What is MyBreedData & Why Does It Matter?

MyBreedData is a free reference powered by the tens of thousands of purebred dogs analysed globally by Wisdom Panel’s dog breeder products, including MyDogDNA™, Optimal Selection™ Canine, and MyDogDNA™ Select. This resource was first announced in conjunction with Wisdom’s first "big data” dog publication, Frequency and Distribution of 152 Genetic Disease Variants in Over 100,000 Mixed Breed and Purebred Dogs in 2018, to allow dog lovers to easily access and search the published data. It was updated again in 2023 with the publication of Wisdom’s "1 Million Dog" paper.

MyBreedData is used as a reference by dog breeders, registries, researchers, and veterinarians to make science-based decisions using comprehensive genetic disorder screening and diversity data. This allows them a uniquely unbiased view of global pedigreed dog health, as testing data is published without result reporting bias across more than 270 conditions. Although anonymised dog and cat testing results are provided, identifying information about individual animals and breeders has been removed to protect privacy in compliance with GDPR and CCPA.

What’s new:

We are pleased to announce that MyBreedData has received a major refresh. This latest version shows better visualisation of our global data with maps, Wisdom’s ongoing published research in pedigreed dogs and cats, automated updates of the data, and a whole new section devoted to pedigreed cats!

Landing Page Navigation

No registration or login is necessary to access or use MyBreedData. On the landing page, you’ll find a navigation pane, and a graphic explaining the various data pages. This is also where you’ll find a selection of Wisdom’s research publications and links to purchase testing, if you wish. If you want to learn more about Wisdom Panel’s research, click on “Our Research” under Featured Links at the bottom of the page. Now, choose which data set you’d like to explore further to be taken to that data dashboard.

• Dog Diversity
• Dog Disorder Frequency
• Cat Diversity
• Cat Disorder Frequency
• Cat Blood Type Frequency

Interpreting Genetic Disease Data

When searching for disease variant frequencies for the first time, the data table will default to sorting from highest to lowest allelic frequency for all disease risk variants across all breeds. For dogs, this is predominantly Chondrodystrophy (CDDY) with Intervertebral Disease (IVDD) Risk, as it approaches nearly 100% frequency in some breeds. You have the choice of sorting the data according to breeds, diseases, or a combination of both.

The data table will filter according to what you’ve selected, automatically sorting from highest to lowest frequency of the disorder variant per breed or type. There are 6 columns displayed:

• Breed or breed subtype
• Disorder risk variant
• Count (The total number of dogs tested for the breed and disorder listed)
• 1 copy (The total number of dogs tested found to have 1 copy of the variant)
• 2 copy (The total number of dogs tested found to have 2 copies of the variant)
• Allelic frequency calculation (Discussed below)

You can sort all columns either alphabetically or numerically by clicking the column header. To return to default sorting, click the back arrow at upper left of the data table. Counts are provided in number categories, starting with a minimum of 20 dogs of that breed, and allelic frequencies are rounded, to protect the privacy of individual dogs added to the breed population with updates.

Filtering by breed

Breeds are listed as they appear when breeders activate a Wisdom Panel breeder test kit. Because Wisdom breeder tests serve both FCI, AKC, and RKC-affiliated breeders, you may encounter more than one applicable listing for your breed. Let’s use the example of Dachshund. A search for “Dachshund” will return 7 possible entries. You can select one Dachshund subtype and click “only” to filter out all other breed listings, or clear all breeds first, then hand select the subtypes you’d like.

Allelic vs. Genotype Frequency

Please be aware that allelic frequency differs from genotype frequency. Most breeders think in terms of phenotype frequency or genotype frequency, as they are thinking in terms of individuals. Most researchers and scientists think in terms of allelic frequency because they are thinking in terms of populations and trends. For more information, please read “Genetics 101: Genetic Terms and Basic Concepts.”

Phenotype frequency of disorders means how often we see dogs affected with the disorder in question. It's not possible to answer that question for many disorders because other risk factors play a role in disease expression. This is why we refer to dogs as “at risk” instead of “affected” in Wisdom’s testing. However, for simple recessive conditions, the 2 copy column tells us how many dogs are at risk, and for dominant conditions, the 1 and 2 copy columns together tells how many are at risk.

Genotype frequency tells us how often we see that particular allele combination, for example, 12% of X breed are carriers (1 copy) for a recessive disorder, or 1% of Dachshunds are at risk for Lafora Disease.

Allelic frequency tells us how often the allele in question occurs within the gene pool or population. Since each individual carries two alleles (one from each parent) for most genes except sex-linked ones, every dog contributes two copies to the total for the population. For example, if 1 out of 10 dogs carries a single copy of a given allele, then the frequency is 1/20, or 5% allelic frequency. If 2 out of 10 dogs carry two copies of a given allele, then the allelic frequency is (2 x 2)/20, or 20% allelic frequency. When there are both 1 and 2 copy dogs in the population, the two are added, e.g. (1 + (2 x 2))/ 20 = 25% allelic frequency.

Filtering by disorder

Similar to breeds, you can filter by a single disorder, all disorders, or multiple disorders. To see all disorders found for dogs registered as Labrador, select breed > Labrador Retriever “only,” and leave all disorders selected. This selection brings up all findings in the Labrador. If you want to know the frequency of a specific set of disorders, unselect all disorders but the ones of interest. If you’re not sure what disorders have solid scientific evidence in support of clinical relevance in your breed, check out the MyDogDNA or Optimal Selection websites and click "Search by Breed" to find your breed’s disorder list.

Interpreting Genetic Diversity Data

When searching for genetic diversity, the data table defaults to sorting from highest to lowest diversity across all breeds. The most diverse breeds tend to be those bred outside of western pedigree paradigms, landraces, working breeds, open studbook breeds, or breeds that have undergone recent outcrossing projects. Currently, the top breeds for diversity are the Anatolian Shepherd Dog (also recognized as the Kangal) from Turkey, the Central Asian Ovcharka, which is a landrace, the Danish-Swedish Farmdog (Dansk–Svensk gårdhund), and the Rat Terrier, both working breeds.

Users have the choice of sorting the data according to breed, birth year, and country of origin. There are three separate displays of information that correspond to the filters applied: the Breed Breakdown, the Diversity Distribution, and the Breeds by Country. As with disorder testing, breed data will only be displayed if 20 or more dogs meet the filter qualifications based on breed, birth year, or country of origin. If a year, country, or breed is missing in your search, it is because it did not meet the minimum population requirement to report.

If you love seeing global diversity data for your breed and you’re interested in maintaining or increasing the genetic diversity in your dogs, or in managing genetic disorder risk, we strongly encourage you to make use of Wisdom’s breeder tool, Litter Predict. Litter Predict utilizes testing data for mating pairs of your choosing to calculate diversity outcomes for the produced litter. Litter Predict is exclusively available in MyDogDNA and Optimal Selection Canine Advanced tests.

How Wisdom Measures Diversity

Wisdom Panel reports diversity in terms of genetic heterozygosity, meaning how many paired copies of DNA inherited from the sire and dam are different. The higher the number, the more diverse the dog. Heterozygosity is a slightly different measure of diversity than genetic coefficient of inbreeding (gCOI), which typically measures segments of identical DNA from sire and dam. Most conservation specialists use genetic diversity by heterozygosity, but both methods provide useful information. To learn more about how we measure diversity, and how it differs from gCOI, please read Understanding Diversity Results and Why Diversity Matters.

Diversity Breed Breakdown

This section of MyBreedData’s diversity reporting, like the disorder reporting dashboards, shows many registries’ recognized breeds and breed subtypes. Counts are given in categories to protect privacy. Heterozygosity, as listed, represents the average or mean diversity of the breed, accounting for any filters applied based on country of origin and birth year of the dog. The higher the number, the more diverse or less inbred the population.

Diversity Distribution

If you’re a longtime user of Wisdom Panel breeder testing, you are familiar with diversity curves. These are a powerful way of viewing a dog’s diversity in the context of their breed. Each breed has a different distribution of diversity based on test data. The distribution tells us the range (the X-axis) and how often (the Y-axis) a specific diversity score is seen in the breed. Scores closer to the origin are more inbred for the breed, while scores to the right are more diverse. Peaks correspond to more typical diversity scores. As some breeds effectively have separate-breeding populations, for example, of show and field-style lines, there may be two or more peaks for the breed.

Breeds by Country

At the bottom of the diversity dashboard, you’ll find a handy world map showing where the samples came from to generate the Breed Breakdown and Diversity Distribution you see at the top, based on your filter values. Hovering or clicking will tell you the country name, but at this time, count category from that country is not available. Country of origin designates where the dog’s pedigree lines come from, not where the breeder resides, although they are often the same.

Please note that Country of Origin is an optional field at kit activation for MyDogDNA and Optimal Selection Canine kits and is not used by all registries using MyDogDNA Select, so use of this filter may limit your sample counts.

For researchers: how data is collected, processed, and used

If you are a researcher utilizing MyBreedData’s data visualisation dashboards, welcome! A few topics that may impact interpretation of our data for academic or population studies are listed below. If you have additional questions, please feel free to reach out to Wisdom Panel at info@wisdompanel.com and our team will be happy to assist you.

Data updates

Data are automatically refreshed monthly for samples that have successfully been processed.

Sample eligibility

We have chosen to limit reporting to samples analysed on our more recent panels, as significant improvements in marker counts and disorders available mean older sample results may not generate a meaningful comparison. Samples are limited to those received after late 2019. As stated previously, the samples represented on MyBreedData are only those received through Wisdom Panel’s breeder testing services: MyDogDNA, Optimal Selection Canine, and MyDogDNA Select, our product available only through canine registries, in partnership with Royal Canin®. Wisdom Panel ancestry tests, such as Wisdom Panel Premium, Essential, or Breed Discovery, are not included in these data, although we do receive many purebred samples through those products as well. We do not use other measures to verify purebred status of the breed samples submitted.

Disorder reporting

It is Wisdom Panel’s belief that broad-spectrum screening for disorders benefits surveillance and early detection of disease in populations, and MyBreedData-reported disorders are not generally limited by breed. However, certain disorders are restricted to specific breeds, as we felt after review of published research that overinterpretation of disorder significance in other breeds precluded a benefit in reporting more widely. The following disorders are restricted to specific breeds:

• Dilated Cardiomyopathy Variants 1-4 – reported only in Dobermann Pinschers
• Early Adult Onset Deafness – reported only in Border Collies
• Dermatomyositis Locus A and B – reported only in Collies and Shetland Sheepdogs

As Wisdom Panel is continually updating and improving our testing, some disorder tests have been added more recently, while others have been included for many years. Sample counts will therefore vary based on when the test was added, less any samples that may have failed to meet sample quality criteria or failed to produce a result.

Data requests and collaboration

We do not currently provide automated data downloads, and our ability to generate custom breed reports on request, beyond what is provided here, is limited. However, if you are looking to publish a study and need more information, or you’d like to partner with us on a joint study, please contact Wisdom Panel at info@wisdompanel.com and we’d be happy to talk with you. Please note that we take client confidentiality seriously and comply with data privacy laws, so no identifying information about breeders or specific dogs is provided.

Citation guidelines

If you plan to use data from MyBreedData, we would appreciate it if you’d cite our work.

Recommended general citation:

MyBreedData [Database]. (2026). Breed-specific genetic diversity and genetic disorder data. Retrieved March 4, 2026, from https://www.mybreeddata.com.

Breed-specific report recommended citation:

MyBreedData. (2026). Australian shepherd dog heterozygosity and disorder frequency statistics (n = 1000+ dogs; 2019–2026 records; global heterozygosity method). Retrieved March 4, 2026, from https://www.mybreeddata.com

Final Thoughts

MyBreedData by Wisdom Panel is an unprecedented global cynological resource, translating complex genomic data into practical insights for breeders, veterinarians, registries, and researchers alike. By combining global disorder frequency data, robust diversity metrics, and continuously updated visualisations, users are empowered to do their own research and make informed, science-based decisions that balance health, sustainability, and breed preservation. Whether you are monitoring emerging genetic disorders, benchmarking your breed’s diversity over time, or conducting population-level research, MyBreedData serves as a trusted, unbiased reference to improve canine health worldwide.

References:

Donner J, Anderson H, Davison S, Hughes AM, Bouirmane J, et al. (2018) Frequency and distribution of 152 genetic disease variants in over 100,000 mixed breed and purebred dogs. PLOS Genetics 14(4): e1007361. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1007361

Donner J, Freyer J, Davison S, Anderson H, Blades M, et al. (2023) Genetic prevalence and clinical relevance of canine Mendelian disease variants in over one million dogs. PLOS Genetics 19(2): e1010651. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1010651