, another dog DNA testing service. The tests cost between $80 and $200, depending on how much information you want, and the marketing emphasizes that this is a serious scientific endeavor: the tests can identify potential health problems. The ancestry element is marketed as a fun bonus.The technology to match dog DNA has existed for approximately 20 years, says Becca Foran, head of research and development at Wisdom Panel, but techniques have improved substantially in the past five years.
Joe’s test results showed that he had no genetic problems but also that he was not part labrador retriever as I had thought, but a great Dane/hound mix with a touch of cocker spaniel. There were eight dogs whose owners had also used the Embark service who were as closely related as half-siblings, aunts and uncles, or cousins.Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA
Alexandra Horowitz, the head of the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College and author of several books on dog behavior, says that there have been studies that suggest puppies prefer blankets with the odor of their littermates or their mother over that of a stranger. “But in their interaction behavior, they don’t show the delight of a great reunion with a long-lost sibling unless they really have lived with them for a long time,” she tells me.