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Lucky

Southeast Asian Village Dog

“I bought him from a dog meat butcher in Cambodia. Pretty traumatic for us both. - Doesn't care much for toys. - Has serious separation anxiety. - Hates car rides. - Friendly towards other dogs, wary of humans. - Does not like dry food at all. We don't know his origin story. He was already neutered. We believe he was a pagoda dog or possibly a farmers dog. Many dog NGO's will neuter dogs at the pagodas.”

Place of Birth

Krong Siem Reap, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia

Current Location

Chicago, Illinois, USA

From

Krong Siem Reap, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia

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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, Southeast Asian 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 Lucky back, you won’t find any ancestral dogs that are part of any of those standardized breeds.

Southeast Asian Village Dog

Dogs inhabit the forests, mountains, and beaches of Southeast Asia, living among the hundreds of civilizations found in that region. These dogs are as diverse as the region, showing a wide range of shapes and sizes, as well as harboring very high genetic diversity. Each Southeast Asian dog is a remarkable and unique pup!

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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. Lucky 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 Lucky's DNA to a global panel of thousands of village dogs. This plot highlights regions of the world where Lucky'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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Lucky inherited one variant that you should learn more about.

And one variant that you should tell your vet about.

Progressive Retinal Atrophy, prcd

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Lucky inherited one copy of the variant we tested

What does this result mean?

This variant should not impact Lucky’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. Lucky is unlikely to develop this condition due to this variant because he only has one copy of the variant.

What is Progressive Retinal Atrophy, prcd?

PRA-prcd is a retinal disease that causes progressive, non-painful vision loss. The retina contains cells, called photoreceptors, that collect information about light and send signals to the brain. There are two types of photoreceptors: rods, for night vision and movement, and cones, for day vision and color. This type of PRA leads to early loss of rod cells, leading to night blindness before day blindness.

ALT Activity

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Lucky inherited both copies of the variant we tested

Why is this important to your vet?

Lucky has two copies of a variant in the GPT gene and is likely to have a lower than average baseline ALT activity. ALT is a commonly used measure of liver health on routine veterinary blood chemistry panels. As such, your veterinarian may want to watch for changes in Lucky's ALT activity above their current, healthy, ALT activity. As an increase above Lucky’s baseline 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

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

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Through Lucky’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

A3

Haplotype

A86/87/122

Map

A3

Lucky’s Haplogroup

A3 is a very rare maternal lineage! Absent in our breed dogs so far, it is found among Southeast Asian village dogs.

A86/87/122

Lucky’s Haplotype

The lone haplotype in the A3 haplogroup, this haplotype occurs most commonly in village dogs in Vietnam.

An example of village dog for Southeast Asia

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Through Lucky’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

B

Haplotype

H15.3

Map

B

Lucky’s Haplogroup

B is a relatively rare paternal line that has only recently started to expand. The dominant lineage among the ancient Shih Tzu breed, it is also found among Tibetan Spaniels. Outside of these two breeds, B seems to be a particularly common paternal line among the village dogs of India and Southeast Asia, though it is found as far afield as Africa and down into Oceania. Considering that it is particularly diverse in northern India, it could be that this lineage hung out mostly in South Asia after the expansion of domestic dogs from Central Asia. Because it is present in Mongolia as well, it may not be surprising that ancient East Asian dog breeds are also part of this lineage. Alternatively, perhaps males representing this lineage headed north out of southern Eurasia, which eventually gave rise to the Shih Tzu and may have inspired stylistic representations of lions in ancient China!

H15.3

Lucky’s Haplotype

Part of the B haplogroup, this haplotype has been found mostly in village dogs in south (India and Nepal) and southeast (Afghanistan) Asia, but has also been spotted up in Mongolia.

The B Haplogroup is most commonly found the adorable Shih Tzu breed.

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