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Shorty

Southeast Asian Island Village Dog

“Shorty was born on the island of Yap in Micronesia in 2014. He became fast friends while I served in the Peace Corps. He was an abused dog as a pup. Shorty is intelligent and has a loving and gentle nature. He loves to play, hike, run, chase squirrels and froggies and get tummy rubs. And of course he loves treats. He has two adopted sibs and they have become fast friends. He plays well with children but does not like a bath and hides whenever he hears running water. Shorty is a great addition”

Place of Birth

Yap, Federated States of Micronesia

Current Location

Carlisle, Massachusetts, USA

From

Colonia, Yap, Federated States of Micronesia

This dog has been viewed and been given 3 wags

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

Southeast Asian Island Village Dog

Dogs accompanied humans on some of their most fantastic voyages across the Pacific, spreading throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and Oceania. These dogs served as companions, guards, and food animals. Their descendents, mixed with more recent European (dog) arrivals, live on today in islands dotting the Pacific, where they live amongst people, beaches, and palm trees.

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

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

Base Coat Color

Base Coat Color

Coat Color Modifiers

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Other Coat Traits

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Through Shorty’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

A2

Haplotype

A9a

Map

A2

Shorty’s Haplogroup

A2 is a very ancient maternal line. Most likely it was one of the major female lines that contributed to the very first domesticated dogs in Central Asia about 15,000 years ago. Some of the line stayed in Central Asia to the present day, and frequently appear as Tibetan Mastiffs and Akitas. Those that escaped the mountains of Central Asia sought out other cold spots, and are now found among Alaskan Malamutes and Siberian Huskies. This lineage is also occasionally found in several common Western breeds, such as German Shepherds and Labrador Retrievers. Curiously, all New Guinea Singing Dogs descend from this line. These are an ancient and very interesting breed found in the mountains of Papua New Guinea. Unfortunately, they are now endangered. They are closely related to the Australian dingo, so you could say its cousins are dingos! This line is also common in village dogs in Southeast and East Asia. Unlike many other lineages, A2 did not spread across the whole world, probably because it did not have the opportunity to hitch its wagon to European colonialism - or because these dogs just prefer hanging out in mountains, tundras, islands, and other hard-to-reach places!

A9a

Shorty’s Haplotype

Part of the A2 haplogroup, we have detected this haplotype in Japanese Chins and village dogs in Peru and India.

Dingos commonly possess this haplogroup.

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Through Shorty’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

A1

Haplotype

Ha.1

Map

A1

Shorty’s Haplogroup

A1 is the male lineage in several breeds that aren't very closely related to each other. Gordon Setters, Newfoundlands, and Miniature Schnauzers all had male founders from this paternal line, and now many males in those breeds carry their Y chromosome. Each of these breeds started in the past 200-300 years, and their founders must have included dogs that trace back to the same male ancestors deeper in dog evolutionary time, stretching all the way back to when dogs were first domesticated in Central Asia about 15,000 years ago. Unlike many Y chromosome (male) lineages found in European and recent American breeds, only one village dog (in Alaska) carries an A1 Y chromosome, indicating that the breeds from this lineage probably didn't travel around the world with European colonization as much as some other breeds.

Ha.1

Shorty’s Haplotype

The lone member of the A1 haplogroup, this haplotype occurs in Newfoundlands, Miniature Schnauzers, Gordon Setters, and village dogs in Alaska.

The Newfoundland is from the A1 paternal line.

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