[brittney logan]

Hi Joan,

Our apologies for the extras!

You can ignore the extra blank shipping mailer, and larger bag. The most important packing materials are the biohazard, foil bag and then of course the exterior mailer with the return address.

Thank you for reaching out and letting us know, and again we apologies for the confusion.

If you have any other questions, I am happy to help or you can email us at support@darwinsark.org

[brittney logan]

Hi Joan,

Our apologies for the extras!

You can ignore the extra blank shipping mailer, and larger bag. The most important packing materials are the biohazard, foil bag and then of course the exterior mailer with the return address.

Thank you for reaching out and letting us know, and again we apologies for the confusion.

If you have any other questions, I am happy to help or you can email us at support@darwinsark.org

[brittney logan]

Hi Krista,

This means so much to us, thank you for your support throughout this journey!

We really couldn’t have done it without all of our Darwin’s Ark owners and their dogs. We continue to apply for more grant funding so that we can support even more awaiting participants.

The research continues on! 🙂

[brittney logan]

Hi Anna,

We understand you confusion. I am happy to help explain how the research works, and why there are still owners awaiting results.

Throughout the years, our research has been solely grant funded, and with those funds, we were able to sequence 2,000 of our Darwin’s Dog DNA samples that were generously provided by owners. Many of the samples had completed all of the behavioral surveys. This survey data was crucial to finding correlations between behavior and genetics and was a result of our recent publication.

Our goal is to sequenced ALL of the dogs enrolled with us, the more dogs with samples and behavioral data, the more there is to uncover and learn about our best friends. We wish we could sequence all of the samples we have on hand, but funding is certainly a limiting factor, and we are doing all that we can to keep applying.

We have not forgotten about the dogs that have not yet been sequenced, they are a huge priority of ours as it is valuable data just wait to been unearthed, and it is owners eagerly awaiting to better understand their dog.

Since funding can take time, we provided the option for owners to donate to have their dogs sample sequenced right away and avoid the wait. This of course is optional and participants are more than welcome to remain of the Free Participation Waitlist until we have additional funding to support them.

I hope this helps to explain why this research takes time. We certainly wish we could do it all at once, but are doing the best we can with what we currently have.

Thank you very much for enrolling your dog with us, we greatly appreciate your contributions to science!

Best,
Brittney

[brittney logan]

Hi Amy,

Great question! The ribbons represent which projects your dog is enrolled in.

For example, the purple ribbon means the dog is enrolled in the Working Dog Project and Pink means enrolled in the Cancer Project. We also have a black ribbon which means the dog has passed.

Thank you for enrolling you dog with us! 🙂

[brittney logan]

Hi Jennifer,

We have not intentions or plans to ever use the DNA for cloning.

Best,
Brittney

[brittney logan]

Thank you so much Gretchen!

We greatly appreciate your support with this research, and we are so excited to share with all!

Best,
Brittney

[brittney logan]

Hi David,

Thank you for enrolling your dog with us.

We apologize for the long wait, and understand your frustrations.

This research is still ongoing and we continue to work with the data to discover more about our four-legged best friends.

I can assure you that your dogs sample remains safe and stable. Your dog is participating for free, meaning we can support the sequencing process when additional funding is obtained. We continue to apply for more grants, and your dog’s data is helping us to do so.

If you do not want to wait, we provide the option for owners to support their dog’s sample to be sequenced (since the sample is with us, it would only be $99).

We thank you very much for your patience and participation in this research.

Best,
Brittney

[brittney logan]

Hi Erin,

We apologize for the delay and any frustrations it has caused. I am glad we were able to sequence your other two dogs and will personally email you regarding your third dogs sample.

As for your question regarding us sending out 20 samples in a year, that is not the case. We used to have to wait for a batch of 20 samples to come in, and then we could send out that batch to be sequenced. We now have to wait to have at least 96 samples prepped and ready to be sent out together in a batch to be sequenced.

I hope this helps!

Best,
Brittney

[brittney logan]

Hi Jennifer,

Thank you very much!

We are so happy to have you and your dog participating in our research.

As it continues on, we are learning and discovering more about our furry best friends every day, thanks to all of our participants! 🙂

Best Regards,
Brittney at Darwin’s Ark

[brittney logan]

Hi Erica,

Apologies for the longer than normal wait time. We are still recovering from the delays of the past year. Both of your dog’s samples remain safe and stable. They are in line to be sequenced in the next few days! 🙂

We will send you a notification email once results are uploaded to each of their profiles.

If you have any other questions regarding your dog’s samples, please feel free to email us directly at support@darwinsark.org

Thank you,
Brittney

[brittney logan]

Hi Kristen,

Thank you for posting on the forums, that is a great question!

Yes, you can gift a Darwin’s Ark DNA kit right on our webpage. All you have to do is indicate to whom you would like to gift it to and we will send them an invitation to enroll and claim the gifted kit on their dogs profile.

The gifted kit is the same price as a normal order of $149.00

I am happy to help if you have any other questions, and thank you for considering gifting a Darwin’s Ark DNA kit! 🙂

[brittney logan]

Hi Marcia,

Our sincerest condolences on your dogs passing.

We thank you very much for enrolling her in our study, and apologies for the long awaited results. Your dog was participating for free, meaning her sample was supported by our grant funds, which take time to acquire.

Unfortunately, Coton de Tulear is not yet in our reference panel, but as more dogs enroll and are sequenced with us, we do hope to be able to add the breed. Currently when a breed is not yet in the panel, results will yield the most related breeds and will even show portions of “unknown” in the results. As the research and reference panel grows, we will update your dogs results and notify you of any changes.

We greatly appreciate your participation, thank you.

[brittney logan]

Hi Jennifer,

Yes the collection is very safe for you to handle and for your dog!

It is a dry swab that is put into your dog’s mouth to collect the saliva, then you invert the swab into a tube of a liquid, which preserves the DNA at room temperature.

We have a video avaliable on how to collect the sample here:

Swab

[brittney logan]

Hi Erica,

That is a great question.

Many times when people hear the word “research” or “study” they automatically think of a laboratory. But in this study, the owners and dogs are safely participating from the comfort of their home! We do not and never will use laboratory dogs.

The research is strictly computational, as we gather data from owners via the behavioral surveys. We send owners a saliva swab for them to collect from the mouth of their dog. It is a very easy and non-invasive collection process.

The data that we acquired in this study is used to better understand behavior and genetics in pet dogs. Our methodology and outcomes of the study are by no means intrusive or painful, and cannot be applied that way.

If you have any other questions about our methods or how the research works, we are happy to help! 🙂

Best,
Brittney

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