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Hi Liz,

As long as the sample itself has not been in the sun, the swab looks discolored (tan/brown) and the solution is still a nice purple, you are welcome to try!

[brittney logan]

Hi Liz,

As long as the sample itself has not been in the sun, the swab looks discolored (tan/brown) and the solution is still a nice purple, you are welcome to try!

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Hi Mina,

Thank you for enrolling all of your dogs with us!

I can assure you that the samples can remain stable for many years, and we have had great success obtaining results from samples that are even older!

Our apologies for the long wait, we continue to do all that we can to obtain more grant funding to support our “Free Kit Waitlist” participants. The more behavioral surveys that a dog has completed, the more likely they will be funded by the grants that we can acquired.

If you do not wish to wait for our grant funding any longer, you are welcome to order the analysis on your dog’s profiles for a discounted rate of $99.00 (since we already have the sample on hand). This of course is optional, and you are welcome to participate however comfortable.

Happy to help if you have any other questions or concerns.

Best,
Brittney at Darwin’s Ark

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Hi Brittany,

Our sincerest apologies for the long wait to have your dog’s DNA sample sent for sequencing. You were enrolled in the Free Kit Waitlist, which means that we rely on grant funds to support the sending, and sequencing of those kits. We continue to do all that we can to acquire more grant funds so that we can send your dog’s DNA sample out for sequencing.

When grant funding is received, it is based off of certain proposals/research aims, so the best way to increase your dog’s chances of being sequenced is to have as many of the behavioral surveys completed as possible! The more data we have on your dog, the more likely he/she will be “eligible” to fall into whatever the aim of that grant is. (for example we received grant money to study food allergies, so many dogs that answered the surveys pertaining to that topic were sequenced)

I hope this helps to better understand how our grant funding works, but please do not hesitate to ask if you have questions.

Also, I can assure you that the sample still remains viable, even after many years. 🙂

We appreciate your participation and patience with the research.

Best,
Brittney at Darwin’s Ark

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Hi Yobana,

Yes, we will be able to help you better understand your dogs ancestry!

Please check our FAQ below for a full list of breeds which we can confidently report back to you on. As the research grows and more dogs are sequenced with us, so will the list of breeds! 🙂

FAQs

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Hi Martha,

Great question, and I am so sorry to hear of the diagnosis.

We do have a section on your dog’s profile to enroll them in our Cancer Project. You are welcome to fill in the information and if it needs updating, you should be able to “retake” the questions.

We hope to learn as much as we can about your dog!

Best,
Brittney

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Hi Elizabeth,

Apologies for the late reply, but I have replied in more detail to your request via email.

Unfortunately, the laboratory that is going our full genome sequencing has been backed up due to issues related to COVID. Normally, these samples take around 4 months until we have results. Happy to chat in more detail about your dog’s sample via email! 🙂

Best,
Brittney

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Hi Andrea,

Normally it takes around 90-120 days for the sample to complete the sequencing pipeline. Currently, the laboratory is experiencing some minor delays, but samples continue to run through the system.

We will then work with the raw genetic data to analyze and create each dog’s unique results. We will send out an email to owners once the results are upload to the dog’s profile.

Thank you for reaching out and for your participation!

If you have any other questions, I am happy to help.

Best,
Brittney at Darwin’s Ark

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Hi Patty,

Apologies for not including information on how to package once the sample is collected. As long as the swab was put back into the tube with the liquid, it will be viable! 🙂

If there are any issues, we will certainly reach out.

Best,
Brittney

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Hi Kelly,

Thank you for letting us know. We have deleted that dog’s account for you.

Best,
Brittney

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Hi Paloma!

How exciting, we would be happy to help out.

In our recently published paper, you can access all of the behavioral survey and genetic data in the supplemental materials of the paper. You will be able to access it via the Data Dryad data release.

Here is a link to the paper:
https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.abk0639

Please email us directly at support@darwinsark.org if you are looking for a particular sample set and we can further assist.

Best,
Brittney

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Hi apologies for not including the packing instruction into the video.

You are welcome to keep the cylinder tube, that does not need to be sent back. Please collect the sample and then insert into the biohazard bag. Then but the biohazard bag into the insulated bag and finally into the mailer.

Thank you for reaching out, and again our apologies for not including this.

Best,
Brittney at Darwin’s Ark

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Hi Leslie,

Thank you for enrolling and collecting a sample from your dog!

We have a video below on how to collect, if you would like to check it out and see if it looks like what you did on your dog.

If the sequencing does not work, we try the sample one more time and if it fails again, we will get in touch with you about the next steps.

Swab

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Hi Simone,

We respect your opinion and thank you for sharing.

Our surveys were created via many validated surveys such as:

Dog Personality Questionnaire (Jones 2009)
Canine Cognitive Dysfunction Rating Scale (Salvin 2010)
Dog Impulsivity Assessment Scale (Wright 2011)
Canine Health and Quality of Life Survey (Lavan 2013)
Dog Obesity Risk Assessment (Raffan 2015)

In addition, we collaborate with the IAABC Foundation, made up of professional dog behaviorist to create additional questions. To conduct this type of research we need a vast amount of data, and we believe the best way to collect it is by the owners who know their dog best!

I hope this helps,
Brittney

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Hi Robin,

I am so sorry for you loss, my sincerest condolences.

It looks like you have completed all of the surveys for your dog. As of right now, we do not have an “end of life survey”, but certainly something we could look into creating. Again, I am so sorry for your loss, but we thank you very much for having your dog contribute to this research, his/her legacy will continue to live on through the findings.

Best,
Brittney

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