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Flóki

Eastern European Village Dog

“Flóki grew up in a shelter in Russia. When he was around one year old he was adopted and came to the Netherlands, where he now lives. He's a super friendly dog, albeit quite anxious, and is very eager to please.”

Instagram tag
@flokithevillagedog

Place of Birth

Russia

Current Location

Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherlands

From

Russia

This dog has been viewed and been given 31 wags

Genetic Breed Result

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Village dog trace breed analysis

Village dogs often have short stretches of DNA that match purebred dogs, due to a distant common ancestor or a more recent mating between a purebred and a village dog. Flóki has short stretches of DNA in common with these breeds:

What exactly are village dogs?

Village dogs are the free-breeding, free-roaming “outside” dogs found around the world living in and around human settlements big and small. They are also known as island dogs, pariah dogs, or free-ranging dogs.

Many village dog populations precede the formation of modern breed dogs.

They make up about 3/4s of the billion or so dogs living on Earth today. They serve as trash cleaners, sentinels, and even sometimes companions while still retaining much of their freedom. Embark’s founders have studied village dogs on six continents since 2007 in their efforts to understand the history, traits, and health of the domestic dog. Through this work they have discovered the origins of the dog in Central Asia, and also identified genetic regions involved in domestication and local adaptation, such as the high altitude adaptation in Himalayan dogs. Embark is the only dog DNA test that includes diverse village dogs from around the world in its breed reference panel.

So what breeds are in my dog?

In a very real sense, Eastern European Village Dog is the actual breed of your dog. Village dogs like this descend from separate lines of dogs than the lines that have been bred into standardized breeds like Labradors and Poodles. If you trace the family tree of Flóki back, you won’t find any ancestral dogs that are part of any of those standardized breeds.

Eastern European Village Dog

Europe is the cradle of many dog breeds which were formed from free-breeding village dogs living in Europe for many millenia. Some of these dogs eventually became the founders of many popular dog breeds today, though most village dogs just continued living on as free-breeding village dogs even after the formation of modern breeds.

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Village dogs have lived just about everywhere across the world for thousands of years. Long before there were any recognized dog breeds, there were village dogs around the fires and trash heaps of early human villages. Flóki is part of this ancient heritage, not descended from a specific breed, but continuing the ancient lineage of dogs that were our first, best friends.

Embark's co-founders studied Village Dogs on six continents in their efforts to understand the history, traits, and health of the domestic dog. Through this work, they discovered evidence for the origins of the dog in Central Asia , and they also identified genetic regions involved in domestication and local adaptation. As a result, Embark has the largest Village Dog reference panel of any canine genetics company.

We compared Flóki's DNA to a global panel of thousands of village dogs. This plot highlights regions of the world where Flóki's DNA is most similar to those village dogs. The areas of darkest red reflect the greatest similarity to our village dog panel.

Village Dog Map
Similarity to village dog groups around the world. Darker red reflects greater similarity.

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Health Summary

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Flóki inherited one variant that you should learn more about.

Degenerative Myelopathy, DM

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Flóki inherited one copy of the variant we tested

What does this result mean?

This variant should not impact Flóki’s health. This variant is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner, meaning that a dog needs two copies of the variant to show signs of this condition. Flóki is unlikely to develop this condition due to this variant because he only has one copy of the variant.

What is Degenerative Myelopathy, DM?

The dog equivalent of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, DM is a progressive degenerative disorder of the spinal cord. Because the nerves that control the hind limbs are the first to degenerate, the most common clinical signs are back muscle wasting and gait abnormalities.

Breed-Relevant Genetic Conditions

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Traits

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Through Flóki’s mitochondrial DNA we can trace his mother’s ancestry back to where dogs and people first became friends. This map helps you visualize the routes that his ancestors took to your home. Their story is described below the map.

Haplogroup

A1d

Haplotype

A11a/419

Map

A1d

Flóki’s Haplogroup

This female lineage can be traced back about 15,000 years to some of the original Central Asian wolves that were domesticated into modern dogs. The early females that represent this lineage were likely taken into Eurasia, where they spread rapidly. As a result, many modern breed and village dogs from the Americas, Africa, through Asia and down into Oceania belong to this group! This widespread lineage is not limited to a select few breeds, but the majority of Rottweilers, Afghan Hounds and Wirehaired Pointing Griffons belong to it. It is also the most common female lineage among Papillons, Samoyeds and Jack Russell Terriers. Considering its occurrence in breeds as diverse as Afghan Hounds and Samoyeds, some of this is likely ancient variation. But because of its presence in many modern European breeds, much of its diversity likely can be attributed to much more recent breeding.

A11a/419

Flóki’s Haplotype

Part of the A1d haplogroup, this haplotype occurs most frequently in Yorkshire Terriers, Old English Sheepdogs, and Miniature Schnauzers.

The vast majority of Rottweilers have the A1d haplogroup.

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Through Flóki’s Y-chromosome we can trace his father’s ancestry back to where dogs and people first became friends. This map helps you visualize the routes that his ancestors took to your home. Their story is described below the map.

Haplogroup

D

Haplotype

H7.2

Map

D

Flóki’s Haplogroup

The D paternal lineage is very common in well-known populations of dogs. Breeds belonging to the D lineage likely have direct male ancestors that can be traced all the way back to the origin of domestic dogs themselves! One popular breed that commonly sports a D lineage is the Boxer. Boxers were developed in the late 19th century from Mastiff dogs, so it is no surprise that D is well represented among Mastiffs, Bulldogs, as well as Terriers. Intriguingly, D is also found among Lhasa Apsos, an ancient Tibetan breed, and Afghan Hounds. While the presence of this lineage in Polynesia or the New World can be chalked up to interbreeding with European dogs brought during voyages of discovery or later settlement, D is also well represented among village dog populations in the Middle East and Africa. If the fact that we find dogs bearing a D lineage in the Middle East (not to mention the large amount of diversity among Middle Eastern D lineage males) is any indication of ancient residence in that region, then the presence among Oceanian village dogs is peculiar. Rather, it may be that D is part of a broader Eurasian group of ancient paternal lineages which disappeared from the eastern portion of its original range, persisting in the island of New Guinea as well as West Asia and Africa. With the rise of Mastiff breeds, the D lineage received a new life as it became common among many types of working dogs.

H7.2

Flóki’s Haplotype

Part of the D haplogroup, the H7.2 haplotype occurs most commonly in Sarplaninacs. We've also spotted it in Middle Eastern Village Dogs and European Village Dogs.

The D paternal lineage is common in Boxers.

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