DNA testing goes to the dogs

New technology to track genetic profiles catching on in Boulder

Vanessa Miller, Daily Camera

Originally published 06:58 a.m., April 17, 2008
Updated 06:58 a.m., April 17, 2008

Maryanne Mattson used to look at her beloved mutt, Bridget, and see Labrador in her eyes, Irish setter in her spots and pit bull in her jaw.

Now, thanks to new doggie DNA technology, Mattson has an altered view of the pooch she adopted more than three years ago: Bridget has traces of more than six different breeds including Labrador, German shepherd, dachshund, chow chow, Airedale terrier and Irish setter.

"I had no idea what she was," said Mattson, manager of Boulder's Broadway Animal Hospital & Pet Center, 1405 S. Broadway. "I loved learning it."

A half-dozen veterinary clinics in Boulder and hundreds more nationwide are offering innovative canine DNA tests such as the Wisdom Panel Mixed Breed Analysis and the Canine Heritage Breed Test. The genetic testing, which typically costs about $150, allows labs to identify more than 130 breeds in canine blood samples.

One limitation: A breed must have at least 12 percent influence on a dog's make-up to appear in the results.

"In Bridget, five different breeds came back, and none of them were more than 12 percent," Mattson said. "She's a true mutt."

Experts say that genetic insight can help people better train and medically treat pets based on behavioral and physical traits"It's such a new thing, and a lot of people are waiting to see how accurate it will be. I think it's a technology that's in its early stages and reasonably good. Time will tell how it pans out for accuracy."

Alan Myers veterinarian and co-owner ofArapahoe Animal Hospital

associated with different breeds.

Mattson, for example, said she never knew why Bridget barked so much at visitors until learning of her chow roots, which gives her protective tendencies.

"I didn't know if she had been abused," Mattson said. "But now I know it was in her breed."

The Broadway hospital started offering the tests -- which involve drawing blood, then sending the sample to a lab for evaluation -- last month. So far, a few dogs have been tested and results have been returned for two, said veterinarian Lee Woods, director of the hospital.

He said the analysis has given him a way to answer one of the most common questions he gets from Boulder's many inquisitive dog owners, and he expects testing will catch on.

"Our community is renowned in the pet world as far as its interest and care," he said. "There's no other place in the United States as informed and considerate of their pets as our populace in Boulder."

He said breed testing is also a good fit for the area because so many pets are adopted from the Humane Society -- not purchased directly from breeders.

"Certainly the adoption rate at our Humane Society is dramatically high compared to other institutions around the nation," Woods said.

Paul Carey, 27, of Boulder, took his dog Peekay to Woods' office Wednesday for a DNA blood draw. He said Peekay's mother is a black Labrador, but the father is a mystery.

"Dead-beat dad, I guess," Carey joked.

Most of the half -dozen clients who've bought DNA tests through Boulder's Arapahoe Animal Hospital, 1730 15th St., have learned a lot from the results, said Alan Myers, a veterinarian and co-owner of the hospital.

"It's a neat technology that has a lot of potential," Myers said.

But, he said, some of the results have been surprising -- even questionable.

"We've had one or two that we were a little skeptical of," he said. "They might be accurate, but the way the dog looked, it wouldn't have been my top guess."

The more people who get the test and have a positive experience, the more customers Myers expects to sign up.

"It's such a new thing, and a lot of people are waiting to see how accurate it will be," he said. "I think it's a technology that's in its early stages and reasonably good. Time will tell how it pans out for accuracy."

• April 17, 2008

  11:29 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  freethought writes:

  What a waste of time, money, knowledge, education, equipment and intelligence. Please refer to the Stolen Parrots article in RMN.

• April 18, 2008

  4:31 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  CWW writes:

  Ahhh, at last---my crazy Boulder story fix.