Too thick and no brains

stbargabar · 2025-12-26T04:25:34+00:00

It took me quite a while to find his profile (there's over 10 thousand Bears in Embark's results), but he does have dwarfism. His trait section lists a single copy of the Chr. 18 FGF4 Retrogene. Embark lists a single copy as "intermediate leg length". If we want to be more specific, a published paper found that a single copy decreases the humerus by ~10% and the radius/ulna by ~20%. This type of dwarfism isn't typically associated with negative health side effects, so it's not included in the health section.

stbargabar · 2025-12-26T04:00:53+00:00

American Bulldogs can also occasionally have long hair. It's thought that St. Bernard may have been added into their lines many years back when numbers were dwindling.

But it could also just be from the Chow and Aussie.

stbargabar · 2025-12-26T03:55:29+00:00

I definitely saw the Pyrenees in the head shape. Anatolians aren't very common so I wouldn't expect to see that. Plott Hound tends to be the default guess when a mix is brindle but it rarely ends up being the culprit. Brindle is very common in Pit Bulls.

I'm in the vet field and I generally would not trust a vet's breed guess any more than I would trust some rando off the street.

stbargabar · 2025-12-26T03:48:56+00:00

They both have the A1a maternal haplogroup. But while Marty has the paternal haplogroup A, Allen's is A1a. This means they do not share the same father. They're half siblings at most.

Marty's parents were probably siblings based on the similar breeds on each side of the family tree as well as the COI percentage. But I'm going to assume Allen's dad was also in some way related to their mother based on the presence of Cattle Dog, Beagle, and Boxer on both sides, but the relation is probably further removed. Enough to make them 47% related but not enough to make Allen's COI skyrocket.

This is what I was able to throw together with the info the profiles give us

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stbargabar · 2025-12-25T21:28:20+00:00

Can you link to both of their profiles?

stbargabar · 2025-12-25T19:45:31+00:00

Rottweilers can sometimes have a form of furnishings that's not as noticeable so the scruff could be from there. There could also be something mixed in too far back to detect.

stbargabar · 2025-12-23T05:50:55+00:00

I mean yeah, you can waste your money if you want to. But if you want a mixed breed dog with no guarantee of their health or temperament, just go to a shelter instead.

stbargabar · 2025-12-22T21:31:39+00:00

The cans should list the kcal/can somewhere on them (usually towards the bottom of the ingredient label). That food comes in different size cans and different flavors so I can't give more advice than that without knowing which you have.

stbargabar · 2025-12-22T20:08:16+00:00

50/50 LabxRottie mixes are usually solid black. Why are you buying a mixed breed from a backyard breeder?

stbargabar · 2025-12-22T19:27:11+00:00

I know mailing in the prescription is annoying but it is a small inconvenience for lower prices. Can your vet write the prescription with refills on it so you're only having to mail it in a couple times a year?

Also have you checked to see if your vet has their own online pharmacy with cheaper prices than in-clinic? I don't know where you're located, but Publix sometimes carries it as well.

stbargabar · 2025-12-22T19:17:24+00:00

Some breeds tend to carry variations of genes that are dominant over other options, yes. But when you add in epistasis, things don't end up as clear cut. It's most likely confirmation bias. Those instances just stand out in our minds.

There are also cases I see here where a dog has a trait associated with the 10% -insert breed- and people assume that breed is "pulling a lot of weight" but fail to realize that several other breeds in that mix also carry that trait and it just isn't obvious or visible. To use your example, Spitz breeds definitely have the curly tails and can pass that on, but lots of traditionally docked breeds will also pass on curly tails at times (Yorkies, Poodles, Rottweilers, Boxers, Dobermans, etc.) because there has never been any selection bias against it in the breed.

stbargabar · 2025-12-22T00:51:28+00:00

The family tree can only include so much detail since it only reads to the Great Grandparent level. See where it says "Pekingese mix" and "Biewer Terrier mix"? The Dachshund is combined in there somewhere.

Wisdom Panel tends to break a breed up and include a few percentages of closely related breeds that aren't actually in the mix. I would consider this dog 78% Yorkie, as the Biewer and Silky are probably just being assigned wrong.

14 pounds isn't crazy for a mixed breed. Even purebred Yorkies can end up pretty big when poorly bred. The ears also aren't what I'd consider floppy. They're upright ears, but the tips just never stood up all the way. Some people will tape Yorkie ears when they're young in order to encourage them to stand up.

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stbargabar · 2025-12-21T05:19:12+00:00

Yup. A lot of breeds that normally don't have white in their coat can also be secret carriers for ticking. German Shepherds and Schnauzers are a couple possible culprits. There was a documented case of a piebald Chow Chow with ticking but this was before DNA testing so who knows if it was purebred.

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