In the summer of 2018, DDC Pets & Vets celebrated our fifteenth anniversary doing dog DNA testing and providing testing services for other types of animals too. Here’s more about this history of our Pets & Vets products. 

In March of 2003, our parent company DDC (DNA Diagnostics Center) formed a team to research animal DNA testing markets and test availability. A few canine registries, like the American Kennel Club (AKC), had started their own DNA-testing programs for profiling and parentage verification. Some inherited disease and coat color tests were available at the time, also, but we wanted to offer an array of inclusive options all in one place. So that’s how DDC Veterinary came to be!

DID YOU KNOW?

DDC’s human DNA testing business began in 1995, so we benefit from the same outstanding laboratory used for our accredited human-relationship testing and other high-quality DNA services.

How Our Dog DNA Testing Services Began

Our first Canine DNA Profile was performed on June 26, 2003. This test has a dual purpose in helping determine direct parentage in a litter, and serving as individual identification in case of loss or theft. Soon after, the Cystinuria test and a few other canine inherited disease tests were validated and became available to the public.

Within a year, we started adding canine inherited traits tests, such as Coat Length (often referred to as the “fluffy” test), the E and B loci for yellow and brown coat colors, and some equine testing. By 2006, we had added the Bird Sexing test and Feline Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD). The avian test presented a huge advantage for bird breeders, owners, and veterinarians—not to mention our feathered friends—as previous sexing methods involved surgical procedures, often under anesthesia.

And Then Came Even More…

Thanks to the support of loyal clients all over the world, our business has continued to grow. We added the breed-specific canine inherited diseases Centronuclear Myopathy (CNM), Degenerative Myelopathy (DM), and Exercise-Induced Collapse (EIC) in 2009. And we’ve made more and more tests available for our clients ever since. Our most recent addition was Collie Eye Anomaly (CEA) last July. Many of our tests are accepted by the OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals), the leader in the movement to certify the genetic health of breeding dogs.

The Tip of the Tail

As always, if you have any questions, please contact our service team. They work hard to assist people all over this country and the world use our services. You will interact personally with people who care about providing the very best animal DNA testing you can find. So here’s to the next 15 years of dog DNA testing and more!