how wonderful these mixed breeds dogs are.'
