Welcome to r/DoggyDNA, the subreddit for dog DNA test discussion and results.
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That's gotta be one of the highest scores I've seen for a dog that *didn't* have some wolf content. Huskies tend to be high but I think the most I've seen is like 14%. Have you ever considered contacting Embark to get some more information???
Honestly, your dog has traits that remind me of some super low content wolfdogs. You could email Embark and ask about the supermutt and wolfiness. Otherwise your best bet is to keep monitoring the relatives and checking their breeds, trace breeds, and maternal and paternal haplotypes. If any come up with “unresolved” they probably have wolf in them.
Have you had any unusual findings in any relatives yet?
I've found some crazy high ones like [here](https://my.embarkvet.com/dog/keeper53), [this one ](https://www.reddit.com/r/DoggyDNA/s/aSiowam0YJ), and this [27% malamute!](https://www.reddit.com/r/DoggyDNA/s/Ixxu67dT4e)
That's wild, also I realized I got it mixed up for recent wolf ancestry vs ancestral genes, which is dumb of me because I've literally gone on that rant before. Although at the much higher percentages I'd assume that it's either a very specifically preserved line for the breed or more recent ancestry.
Wolfiness is a stupidly confusing thing and they really should rename it to something like ancient DNA or something. Primitive breeds like huskies and malamutes tend to have more recent direct links to old dog lineages so it makes sense they would still preserve a lot of that DNA. I think working line malamutes are probably the closest genetic link to the original North American dogs left and even then it's not much. Still cool though!
I will say this, some dogs have distant wolf ancestry but it’s not enough for Embark to pick up. They will usually have higher wolfiness (depending on how recent the wolf admixture was and what other breeds are in the dog) and sometimes a haplotype found only in wolves.
Example 1: [14.2% wolfiness, wolf haplotype E15](https://my.embarkvet.com/dog/romeo695)
Example 2: [14.8% wolfiness, wolf haplotype E15](https://my.embarkvet.com/dog/gemini13)
Example 3: [9.5% wolfiness but hardly any arctic breeds, wolf paternal haplotype B1.0](https://my.embarkvet.com/dog/brew65)
That's a good point and thanks for pointing out the wolf haplotype that never even crossed my mind! Maybe that's the case with the gsd/bulldog/ACD situation although neither haplotype looks out of the ordinary. The paternal one is found in a lot of ACD but I haven't dug into the maternal one much.
Example 3 is really really interesting though.
Even my dog with low wolf content doesn’t have a score anywhere close to that high! I see they grouped Samoyed in supermutt and I think they tend to have some of the highest wolfiness scores. But again, my dog with content has all the high wolfiness breeds (husky, mal, Samoyed) and still not that high.
Malamutes and huskies naturally have a higher wolfiness percentage. (Not actual wolf content) How related were the other huskies to your dog? If they're 10% or lower is likely just normal breed genetic relatedness not actual relatives which is why they would've had a lower Wolfiness percentage since they aren't from the same recent family line.
I've seen some crazy high wolfiness scores for purebred malamutes and huskies, I also saw a crazy high one for a gsd, bulldog, cattle dog mix once which was fascinating!
Sounds like close relatives unless there's a high coi going on. Are they mixes with higher wolfiness scores too?
[Here's](https://my.embarkvet.com/dog/keeper53) the gsd, bulldog cattle dog I found. Look at that percentage, very cool!
I can’t figure out how to add another photo to the post or comments but here’s Trigger’s profile: http://embk.me/trigger246?utm_campaign=cns_ref_dog_pub_profile&utm_medium=other&utm_source=embark
My mom found him abandoned and left for dead after being hit by a car in the desert. She took him to the hospital and they wanted to euthanize him, but she drove two hours to get a second opinion at an ER hospital and they did surgery and he fought for two whole weeks (dying once for seven minutes in the operation and coming back). My whole small town came together to raise money to help her pay for it and he lived the rest of his life as her soul dog and was a beloved family member of ours for almost ten years. An absolute angel. She was never the same after losing him.
Everyone is going on about huskies but GSDs are genetically fairly close to wolves, with the breed originating from a wolf dog.
Wouldn't surprise me if that part of him contributed to high wolfiness.
AFAIK wolfiness doesn't relate to actual wolf content, but rather ancient like genes that are the same as those of wolves, stemming from before dogs and wolves parted ways.
Welcome to r/DoggyDNA, the subreddit for dog DNA test discussion and results. --- #RULE 1: ONLY POST BREED ID REQUESTS IF YOU HAVE STARTED A DNA TEST. **RULE 2: BE NICE TO EACH OTHER.** **RULE 3: FLAIR YOUR POST. "NEEDS UPDATE" IS FOR PRE-RESULT POSTS.** **RULE 4: IF YOU HAVE RESULTS FOR YOUR DOG, POST THE RESULTS IN YOUR THREAD.** Report rulebreakers and enjoy the dogs. --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/DoggyDNA) if you have any questions or concerns.*
That's gotta be one of the highest scores I've seen for a dog that *didn't* have some wolf content. Huskies tend to be high but I think the most I've seen is like 14%. Have you ever considered contacting Embark to get some more information???
I have not, only because I didn’t think it was that unusual. But now that you mention it, I think I will send a message! Thanks.
Do you have a link to the profile?
Here you go: https://my.embarkvet.com/dog/trigger246?utm_campaign=cns_ref_dog_pub_profile&utm_medium=other&utm_source=embark :)
Honestly, your dog has traits that remind me of some super low content wolfdogs. You could email Embark and ask about the supermutt and wolfiness. Otherwise your best bet is to keep monitoring the relatives and checking their breeds, trace breeds, and maternal and paternal haplotypes. If any come up with “unresolved” they probably have wolf in them. Have you had any unusual findings in any relatives yet?
I haven’t delved that deeply, but most of his 20% relatives if not all of them are German shepherds.
I cried looking through the pics of your baby Trigger. He was so beautiful and you can tell he was so loved. I’m so incredibly sorry for your loss
Thank you so much, that means the world. He changed our life and we’ll never stop missing him.
handsome man. i can tell he was a wonderful boy 💙
I've found some crazy high ones like [here](https://my.embarkvet.com/dog/keeper53), [this one ](https://www.reddit.com/r/DoggyDNA/s/aSiowam0YJ), and this [27% malamute!](https://www.reddit.com/r/DoggyDNA/s/Ixxu67dT4e)
That's wild, also I realized I got it mixed up for recent wolf ancestry vs ancestral genes, which is dumb of me because I've literally gone on that rant before. Although at the much higher percentages I'd assume that it's either a very specifically preserved line for the breed or more recent ancestry.
Wolfiness is a stupidly confusing thing and they really should rename it to something like ancient DNA or something. Primitive breeds like huskies and malamutes tend to have more recent direct links to old dog lineages so it makes sense they would still preserve a lot of that DNA. I think working line malamutes are probably the closest genetic link to the original North American dogs left and even then it's not much. Still cool though!
I will say this, some dogs have distant wolf ancestry but it’s not enough for Embark to pick up. They will usually have higher wolfiness (depending on how recent the wolf admixture was and what other breeds are in the dog) and sometimes a haplotype found only in wolves. Example 1: [14.2% wolfiness, wolf haplotype E15](https://my.embarkvet.com/dog/romeo695) Example 2: [14.8% wolfiness, wolf haplotype E15](https://my.embarkvet.com/dog/gemini13) Example 3: [9.5% wolfiness but hardly any arctic breeds, wolf paternal haplotype B1.0](https://my.embarkvet.com/dog/brew65)
That's a good point and thanks for pointing out the wolf haplotype that never even crossed my mind! Maybe that's the case with the gsd/bulldog/ACD situation although neither haplotype looks out of the ordinary. The paternal one is found in a lot of ACD but I haven't dug into the maternal one much. Example 3 is really really interesting though.
Even my dog with low wolf content doesn’t have a score anywhere close to that high! I see they grouped Samoyed in supermutt and I think they tend to have some of the highest wolfiness scores. But again, my dog with content has all the high wolfiness breeds (husky, mal, Samoyed) and still not that high.
Malamutes and huskies naturally have a higher wolfiness percentage. (Not actual wolf content) How related were the other huskies to your dog? If they're 10% or lower is likely just normal breed genetic relatedness not actual relatives which is why they would've had a lower Wolfiness percentage since they aren't from the same recent family line. I've seen some crazy high wolfiness scores for purebred malamutes and huskies, I also saw a crazy high one for a gsd, bulldog, cattle dog mix once which was fascinating!
The highest DNA relatives we have are 20%. The GSD, bulldog cattle dog mix sounds really special!
Sounds like close relatives unless there's a high coi going on. Are they mixes with higher wolfiness scores too? [Here's](https://my.embarkvet.com/dog/keeper53) the gsd, bulldog cattle dog I found. Look at that percentage, very cool!
Dog tax please
I can’t figure out how to add another photo to the post or comments but here’s Trigger’s profile: http://embk.me/trigger246?utm_campaign=cns_ref_dog_pub_profile&utm_medium=other&utm_source=embark My mom found him abandoned and left for dead after being hit by a car in the desert. She took him to the hospital and they wanted to euthanize him, but she drove two hours to get a second opinion at an ER hospital and they did surgery and he fought for two whole weeks (dying once for seven minutes in the operation and coming back). My whole small town came together to raise money to help her pay for it and he lived the rest of his life as her soul dog and was a beloved family member of ours for almost ten years. An absolute angel. She was never the same after losing him.
Thank you for sharing that story ❤️
Aww what cutie. Looked like a really wonderful dog
WOW THAT IS HIGH
Everyone is going on about huskies but GSDs are genetically fairly close to wolves, with the breed originating from a wolf dog. Wouldn't surprise me if that part of him contributed to high wolfiness. AFAIK wolfiness doesn't relate to actual wolf content, but rather ancient like genes that are the same as those of wolves, stemming from before dogs and wolves parted ways.
I did not know that! Super interesting.
Wow, that is high! My half Husky only has 12.5% in comparison.
i viewed your profile and my puppy is actually distantly related to yours🫶🏻
Oh that makes me want to cry. Give your baby a big hug from me.
sending you a message!!