We occasionally hear from our customers that a test result we provided for their puppy must be wrong because the puppy should be what is known as “clear by parentage”. Clear by parentage is the process of assigning a clear genetic status to a puppy based on the clear status of both the dam and sire without actually testing the puppy. The avoidance of directly testing each puppy was originally used when a single genetic test for an animal was around $150 and it was prohibitively expensive to test a litter of puppies. This was also back in the day when GenSol Diagnostics first started in the industry and through innovation we helped reduce the price of testing to a much more affordable $30 per test. Not only did this make genetic testing much more accessible to breeders and pet parents but it also made the potential error prone use of clear by parentage generally not recommended as a long-term strategy for avoiding genetic disease in litters.
It is typical for us to hear from customers that they have genetic test results on both the dam and sire so any puppy produced from the particular combination will also be clear. While this is technically true, the other piece of information required to verify this assumption is genetic verification of paternity. We have found that this is typically the missing piece of information for most breeders that leads to unexpected results for their litter. In addition, many databases that accept genetic results will not accept a designation of clear by parentage without both genetic test results and verified paternity for each puppy for both the dam and sire. The most common error in using clear by parentage is relying on incorrect parentage due to mix-ups that can include multi-sire litters, kennel accidents, or artificial insemination. The clear by parentage also only applies to the direct offspring of tested clear parents and does not extend beyond a single generation. It is also important to note that clear by parentage must be established independently for every potential mutation. So, just because a puppy has been shown to be clear by parentage for one mutation does not prove clear by parentage for all mutations. You still have to test the dam and sire for each potential mutation.
The good news is that with the reduced cost of testing that has been seen in the industry over the years, this has also changed the need for clear by parentage due to cost constraints. If you add up the cost of a genetic test for both the dam and sire for each mutation and then add paternity testing for each puppy, it is more expensive than simply testing puppies directly for each mutation. This not only saves money but will give you the confidence in the true status of each puppy. You will no longer have to deal with finding out generations later that something is not what you think. Breeding and healthcare decisions impact our lives and the lives of our animals. Why not use the best information you can. And as always, don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions.