Venn diagram

Compare your dogs to Maisey Select one to begin:

Maisey

American Village Dog

“Maisey was born in Puerto Rico. But her story is so sad! Her mom was found locked in a cage with a master lock on Dead Dog Beach pregnant. Safe and Sound SATOS, a rescue agency in PR. found her mother just in time before she went into labor. Maisey took her freedom flight to NYC and was fostered in Fairfield CT, where her fur-ever Mom, Laura, met her and they fell in love at first sight. Im thankful for Maisey as she is kind, sweet, gentle, and so loving. Follow @safeandsoundsatos on Instagram!”

Place of Birth

Puerto Rico

Current Location

New York, USA

From

Puerto Rico

This dog has been viewed and been given 170 wags

Genetic Breed Result

Loading...

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. Maisey 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, American 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 Maisey back, you won’t find any ancestral dogs that are part of any of those standardized breeds.

American Village Dog

American village dogs inhabit most areas of Central and South America and the Caribbean, living in both rural village and urban areas. They go by many names, including “satos” (Puerto Rico) and “potcakes” (the Bahamas).

Learn More

Loading...

Start a conversation! Message this dog’s humans.

Loading...

Explore

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. Maisey 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 Maisey's DNA to a global panel of thousands of village dogs. This plot highlights regions of the world where Maisey'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.

Explore

Health Summary

warn icon

Maisey inherited two variants that you should learn more about.

And one variant that you should tell your vet about.

Degenerative Myelopathy, DM

warn icon

Maisey inherited both copies of the variant we tested

What does this result mean?

We do not know whether this increases the risk that Maisey will develop this disease.

Scientific Basis

Research studies for this variant have been based on dogs of other breeds. Not enough dogs with the breeds in Maisey have been studied to know whether or not this variant will increase Maisey’s risk of developing this disease.

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.

Exercise-Induced Collapse, EIC

warn icon

Maisey inherited one copy of the variant we tested

What does this result mean?

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

What is Exercise-Induced Collapse, EIC?

EIC has been linked to a mutation in the DNM1 gene, which codes for the protein dynamin. In the neuron, dynamin trucks neurotransmitter-filled vesicles from the cell body, where they are generated, to the dendrites. It is hypothesized in dogs affected with EIC, the mutation in DNM1 disrupts efficient neurotransmitter release, leading to a cessation in signalling and EIC.

ALT Activity

warn icon

Maisey inherited both copies of the variant we tested

Why is this important to your vet?

Maisey 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 Maisey's ALT activity above their current, healthy, ALT activity. As an increase above Maisey’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

good icon

Additional Genetic Conditions

good icon

Explore

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

Loading...

Explore

Through Maisey’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

A1b

Haplotype

A361/409/611

Map

A1b

Maisey’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!

A361/409/611

Maisey’s Haplotype

Part of the A1b haplogroup, this haplotype occurs most frequently in German Shepherd Dogs, Poodles, and Shiloh Shepherds.

A1b is the most common haplogroup found in German Shepherds.

Loading...

Explore

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

Loading...

Explore