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Jockomo

Formosan Mountain Dog

“He was a street puppy in Taiwan, rescued from a well, where he was stuck with another puppy. He really likes to get up high, and he will jump and scramble into trees, onto high ledges, cliffs, etc.”

Place of Birth

Taiwan

Current Location

SF, California, USA

From

SF, California, USA

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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. Jockomo 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, Formosan Mountain 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 Jockomo back, you won’t find any ancestral dogs that are part of any of those standardized breeds.

Formosan Mountain Dog

Formosan Mountain Dogs hail from the Formosan Mountain region in Taiwan. Recently, some of these ancient dogs were used as foundational stock to create the Taiwan Dog breed.

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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. Jockomo 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 Jockomo's DNA to a global panel of thousands of village dogs. This plot highlights regions of the world where Jockomo'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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Jockomo is at increased risk for one genetic health condition.

And inherited one variant that you should learn more about.

Intervertebral Disc Disease (Type I)

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Jockomo inherited one copy of the variant we tested

What does this result mean?

Our research indicates that this genetic variant is likely to increase the risk that Jockomo will develop this disease.

Scientific Basis

Research studies for this variant have been based on dogs of other breeds. While dogs with similar breeds to Jockomo have not yet been the focus of research studies, our data indicates that Jockomo is likely to be at increased risk.

What is Intervertebral Disc Disease (Type I)?

Type I Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD) is a back/spine issue that refers to a health condition affecting the discs that act as cushions between vertebrae. With Type I IVDD, affected dogs can have a disc event where it ruptures or herniates towards the spinal cord. This pressure on the spinal cord causes neurologic signs which can range from a wobbly gait to impairment of movement. Chondrodystrophy (CDDY) refers to the relative proportion between a dog’s legs and body, wherein the legs are shorter and the body longer. There are multiple different variants that can cause a markedly chondrodystrophic appearance as observed in Dachshunds and Corgis. However, this particular variant is the only one known to also increase the risk for IVDD.

ALT Activity

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Jockomo inherited one copy of the variant we tested

Why is this important to your vet?

Jockomo has one copy of a variant associated with reduced ALT activity as measured on veterinary blood chemistry panels. Please inform your veterinarian that Jockomo has this genotype, as ALT is often used as an indicator of liver health and Jockomo is likely to have a lower than average resting ALT activity. As such, an increase in Jockomo’s ALT activity could be evidence of liver damage, even if it is within normal limits by standard ALT reference ranges.

What is ALT Activity?

Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) is a clinical tool that can be used by veterinarians to better monitor liver health. This result is not associated with liver disease. ALT is one of several values veterinarians measure on routine blood work to evaluate the liver. It is a naturally occurring enzyme located in liver cells that helps break down protein. When the liver is damaged or inflamed, ALT is released into the bloodstream.

Breed-Relevant Genetic Conditions

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Additional Genetic Conditions

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Traits

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Through Jockomo’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

A1b

Haplotype

A18/19/20/21/27/36/94/109/361

Map

A1b

Jockomo’s Haplogroup

This female lineage was very likely one of the original lineages in the wolves that were first domesticated into dogs in Central Asia about 15,000 years ago. Since then, the lineage has been very successful and travelled the globe! Dogs from this group are found in ancient Bronze Age fossils in the Middle East and southern Europe. By the end of the Bronze Age, it became exceedingly common in Europe. These dogs later became many of the dogs that started some of today's most popular breeds, like German Shepherds, Pugs, Whippets, English Sheepdogs and Miniature Schnauzers. During the period of European colonization, the lineage became even more widespread as European dogs followed their owners to far-flung places like South America and Oceania. It's now found in many popular breeds as well as village dogs across the world!

A18/19/20/21/27/36/94/109/361

Jockomo’s Haplotype

Part of the large A1b haplogroup, we see this haplotype in village dogs in over 25 countries across the world. We have detected this haplotype in lots of breeds, and it occurs most commonly in German Shepherd Dogs, Maltese, English Springer Spaniels, and English Setters.

A1b is the most common haplogroup found in German Shepherds.

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Through Jockomo’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

A2a

Haplotype

Hc.12

Map

A2a

Jockomo’s Haplogroup

A2a is a truly ancient lineage. Unlike the recent upstart A1 lineages which found their way from a few popular European males a couple hundred years ago into many dogs in many breeds, A2a shows ancient roots without major recent expansion. It is likely one of the oldest eastern Eurasian male lineages of dogs, where it has existed for thousands of years. Nowadays, it's commonly found in Tibetan Terriers and Chow Chows as well as in Southeastern Asian village dogs. The Chow Chow seems to have been depicted in sculpture over 2,000 years ago, so this is an ancient lineage indeed, and dogs with it have a long and noble pedigree! Males from this lineage have continued to be bred in similar forms and breeds for millennia.

Hc.12

Jockomo’s Haplotype

Part of the A2a haplogroup, this rare haplotype occurs in Papua New Guinea and Vietnam.

The large-sized Tibetan Mastiff descends from this ancient lineage.

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