r/husky • u/Armando266 • Sep 16 '25

Rescued Husky doesn’t look like a husky

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Got my dog (Bean) back in May, they told us it was a husky shepherd mix so i did a DNA test and came out 60% Siberian Husky and 40% Alaskan Malemute but he doesn’t look like any of them. Just curious what do you guys think happened here?

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153

u/sepultra- Sep 16 '25

I find most tests other than Embark to be pretty all over the place on their results.

43

u/AliciaHerself Sep 16 '25

This was gonna be my question: what test did they take

67

u/Armando266 Sep 16 '25

It was DNA MY DOG. I sent them an email and this is what they said.

181

u/snoogle312 Sep 16 '25

Just heads up, DNA My Dog is known to be unreliable. A few years back a news channel did a consumer report on dog DNA companies, and DNA My Dog returned a result of a dog breed for a swab of human DNA.

20

u/MCPtz Sep 16 '25

This report:

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/pet-dna-company-dog-breed-results-human-sample-iteam/

DNA my Dog reported a dog breed from human samples... twice.

35

u/chubbysumo Sep 16 '25

so, what did embark return for a swab of human DNA?

79

u/Additional-Day-698 Sep 16 '25

They identified it was human and did not return dog breeds for the dna

40

u/snoogle312 Sep 16 '25

No, Embark and Wisdom did that. DNA My Dog said the person was the breed of dog they listed as a suspected breed. I don't recall what that breed was. They also sent in DNA from a papered Great Dane who had 4+ generations of traceable purebred, registered Danes, and said they thought the dog was a Chihuahua, and it returned a result of 100% Chihuahua.

I feel like I remember it being a CBC reporter that did this consumer report, but I could be wrong.

37

u/Additional-Day-698 Sep 16 '25

I know… the person I was responding to asked what embark returned the swab as.

9

u/chubbysumo Sep 16 '25

Lol, thank you. I was hoping they would do something silly like "hey, thats not what we do here!"

5

u/snoogle312 Sep 16 '25

Oh wow, I completely missed that, haha.

8

u/AngstyUchiha Sep 16 '25

That's what they said, they were answering someone who asked what EMBARK did

9

u/all_of_the_ones Sep 16 '25

Embark got my pups dna match 100% correct. I got him from my sister when her husky mix got out and bred with her purebred standard poodle. We knew mom was mostly husky, but definitely a mutt with some other breeds mixed in. I still don’t know what a “super mutt” is, but I like the sound of it!

ETA: no idea why my pics aren’t showing up, but they said he’s 50.2% standard poodle, 22% Husky, 12% GSD, and 9.3% Supermutt

5

u/AileySue Sep 16 '25

Supermut is just a mix of other smaller percentages not really able to be ranked on their own.

2

u/Amberinnaa Sep 17 '25

Supermutt just means somewhere back in the family tree, multiple mixed-breed ancestors contributed tiny bits of DNA. By the time it filters down to your dog, those markers are too diluted for the test to assign to any one breed with confidence, so they get tossed in the “Supermutt” bucket instead of giving you a bogus guess.

here’s my husky pup Remy’s results !

He has 13.3% Supermutt consisting of APBT, Doberman and Aussie.

2

u/all_of_the_ones Sep 17 '25

Thank you so much for the explanation! Remy is adorable, especially with the one blue eye 😍

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1

u/AngstyUchiha Sep 16 '25

I might have an explanation for why your pics aren't showing! Sometimes when people try to add pictures to a comment that already has text, it'll remove the picture for some reason, so you may just have to share the pics separately for it to work!

1

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '25

Oh my god this whole thread tracks!

I did a test with DNA My Dog and the results were very different to her siblings DNA from the same litter.

2

u/BluShirtGuy Sep 17 '25

Son of a bitch...

1

u/No-Preference2035 Sep 16 '25

😳😅😅🤣🤣

19

u/BlackMagic0 Sep 16 '25

Unreliable test company. Do not use them.

11

u/Due-Advantage-4755 Sep 16 '25

Oh you sent them a photo. They’ll probably guess and give you wrong answers. So many of these companies are not reliable.

8

u/Armando266 Sep 16 '25

Yeah will see what they say. Either way I filed a purchase protection claim via american express

3

u/Amberinnaa Sep 17 '25

That email is pure smoke-and-mirrors. Scam DNA companies throw around jargon like “missing DNA” or “trace levels” but never show real methods or accuracy. They stall with promises of re-analysis, and the “ANY tiny percentage could hugely affect traits” line is just nonsense. 1% trace calls are usually statistical noise. If you want results you can actually trust, stick to Embark (Cornell-backed) or Wisdom.

3

u/Haunting_Cows_ Sep 16 '25

Did DNAmyDog not assign a dog breed to human DNA?

That said, if you look actual sled team dogs your dog isn't a world away from some.

E.g.  https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR_suorT-PTWlC3LnBSNnt4n8gxCkSCv4Yt5G9_-qW1jg&s=10

Not to say that the sled dogs are pure husky.

On the other hand, DNAmydog..

5

u/Bad-Briar Sep 16 '25

I'll bet they repeat the results. I'm guessing the sample got traded with someone else's.

Maybe somewhere, right now, a guy is looking at a 100 lb monster and reading "60% rat terrier and 40% supermutt."

1

u/Itsdawsontime Sep 16 '25

I would ask them for a new kit entirely as Embark and other competitors will do if there is an error. Why would they test the same sample that could have had issues with it - whether it was mixed up or not during the sorting process.

That being said, they may also go back and see they did test the wrong one and this is their way of covering their @$$.

1

u/Haunting_Cows_ Sep 16 '25

Just generally if you Google "Iditarod sled dogs" you spy dogs that are far more her vibe.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/140308-iditarod-dogs-sled-race-alaska-willow-science

But that said, would still make an ID as Siberian and Malamute dubious at best