Allelic vs. Genotype Frequency 

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

Phenotype frequency of disorders refers to 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. That’s why we refer to dogs as “at risk” instead of “affected” in Wisdom’s testing. However, for simple recessive conditions, the 2 copy column will tell how many dogs are at risk, and for dominant conditions, the 1 and 2 copy columns together will tell how many are at risk.  

Genotype frequency tells how often we see that particular allele combination, for example, 12% of X breed are carriers (1 copy) for a recessive disorder, or 2% of Goldens are at risk for progressive retinal atrophy (PRA).  

Allelic frequency tells 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 

As with the breed filter, you can  filter by a single disorder, all disorders, or multiple disorders. To see all disorders found for dogs registered as Cockapoo,  select breed > Cockapoo “only” and leave all disorders selected. This will bring up all findings in the Cockapoo. To see the frequency of a specific set of disorders, unselect all disorders but the ones of interest.  

Unique Considerations for Designer Dogs 

Designer dogs, as you may already know, have received very little scientific research on health or behavior, despite their popularity. For purebreds, there’s often published scientific evidence in support of clinical relevance for a given disorder in the breed, but in designer dogs, we don’t have such luxury. To compound matters, a minority of designer dogs are screened for genetic disease risk. Some disorders are known to be simple recessive, and reliably produce disease risk across a number of breeds. If those disorders are found, we can assume they would also likely produce disease risk in a designer dog. Thankfully, Wisdom Panel has a lot of experience in researching purebred as well as mixed-breed dogs, which benefits the designer dog community as well. The following are disorders that reliably appear to produce disease or adverse reaction risk, regardless of breed background: 

Other disorders, however, such as CDDY with IVVD risk, we know to be heavily influenced by other breed-specific or environmental factors that are not fully known, so it is important to seek clinical confirmation, such as spinal radiographs, if genetic testing suggests a designer dog may be at risk of disease. The following are disorders that are known to be complex, or express differently depending on breed background: 

This complexity doesn’t mean the results should be ignored, but use of these test results in breeding decisions should also take into consideration how much is known about the behavior of that particular finding in your designer dog. To learn more about the decision-making process if you have an at-risk or carrier dog, please read Interpreting Disorder Results and What to Do About Carriers. To learn more about complex genetic disorders and terminology, please read Genetics 101. If you have a designer dog that was found to be genetically at risk for a disease, and was clinically confirmed to have the disease, we at Wisdom Panel would like to know so we can adapt the information we provide to designer dog owners and breeders in the future. If you want to learn what disorders are known in specific breeds, check out MyDogDNA or Optimal Selection websites and click "Search by Breed" to find your progenitor breed disorder lists.  

For Researchers: How Data is Collected, Processed, and Used 

If you are a researcher utilizing MyBreedData’s data visualization 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 would be happy to get back to you. 

Data updates 

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

Sample eligibility 

We have chosen to limit reporting to samples analyzed on our more recent panels, as significant improvements in marker counts and disorders available means 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 designer dog samples through those products as well. We do not use other measures to verify purebred or designer dog 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 or type. However, certain disorders are restricted to specific breeds, as we felt after review of the 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: 

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. 

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

Breed-specific report recommended citation: