stbargabar

Suggestion time!

I think it'd be really cool to have a search/browse feature for public profiles that would let you select a group of breeds and maybe either "include only these breeds" or "show me any mixes of these and other additional breeds" and be able to see examples of what different mixes look like. The internet is full of inaccurate labels of "this is what this mix looks like" without any proof that's what they are and often they look completely different from the reality. Having a place people could look with more confidence could help dispel some of the myths of how dog breeds mix together.

How do you feel about Wisdom Panel claiming they're the most accurate DNA test just because they try to match every single % to a breed regardless of how rare or unlikely that % is?

I spend a lot of time going through the karyograms for the results of dogs over at r/DoggyDNA to help explain to people which breeds contributed to the different traits that their dog inherited and how they interact with each other to produce a final appearance. It seems to have a big impact on people understanding why their dog looks a certain way instead of being a 50/50 split between each parent. Is this something that would be feasibly able to be offered as a built-in feature? It seems like it would really help improve customer satisfaction.

I wonder if this would be detrimental in areas with BSL since the vast majority of shelter dogs have pit ancestry in them.

We're currently seeing an insurgence of backyard color breeding introducing genes for traits into dogs where they didn't previously exist. The biggest example of this is Frenchies and Pit Bulls (and pretty much every breed at this point) now coming in merle (despite the associated health risks, because these people just want profit). If that merle gene originated from an outside gene, why is it that after a certain number of generations they will show up as 100% purebred again? If they have that merle gene, why doesn't it always register as originating from a different breed?