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Nalle

European Village Dog

“Rescue from Russia Nalle's mother is a Collie/Border Collie mix and Father German Shepherd. Nalle loves long hikes in the woods, has no interest in toys though, but shines at nose work.”

Place of Birth

Moscow, Russia

Current Location

Sweden

From

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

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. These dogs adapted to the cold winters of Scandanavia and the hot summers of Spain, and they also, over time, found many ways to be useful to the humans they lived near. Some became hunters of everything from boar to squirrels while others became talented sheep herders, guardians, or just companions. 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. Now they are found mostly in southern and eastern Europe.

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Changes to this dog’s profile
  • On 9/11/2018 changed name from "Nalle (Teddy)" to "Nalle"
  • On 9/11/2018 changed handle from "nalleteddy" to "nallen"

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

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

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Through Nalle’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

A1e

Haplotype

A129

Map

A1e

Nalle’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!

A129

Nalle’s Haplotype

Part of the A1e haplogroup, this haplotype occurs most frequently in mixed-breed dogs.

Irish Wolfhounds are a consistent carrier of A1e.

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Through Nalle’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

A2b

Haplotype

Hc.9

Map

A2b

Nalle’s Haplogroup

A2b appears to have split a few times in succession, which means that some of the Central Asian male ancestors of this lineage went their separate ways before their respective Y chromosomes made their rounds. There is not much diversity in this lineage, meaning that it has only begun to take off recently. Two iconic breeds, the Dachshund and Bloodhound, represent this lineage well. Over half of Rottweilers are A2b, as are the majority of Labrador Retrievers and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. While A2a is restricted mostly to East Asia, this paternal line is also found among European breeds.

Hc.9

Nalle’s Haplotype

Part of the A2b haplogroup, this haplotype is found in village dogs spanning South America, Africa, and the South Pacific. Among the breeds we have spotted it in, the most frequent occurrences are in Dachshund, Bloodhound, American Eskimo Dog, and Jack Russell Terrier.

A2b is found in the Daschund breed.

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