# Leo's DNA test results



## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

Leo's Embark test results are back already, and according to it, she is....






91.5% GSD and 8.5% "supermutt". I'm going to just keep calling her what she probably is, a purebred, if poorly bred, GSD. This is the link to her results. Leo’s Embark Dog DNA Results


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

So none of the collie ancestry that people predicted. The high tail set is what made me think she might have a sprinkle of something else. Sounds like you've reached the end of what testing can tell you, however.


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

She's not a Belgian Tervuren, like someone else said, either.  

I'm going to stick with West German show line GSD by way of several generations of backyard breeding. WGSL dogs can have longer coats, and it throws people who aren't used to seeing them.


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## MaizieFrosty (Apr 12, 2019)

She is adorable! Doesn't look like a purebred GSD to me, though. I can see a little Collie, Belgian Tervuren, or Chow in her.


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## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

She doesn’t look like a purebred to me either, and embark says both of her parents aren’t purebred. I completely believe the small percentage of chow chow.


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

Neat! A non-GSD great grandparent would make sense, but yes, at that level she's 'a GSD' unless you're offered or offering papers! I read recently that there was a trend for a while for showline shepherds to have a collie like face so poorly bred with some show line genes makes sense.

I'm always amazed at how many times a small percentages of chow comes up suggested in these results. I've only met one chow in my life... Are they/were they common dogs in the US? Or is it some sort of dataset issue, I wonder.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

I can see how she might have some chow in her.

Here was our GSD foster, who turned out to be part chow:


















Glorious, fluffy ruff that grew longer as she matured.


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

For Want of Poodle said:


> Neat! A non-GSD great grandparent would make sense, but yes, at that level she's 'a GSD' unless you're offered or offering papers! I read recently that there was a trend for a while for showline shepherds to have a collie like face so poorly bred with some show line genes makes sense.
> 
> I'm always amazed at how many times a small percentages of chow comes up suggested in these results. I've only met one chow in my life... Are they/were they common dogs in the US? Or is it some sort of dataset issue, I wonder.


The only "papers" she has are her AKC Purebred Alternative Listing and UKC Limited Privileges. 

At one time, Chow Chow were pretty popular. I dealt with several of them when I was working for vets in the late 80s and early 90s.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

TeamHellhound said:


> The only "papers" she has are her AKC Purebred Alternative Listing


Leo is gorgeous. With AKC purebred alternative didn’t you have to submit photos? I presume they felt she looked enough like a GSD.


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

Skylar said:


> Leo is gorgeous. With AKC purebred alternative didn’t you have to submit photos? I presume they felt she looked enough like a GSD.


Yes, I had to submit photos for both of them. Neither one quibbled about issuing her a number.

These were her PAL photos. 

2013-3-16 Dogs 202 by Rosemary Elwell, on Flickr

2013-3-16 Dogs 211 by Rosemary Elwell, on Flickr

She was only 14 months old at the time. She looked like such a baby compared to today.


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## jojogal001 (Feb 19, 2019)

For Want of Poodle said:


> I'm always amazed at how many times a small percentages of chow comes up suggested in these results. I've only met one chow in my life... Are they/were they common dogs in the US? Or is it some sort of dataset issue, I wonder.


Chow Chows we’re very big in the US quite a while ago. (I haven’t read through to see if someone answered you). Personally, I don’t care for the breed. It’s really pretty, but got a bad name because they could seem unstable and be aggressive. I had a chow mix, and my trainer told me to be careful with her because they can be unpredictable with no warning. I had a chow, golden mix. She was very intelligent, she was very gentle with the rats being out (pets) and would let them use her as a “bridge” from the tip of her nose and down her back. She was so well trained until out of the blue, she attacked my chihuahua who I’d had much longer. Millie responded to the “Stop!” command at first, but while I was heading to her to put her out, she attacked again and she no longer heard me. She ripped a 50 cent piece sized hole in Penny’s neck and it looked like she was trying to kill her. Thank goodness I was home! It did take me quite a bit of effort to get Penny out of her mouth. And there are many horror stories like that. I don’t hear much about Chows anymore. I guess people got over it.


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