What do we get out of this?
This process will give you the FACTS – a baseline breed assessment, quickly, affordably, scientifically, reliably – about whether your breed has ample diversity or limited diversity.
That knowledge empowers your breed club, your health foundation, and all your breeders. The practical applications of the analysis are incredibly powerful.
It allows a breed community to manage their existing diversity so there is no more random loss, avoid known and unknown recessive diseases, breed away from breed-specific complex diseases, improve reproductive outcomes, and restore balance when there’s been a genetic bottleneck.
Using this method, breeders can linebreed more safely, and outcross more certainly, import only dogs that are truly different and never breed too tightly.
Breed communities get:
Analysis of Breed by Dr. Niels Pedersen and team at UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Lab
Breed Page on BetterBred, which serves as a hub for breeders and breed club news and information
Current list of newly tested public dogs and their genetic summaries on BetterBred
Breeders get, included with each test for free:
UC Davis Canine Diversity Test Certificates – Unique DNA profile that can serve to confirm paternity and identity, assess inbreeding, and identify specific haplotypes in the immune system region
BetterBred Profile Page – A permanent online record of your dog, upload health results and DNA results, photo, temperament, and other information
BetterBred Individual Analysis – of each dog, including measures of inbreeding compared to the breed, and two measures of genetic relatedness to the breed, meaning how unusual or similar they are to the rest of the breed
One-to-One Comparison Tool – an easy way to view the genetic relationship of any two dogs, which can be used as a breeding tool or when picking puppies to see which dogs are very similar or very different
Banked DNA – if additional diagnostic testing is desired, DNA is on file at the UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Lab
Advanced tools, available by subscription for conscientious breeders:
Browse all potential mates based on various aspects like color, relatedness and genetic outlier status
See all genetic relationships by relationship categories like Parent/Offspring/Sibling, Half Sibling, Grandparent or First Cousin, etc.
Simulate litters with any mate and see accurate advanced analysis of potential litters
Create and share results of litter simulations with other breeders or prospective puppy families
See advanced individual analyses of all public dogs based on various aspects like color, relatedness and genetic outlier status
Get advanced BetterBred profile page and account control – More photos, more information, ability to make profile private and share with specific members
Weekly content: expert interviews, breeding assessment demonstrations, litter simulation demonstrations, and more
Discounts on online courses