An experts names the point where you walk away
Every dog has its day, and business is good for dog DNAtesting companies.With pet ownership on the rise, particularly during the pandemic, it's no surprise that pet ownersare eager to learn more about their furry companions.
And there are plenty of companies ready to help,eyeing a $700 million payday that the market is predicted to generate over the next few years. Just Google "dog DNA tests" and you'll find all the promises you want that one of those companies canuncover your pet'smysterious lineage, reveal health risks, and even predict behavior.
The appeal of these personalized insights is that theycould strengthen the bond between pets and their owners. But as the demand for these tests grows, so too do the questions about their accuracy and the true value of the information they provide. Are these tests a revolutionary tool for pet care, or are they just another trend with more bark than bite?
Is the tail wagging the dog?
Now that humans quench for DNA curiosity has waned a bit, some genetics peddlers have turned to dogs to try and make a buck.Several DNA testingcompanies have entered the market, promising they can reveal darn near everything about Fluffy from their Cheagle or Golden Bullherd breed mix to their health risks and even their probable personality traits.
It sounds like a neat concept, but as some dog owners have found, things can get confusing quickly.Many have plopped down hundreds of dollars only to come away perplexed because their dogs daddy wasnt who they thought it was and because of that, the pooch was actually awhole different breed. One dog owner found that their pup was actually a hybrid of 14 different breeds!
It gets weirder. Michelle Leininger of Salem, N.H., bought a test kit after she adopted Jasmine, a rescue dog that looks like a German Shepherd.
"Shepherds have a history of hip issues, so we wanted the DNA testing to know what her history was," Leininger told CBS-TV/Bostons I-Team. But the I-Team wanted to put the DNA company to the test and asked Leininger to give them a sample swabbed from her own human cheek.
When the I-Team sent Leininger's personal DNAin, the results listed her as 28% Bulldog, 40% Border Collie, and 32% Cane Corso. "Some people might agree," she joked, but added that she wouldn't bother ever testing one of her pets again. "I wouldn't waste the money," she said.
Where DNA tests are worth their money
Veterinarian and breeder Bricks Coggin says that when it comes to DNA tests, the best return-on-investment is finding out the risk of health issues or tendencies. That way, you get information that can change their current lifestyle and change what happens to them in the future, he told ConsumerAffairs.
For example, making changes to what your pet eats based on their DNA test can stop or make some health problems worse in your furry buddy. The choices you make after the test are really shaped by what you learn about your pet's DNA.
But, if you find there are potential health problems, dont just assume their potential disease will eventually appear. Its difficult enough to achieve in human medicine, but with little funding for DNA research in dogs and so many breeds and crossbreeds, a DNA test might just want to roll over and play dead.
Research in dog DNA continues to grow like with detecting inborn blindness but its far from be all, end all magic.
If you get back a positive test meaning that your dog is carrying a genetic variant that has been in a study correlated or associated with a disease, the one question that you as a pet owner ask is, what is the chance that my dog is going to get sick? And thats not a question that we can actually answer yet, Dr. Elinor Karlsson, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, told the American Kennel Club (AKC).
Are health conditions as far as your expectations should go with a DNA test? Pretty much. Coggin says that if a DNA testing company says they can test for breed accuracy, the weight of a dog, the size of the dog, or even the age, pat their head and walk away.
Those tests are horribly misinformed, and consumers should really know more about just how unreliablethose results are, he said.
Photo Credit: Consumer Affairs News Department Images
Posted: 2024-08-06 10:08:30
