How It Works
The Process
Order A Dog DNA Test
After you order a test, we mail you a saliva sample collection kit for your dog.
Activate Your Test Kit
Once you receive the dog DNA test kit, “activate” it by going to the Activate Kit website link shown on your test kit and entering your test number. You’ll create an account at this time, too.
Collect A Saliva Sample From Your Dog
Place the swab in your dog’s mouth to collect saliva. The saliva contains cells with the DNA that we analyze.
You can watch a short video or follow our simple instructions HERE.
Mail The Sample Back To Us
We include a pre-paid mailer for you to send the sample directly to our lab through United States Postal Service (USPS).
Get Your Report
We will email you as soon as your dog’s results are available online – within two weeks after we receive your dog’s saliva sample. Use your account information (set up in Activate Your Test Kit) to view your dog’s report any time after it is ready.
The Science
Uncover the science behind the Dognomics dog DNA test.
Sample Receipt At Our Lab
After your dog’s saliva sample arrives at our lab, we scan the test number to ensure we match your dog’s sample to you! This test number for your dog gets tracked throughout the test process, including multiple quality control steps.
DNA Extraction
Next, we extract the DNA from your dog’s saliva sample. The saliva cells are all “opened up” using various reagents (chemicals) and the DNA inside is isolated.
DNA Test
The extracted DNA then goes through a multi-day set of processing steps to get it ready for us to “read.” These steps include amplifying the DNA to make many copies of DNA from the small amount we extract from the saliva sample.
Eventually, your dog’s DNA is added onto a custom genotyping chip that allows us to look for almost 200,000 specific markers for breed, health and more.
We use instrumentation from one of the genomics industry leaders, Illumina, to read the custom chips we have designed with Illumina for our test.
The result is a letter (A, C, G, T) at the location of each marker (also called a variant).
Test Results
We use a complex set of proprietary algorithms to produce the test results. This is called bioinformatics and we have a world class team experienced in biology and computer science.
We have assembled a large reference database by collecting verified dog DNA samples. When your dog’s DNA comes in, our algorithms analyze the patterns inside this DNA to reveal close matches for breed, health, and more.
We use millions of possible breed combinations in the reference database to accurately evaluate mixed breed dogs.
We have our own data processing center and use many computer CPUs working in parallel to perform the large number of calculations required to obtain the test results.
Your dog's health and breed decoded
Our comprehensive Dog DNA Test for both health and breed provides you with new information to better care for your dog.
