Can you do the test yourself without a vet? Will they accept cheek swab or semen that is collected by the owner? Or, do they require a vet to collect the sample?

Yes, you can do it yourself with a cheek swab. The U of Minn site even tells you which swabs to use and where you can get 'em!

When I contact UMN, I was told that the samples need to go through a vet, for reporting and for verification of microchip. An owner's verification is not acceptable.

Another reason to use DDC!

A vet must sign the paper work and verify the chip number but he/she does not have to do the cheek swab, you can do that yourself. You can buy them cheap at any good pharmacy, they are right over the counter, sterile swabs. Blood a vet must do. Vet verification of chip number is for OFA if you want to send in the results to the OFA for listing.

The U of MN will also accept semen samples without having to go through a vet.

How many times are certain *folk* going to push DDC?

I wondered why, so hard that I decided not to use them. There has to be a reason for 1 or 2 people to want DDC only used. Is there a reward or something like that for mass referrals?

Does InGen do this testing? I've never used them but I'm hearing of satisfied customers. I know no one that has used DDC yet, no reports, good or bad. U Minn I've heard all good also.

So what do I do? I've given this alot of thought as I am doing the EIC testing with half my heart in it.

For my 1st test I'm using U Minn, after that I will try InGen if they do EIC when I do color genetics testing on 1 of my girls.

I have used both U of M and DDC to do EIC testing. The reason I used DDC is that they were the first one taking swabs, which is easier and much cheaper to mail. Plus they give a good discount if doing 5 or more dogs only $48 vs $65 at U of M.

U of M took around 2 weeks to get results back and DDC only 2 days, from when they received our samples. So I don't have anything bad to say about either company but DDC is a little cheaper and very fast results.

Thank you Heather. It is good to hear from someone that has used both.