A DNA health test shows which inherited diseases a dog could pass on to its puppies, so a mating can be planned to avoid them. MRRA requires DNA testing before any mating, and every result added to the register helps protect the breed.
What MRRA requires
- All DNA health testing must be done before mating, and the results given to the Registrar.
- Both parents of a litter must be DNA health tested, including the CDDY/IVDD test.
- If both parents are carriers of the same disease, the puppies must be health tested too.
- A dog with an Affected result for any disease can only be registered with the footnote “Not to be bred with”.
- For a litter by artificial insemination, the sire and dam must be DNA verified and the puppies DNA parent verified. A dog not bred by a Recognised Breeder proves its parentage with a DNA parentage test.
The full wording is in the MRRA Rules and By-laws. For breeding in your State, see Puppies and the Law.
Our preferred laboratory: Orivet
Orivet, an Australian laboratory, built the original DNA profile of the Murray River Retriever. In 2017 members’ dogs in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales gave samples for it, and the Registrar worked through the results with Orivet. Because Orivet holds the breed profile, MRRA prefers Orivet for DNA testing.
How to test with Orivet
- Order a Full Breed Profile from Orivet. It covers the diseases and traits relevant to the breed. If you need parentage proved (for example for an AI litter), Orivet’s DNA Fingerprint / Profile test does that.
- When the kit arrives, activate it in your Orivet account and choose Murray River Retriever as the breed.
- Add your MRRA membership number under Breed Club, so the results come to the Registrar as well as to you.
- Take the cheek swab as Orivet’s guide shows, and post it back.
- When your results arrive, the Registrar records them on the MRRA Dog Register.
Tested with another laboratory?
Results from other laboratories, such as Embark, are accepted. Send a message to the Registrar through the contact form and they will arrange to receive the full report. Orivet remains the preferred tester because it holds the breed profile.
Reading the results
Most of the diseases tested are inherited recessively: a dog needs two copies of the variant to be affected.
- Clear - the dog does not have the variant and cannot pass it on.
- Carrier - one copy. The dog is not affected, but passes the variant to about half of its puppies. If two carriers of the same variant are mated, about one puppy in four will be affected.
- Affected (or “at risk”) - two copies. The dog may develop the condition, and under MRRA’s rules is not to be bred with.
A DNA test is not a diagnosis. Talk to your vet about what a result means for your dog’s health.
