What is a Village Dog?
Did you know that most of the dogs in the world are not descended from modern breeds? There are about a billion dogs in the world, but only a fraction of them are purebred or mixed-breed pets. The majority of dogs in the world are a unique kind of dog, called village dogs.
Here, with help from our Science team, we’ll explain what village dogs are, what makes them unique, and how we identify village dog ancestry in Embark-tested dogs.
What are village dogs?
Village dogs are free-ranging, free-breeding dogs whose ancestors were indigenous to a geographic area. In effect, they are the descendants of the founding population of dogs in a region. Although they are not recognized by kennel clubs as a breed, they are genetically identifiable, with many different village dog populations around the world.
There are many different types of village dogs and they can differ from each other depending on what part of the world they live in. Village dogs can vary in appearance, but in general, they tend to be medium in size with pointy snouts. They usually live near humans.
Learn more about these special dogs with Embark cofounder Dr. Adam Boyko.
How does Embark identify village dogs?
About 1% of Embark-tested dogs come from populations of village dogs.
“Because village dogs have higher genetic diversity than other dogs, and because they have been underrepresented in research data sets, detecting village dog ancestry is challenging,” explains Ariella Gladstein, PhD.
Embark uses an algorithm that accounts for these different genetic factors to analyze breed ancestry. Our genetic ancestry models rely on comprehensive sampling of the diversity of our large reference database and our ability to identify long, identical tracts of DNA between those dogs and yours.
The algorithm matches segments of shared DNA, called identical by descent, that indicates that the DNA was inherited from a shared ancestor. For example, if a dog has a segment of DNA that is also in the genome of a particular breed, we can match their DNA with that breed.
A new machine learning method
Our Science team developed an improved method for identifying village dogs from mixed-breed and single-breed dogs. Compared to our previous method, this new method relies on a similar matching principle, while also using machine learning. The advantage of machine learning is that it has the same high accuracy as the previous method while making our analysis process faster.
“This new method is so interesting from a scientific perspective, because the machine learning model can easily learn to identify village dogs based on the genetic data we provide,” says Dr. Gladstein. “It allows us to continue identifying village dogs with the same accuracy as before, but in a way that is more efficient and scalable and works really well.”
How to understand your dog’s results
So, you’ve gotten a village dog result. That’s exciting! Your dog is the descendent of dogs who have likely lived in that geographic area for generations. Their genetics and traits have been shaped not by humans, but by natural evolutionary forces, allowing them to adapt to their environment.
We know that if you’re expecting a breed mix reveal for your dog, finding out they are actually a village dog may feel disappointing at first, but this result actually tells a rich history of your dog’s ancestors and their past.
Village dogs were central to the beginnings of Embark, and we are excited to learn more about them. With more research, we will likely be able to infer interesting histories about various village dog populations.
Interested in learning more about dog ancestry? Read about the Australian dingo, an ancient, wild canid that likely descended from wild dogs, or learn more about the shared history of dogs and humans.