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Dog DNA Tests | Mixed Breed DNA Tests

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Whether or not the dog DNA tests that purport to reveal the breeds that have gone into your mixed-breed dog are accurate, they are fascinating.

Late last summer, I fostered a medium-sized dog who was, according to her owner, a mix of Rhodesian Ridgeback and Australian Shepherd. Luna had a crazy pattern of backward-growing hair and tight swirls down her back, in a violin-shaped pattern – but neither her size, shape, or coat color looked particularly like a Rhodesian Ridgeback. And certainly nothing about her resembled an Aussie in any way.

interesting hair growth pattern on luna
Luna wasn’t the same color, size, or appearance of a Ridgeback, but she had an elaborate ridge pattern on her back.

Luna’s seven puppies were a further mystery. Since she had belonged to a man who was homeless, and she frequently wandered around town without him, the pups she had may have had any number or type of fathers.

After the pups were spayed or neutered, I was thrilled to be able to find homes for all of them with friends or friends of friends (Luna got spayed and returned to her owner). And several of the new puppy owners had mixed-breed dog DNA tests done on their pups.

Of all the pups, Rocket looked the most like his mama, down to her identical color, short coat, and crazy, violin-shaped ridge. His owners were the first to have his DNA done – and so the first to be surprised by the findings! These results are from the Embark dog DNA test:

Rocket’s Dog Breed DNA Test Results

rocket australian shepherd mixed breed
Rocket is bigger and bulkier than his mom, but they share a similar ridge and color. He, too, has a long face.

24.9% Australian Shepherd
23.4% Collie
19.5% American Pit Bull Terrier
12.4% Labrador Retriever
8.1% American Staffordshire Terrier
6.5% Golden Retriever
5.2% Rhodesian Ridgeback

This finding lent some credence to Luna’s owner’s claim that Luna was part Australian Shepherd, even though she looked nothing like one. The bully breeds (American Pit Bull Terrier and American Staffordshire Terrier) were not a surprise; almost every dog I’ve known who is from this area and has been tested (including my two disparate-looking dogs) has contained one or the other (or both) of these two ubiquitous breeds. But the presence of Collie was one surprise, mostly because none of the pups looked at all like Collies at the age of 12 weeks or so, when they got adopted. The other surprise was the low contribution of Rhodesian Ridgeback! Such a funny result, give the strong presence of the ridges on the pups.

Dashi was the next pup whose results came back. He was one of the only pups to lack a ridge down his back, and he had a thick, longer coat. He also has big, floppy, unattached dewclaws on his hind feet. I was sort of expecting a little Great Pyrenees in his breed DNA test results; I thought it was even possible he had a different dad than the rest of the pups. His results were from Wisdom Panel.

Dashi’s Dog Breed DNA Test Results

dashi mixed breed collie
Dashi definitely looks like he has Collie and even Golden Retriever in him. But I don’t see ANY bully-breed traits.

22% Collie
18% Australian Shepherd
17% Labrador Retriever
14% American Staffordshire Terrier
10% American Pit Bull Terrier
7% Golden Retriever
3% Miniature American Shepherd
3% Rhodesian Ridgeback
2% Boxer
2% Chow Chow
2% Shetland Sheepdog

Holy smokes! Collie and Aussie at the top of the charts again! And all the same breeds as found in Rocket, in slightly different amounts – and with some unusual other breeds thrown in. And again, with such a low contribution of Ridgeback!

I forwarded these results to the owners of the other pups, and asked if anyone else had ordered DNA tests for their pups. The folks who adopted one of the pups who looked the most like a purebred Ridgeback had ordered tests from both Embark and Wisdom Panel – my kind of people! (I, too, have results from both companies for both of my dogs.) Astra is the color of a Rhodesian Ridgeback, has the right kind of coat, and has a prominent ridge.

Astra’s Dog Breed DNA Test Results

astra mixed breed australian shepherd
Astra is the pup in the foreground. She has a strong ridge on her back, but her face looks slender and long, more like a Collie than a Ridgeback (the dog in the background is a pure Ridgeback!).

Wisdom Panel DNA Test

24% Collie
19% American Staffordshire Terrier
18% Australian Shepherd
11% Labrador Retriever
10% American Pit Bull Terrier
5% Golden Retriever
4% Miniature American Shepherd
3% Rhodesian Ridgeback
2% Chow Chow
2% Shetland Sheepdog
1% Boxer
1% Chesapeake Bay Retriever

Embark DNA Test

26.6% American Pit Bull Terrier
24.9 Australian Shepherd
21.4% Collie
12.4% Labrador Retriever
10% American Staffordshire Terrier
4.7% Golden Retriever

So interesting that the two different dog breed DNA testing companies found similar breed contributions, but interpreted the amounts of the breeds so differently. Embark seemed to identify American Pit Bull Terrier as the dominant bully-breed contributor in its two tests of the siblings, and the American Staffordshire Terrier as playing a more minor role; Wisdom Panel had these roles reversed in its two tests. Embark also indicated that the pups had more Aussie than Collie in them; Wisdom Panel put Collie over Aussie.

Curiously, the company that found the most Ridgeback in any of the pups (Embark, with 5.2% in Rocket) found no Ridgeback inheritance in the pup who looks most like a Ridgeback (Astra)!

These tests may be scientific, but it’s imperfect science. Based on the commonalities between these four tests on three sibling pups, I’d say both companies are definitely getting at the contributing breeds, but I wouldn’t hang my hat on the percentages.

gabby mixed breed collie
Gabby looks the most like a Collie. Until you feel her coat, you’d be tempted to think it was just unkempt. Then you notice that the long hair on her back is growing backward.

And, for what it’s worth, when the pups were with me, I didn’t see any Collie looks whatsoever. But now that they are about 9 months old, several of them look very similar to Collies! I was dubious about the results months ago, but now I’m sold. One puppy, Gabby, belongs to my ex-in-laws. She has very strong  Collie looks – with a gorgeous, long, tri-color coat – and a crazy ridge down her back!



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