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Louise

Alaskan-type Husky

  • Louise, an Alaskan-type Husky tested with EmbarkVet.com Louise, an Alaskan-type Husky tested with EmbarkVet.com
    Visiting Colorado

“Former sled dog. Born in the Alaskan bush somewhere? I adopted Louise in 2018 in Fairbanks, potty trained her, and now she is a house doggo. She is super attached to me but won’t let anyone else pet her. Likes tennis balls, chicken and tummy rubs. Didn’t like running with a team but likes skijouring. Very speedy puppy.”

Instagram tag
@louisethesleddoggo

Current Location

Fairbanks, Alaska, USA

From

Fairbanks, AK, USA

This dog has been viewed and been given 1 wag

Genetic Breed Result

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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, Alaskan-type Husky 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 Louise back, you won’t find any ancestral dogs that are part of any of those standardized breeds.

Alaskan-type Husky

The Alaskan Husky is all athlete. These dogs have a wide variety of appearances because they are bred for performance and behavior rather than looks. In fact, they've been specifically bred to pull sleds for hundreds of years. In temperament, they tend to be similar to the Siberian Husky.

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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. Louise 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 Louise's DNA to a global panel of thousands of village dogs. This plot highlights regions of the world where Louise'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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Here’s what Louise’s family tree may have looked like.
While there may be other possible configurations of her family’s relationships, this is the most likely family tree to explain Louise’s breed mix.

Breed Reveal Video

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Traits

Explore the genetics behind your dog’s appearance and size.

Base Coat Color

Base Coat Color

Coat Color Modifiers

Coat Color Modifiers

Other Coat Traits

Other Coat Traits

Other Body Features

Other Body Features

Body Size

Body Size

Performance

Performance

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

Haplogroup

A1e

Haplotype

A241

Map

A1e

Louise’s Haplogroup

This female lineage likely stems from some of the original Central Asian wolves that were domesticated into modern dogs starting about 15,000 years ago. It seemed to be a fairly rare dog line for most of dog history until the past 300 years, when the lineage seemed to “explode” out and spread quickly. What really separates this group from the pack is its presence in Alaskan village dogs and Samoyeds. It is possible that this was an indigenous lineage brought to the Americas from Siberia when people were first starting to make that trip themselves! We see this lineage pop up in overwhelming numbers of Irish Wolfhounds, and it also occurs frequently in popular large breeds like Bernese Mountain Dogs, Saint Bernards and Great Danes. Shetland Sheepdogs are also common members of this maternal line, and we see it a lot in Boxers, too. Though it may be all mixed up with European dogs thanks to recent breeding events, its origins in the Americas makes it a very exciting lineage for sure!

A241

Louise’s Haplotype

Part of the large A1e haplogroup, this haplotype occurs most commonly in village dogs up in Alaska.

Irish Wolfhounds are a consistent carrier of A1e.

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The Paternal Haplotype reveals a dog’s deep ancestral lineage, stretching back thousands of years to the original domestication of dogs.

Are you looking for information on the breeds that Louise inherited from her mom and dad? Check out her breed breakdown and family tree.

Paternal Haplotype is determined by looking at a dog’s Y-chromosome—but not all dogs have Y-chromosomes!

Why can’t we show Paternal Haplotype results for female dogs?

All dogs have two sex chromosomes. Female dogs have two X-chromosomes (XX) and male dogs have one X-chromosome and one Y-chromosome (XY). When having offspring, female (XX) dogs always pass an X-chromosome to their puppy. Male (XY) dogs can pass either an X or a Y-chromosome—if the puppy receives an X-chromosome from its father then it will be a female (XX) puppy and if it receives a Y-chromosome then it will be a male (XY) puppy. As you can see, Y-chromosomes are passed down from a male dog only to its male offspring.

Since Louise is a female (XX) dog, she has no Y-chromosome for us to analyze and determine a paternal haplotype.

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