Embark vs Wisdom Panel 2024: Which Dog DNA Test is Best?

Navigating the dog DNA test market can be challenging, given the many brands claiming to deliver comprehensive insights into your dog’s breed, health, and ancestry. Embark and Wisdom Panel are two leading names in this area, and you might be considering which one is more accurate, detailed, or user-friendly.

To aid in your decision, I have thoroughly tested both brands. My review focused on several key factors: the scope of health tests, accuracy of breed identification, user experience, turnaround time, and customer service. This evaluation aimed to provide a detailed comparison of Embark and Wisdom Panel, offering a clear understanding of what each brand offers.

While Wisdom Panel does a commendable job, particularly with its breed detection accuracy and swift results, Embark slightly edges it out overall. Embark offers a more extensive health screening, and its breed database is broader, providing a more nuanced understanding of your pet’s ancestry. As we delve deeper into this comparison, you’ll understand why Embark slightly outshines its worthy competitor.

Trace Your Pet's Ancestry

Is One Sample or Two Best?

Both Wisdom Panel and Embark utilize saliva swabs for collecting your dog’s DNA sample, yet they feature some distinctions, with one narrowly taking the lead in effectiveness.

The Wisdom Panel kit includes two saliva swabs resembling mascara brushes with a bristle head. The procedure involves gently rubbing each swab against the inside of your dog’s cheek for 30 seconds. While the process is straightforward and the instructions are clear, the bristle head’s design could be improved for better canine comfort. My experience showed that my dog was somewhat resistant to the bristle brush, necessitating multiple attempts to collect a proper sample.

With Embark, there’s only one saliva swab and it’s a cotton head, so collecting my dog’s saliva sample was much easier. It only took 30 seconds to do.Embark’s instructions were a bit more complicated compared to Wisdom Panel’s simple ones. There were a few extra steps that needed some patience, like putting the swab in a container and giving it a good shake for 10 seconds.

The good news is that both kits cover the shipping costs back and forth. No surprises there. After you’ve collected your sample, the next step is to get your kit registered online. Here’s a little heads-up: Wisdom Panel took a bit of time – like a couple of days – to sort out my kit ID, but Embark got it done right away when I registered.

And the Winner is…Embark!

Both kits are very similar in terms of their collection methods, but Embark is the winner for me. While I appreciated Wisdom Panel’s clearer instructions, Embark’s simple one-swab with a cotton head is much more straightforward. Plus, the cotton head is more dog-friendly than the plastic bristle used by Wisdom Panel.

I suppose two samples might improve accuracy if the first sample is collected incorrectly. If you mess up with Embark, there’s no other option. That said, I favor one 30 second swab over two.

Get a Dog-Friendly Test Kit With Embark!

Your Dog’s Breed Percentage: Is it a Match?

Wisdom Panel’s dog DNA kit tests for 350+ breeds, types, and varieties to find your dog’s match. It can identify breeds down to as low as 1% in your dog’s genetic makeup, so the results you get are exact and highly detailed.

Your dog’s DNA analysis is performed in US laboratories that are fully compliant with AAHA guidelines. They’re also accredited by A2LA and the USDA, with ISO 17025 certification. What that means is 99%+ accuracy when it comes to your dog’s breed identification.

Here’s an example of my dog’s breed identification results.

Clicking on any of the percentages takes you to a detailed overview of the breed type, where you can learn interesting facts about their personality, characteristics, and the historical nature of the breed. You also have an idea of their typical physical appearance, including height and weight.

With Wisdom Panel, you can also learn about your dog’s traits. These traits were categorized into three areas on my dog’s report: coat color and type, body features, and ideal weight range. The test analyzes 35+ different traits to help you understand hairlessness and shedding, body shape, eye color, and more.

Find out Your Dog's Breed with Wisdom Panel!

Embark also analyzes your dog’s DNA against 350 breed types and 230,000 genetic markers to give you the breed summary. It includes wolf, coyote, dingo, and even village dog.

Similar to Wisdom Panel, your dog’s genetic makeup is broken down into breed percentages to give you a fully detailed result. It’s not as nice to look at as Wisdom Panel’s, and it doesn’t provide you with as much descriptive information about the breed, either.

What it does do, however, is provide you with a ‘mix matches’ profile. Embark scans the database to find dogs it has tested that have the same genetic makeup as your own pup and allows you to view this from your dashboard. Wisdom Panel doesn’t have anything similar to this feature.

Embark assesses over 35 traits to give you the full picture. Although that’s not as many as Wisdom Panel, you actually get way more insight and detail.

You can learn about your dog’s muzzle length, eye color, muscling and bulk, coat length and type, and even whether they carry the appetite gene. I was also able to download raw DNA data so I could see which chromosomes my dog carries for each trait, but I’m not sure this is much value to a pet owner.

Embark also offers a maternal and paternal line. With this test, you can trace your dog’s ancestors to see where they came from and learn more about your dog’s history. This isn’t available with Wisdom Panel.

Embark has another feature that’s not available with Wisdom Panel. In my dog’s report, I found a section for the coefficient of inbreeding, which shows you a graph comparing your dog’s genes on their mother’s side to their father’s side. The higher the COI percentage, the more inbred your dog is.

And the Winner is…Embark!

Both tests provide accurate and detailed findings, but Embark distinguishes itself with its greater level of detail.

Although Wisdom Panel features a dashboard that’s more visually attractive and presents fascinating information about your dog’s breed, Embark excels. It provides a more thorough insight into your dog’s heritage and ancestry, tracing both paternal and maternal lines, and includes an inbreeding coefficient.

Uncover Your Dog’s Breed with Embark!

Is Your Dog’s Health at Risk? Both Tests Will Tell You

Wisdom Panel and Embark provide comprehensive kits designed to screen for various health conditions in dogs.

Wisdom Panel’s advanced kit conducts screenings for genetic disorders and over 200 specific health conditions. It assesses drug reactions, vision, body weight, and joint wellness. Additionally, Wisdom Panel’s report offers insights into skin condition, potential epilepsy, and how well vitamins are absorbed.

These kits are particularly beneficial for aspiring dog breeders, as they can identify whether your dog carries genetic traits that may impact the well-being of future puppies.

Wisdom Panel screens for 25+ conditions that might make normal medical procedures such as neutering or spaying more dangerous. For example, you can see whether your dog carries the MDR1 gene mutation, which would affect their ability to absorb and distribute drugs in their body.

This insight is available with the breed test, so you don’t have to pay more to screen your dog for MDR1, which is a huge advantage.

The health report for your dog provides a comprehensive breakdown of any genetic disorders and medical conditions they may be at risk of or carriers for. The results for my own dog were presented in a clear manner, explaining each condition and its impact on their health, along with helpful tips on how to discuss these health conditions with my veterinarian. Notably, as my dog ages, the report recommended annual testing for certain conditions.

One of the standout features of Wisdom Panel Premium is the inclusion of a free follow-up veterinarian call. If your dog tests positive for any condition, you have the option to schedule a 15-minute phone call with a veterinarian to discuss the report. I found this service to be incredibly beneficial, as the veterinarian provided valuable insights and guidance on each condition mentioned in my dog’s report, including advice on how it could impact their health and what precautions to take.

In comparison, Embark also screens for over 250 health conditions covering 16 broad categories, including brain and spinal cord, skin and connective tissue issues, blood, immune, hormones, and neuromuscular conditions. It includes your dog’s predisposition to diseases that affect them later in life, such as degenerative myelopathy, glaucoma, and dilated cardiomyopathy.

Screen Your Dog's Health with Wisdom Panel!

Like Wisdom Panel, the Embark dashboard showed me which, if any, conditions my dog is at risk or a carrier of. It also lists every condition that my dog tested clear for.

Clicking on any of these conditions allowed me to learn more about it and how it might affect my pup in their day-to-day activities. I liked that it explains if the condition will affect their offspring, too.

I liked that Embark screens for breed-relevant conditions and tells you which variants it detects. In this way, my report was very personalized to my dog rather than just a huge list of conditions without much understanding of their relevance.

You can send the detailed health report straight to your vet via email from your online dashboard to organize any treatment or modify their care plan, which is a really neat feature.

With Embark, the report also included advice on nutrition and exercise as part of my dog’s health results. It explained how much I should be feeding my dog and which ‘stage’ of dog food to buy, as well as advice on probiotics, allergies, and intolerances.

If you need it, you can access a phone call with a vet geneticist to discuss your dog’s results.

Assess Your Dog's Health Risks with Embark!

And the Winner is…It’s a Draw!

No matter which test you choose, you get a fully detailed report that screens for over 250 different health conditions, followed by actionable advice so you know what to do next.

Wisdom Panel offers a free 15-minute phone call with a veterinarian to discuss any positive results, but Embark lets you download a multi-page PDF to email directly to your own vet right there and then. Both tests are equally as good as one another, so when it comes to health tests, it’s a draw.

Can You Find Your Dog’s Long-Lost Relatives? With One of These Tests, Yes

Wisdom Panel traces your dog’s ancestry back to their great-grandparents, which is displayed in a rather nice-looking family breed tree. Here, I could see which breeds my dog’s parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents are to further understand where his exact mix comes from.

As you can see, my dog’s parents on one side could’ve been two possible breeds, so the family tree displays all possible mixes. You can click on any of the breed types to learn more about them, their characteristics, body features, and behavior.

Embark offers the exact same. It also traces your dog’s family tree back over three generations, which is shown in a family tree like the one below.

As I expected, you can click on the breed types to find out more about them, but there’s not as much detail as Wisdom Panel. I only got a very small description of the breed without much information on their characteristics or traits. However, Embark has something that Wisdom Panel doesn’t.

With Embark, you can trace your dog’s long-lost relatives using the relative finder. It scans the Embark database to see if there are any dogs that yours is related to, then gives you contact details so you can reunite your dog with their family members. It also shows you how much DNA your dog shares with its relative.

And the Winner is…Embark!

Both the Wisdom Panel and Embark family trees look exactly the same, tracing your dog’s ancestors back over three different generations. Wisdom Panel’s tree offers more detail about the different breeds in your dog’s bloodline, but a doggy relative finder? It’s a clear win for Embark because there’s simply not another dog DNA test that offers this feature.

But Wait, Cost and Time Does Matter

Both reports are equally great, but how long does it actually take to get results? And does each test offer good value for money?

Wisdom Panel advises its results take 2-3 weeks after the laboratory receives your results, which isn’t long at all. My dog’s results took 3 weeks.

I was able to track my dog’s results back to the lab and see once it’s been received, when it’s being processed and analyzed, and when the report is ready. I also got an email notification to let me know my dog’s report was complete.

Embark, on the other hand, takes 3-5 weeks, which is quite a bit slower than its rival. I had to wait 4 weeks to get my dog’s report, and I was slightly annoyed that I didn’t get everything in one email. One day I received the breed results, and a few days later the health report was ready.

You can still track it to the lab and when it’s being reviewed, with email notifications to advise you of updates. You don’t get the interactive, eye-pleasing dashboard that you get with Wisdom Panel, though.

Price-wise, both services offer two different DNA tests – one standard kit and another that includes the health tests, which are more expensive. Wisdom Panel comes in much cheaper than Embark.

Wisdom Panel’s standard kit costs less than $100, while Embark’s costs you $30 more at $129. The health test is also $40 more expensive than Wisdom Panel, costing $199.

With Embark, you do get a little more detail in some places, such as advice on nutrition and exercise, maternal and paternal maps, and of course, the dog DNA relative finder. For that reason, the premium price tag is justified.

That being said, Wisdom Panel offers a free phone call with a vet to discuss your results and you still get a high-quality report with loads of breed information, traits and behavior results, detailed health risks, and ancestry over four generations. So you’re not missing out on much with the cheaper option.

And the Winner is…Wisdom Panel!

With the interactive dashboard, quicker results turnaround, and cheaper price point, Wisdom Panel claims first place when it comes to time and value for money. That said, it depends how much detail you really need from your dog’s DNA test.

Test Your Dog’s DNA with Wisdom Panel!

A Small Price to Pay for a Lot of DNA

Both Wisdom Panel and Embark are strong choices for dog DNA tests in their own right. While they offer very similar features, Embark has slightly more to give, including a relative finder, maternal and paternal tracing, and inbreed screening.

But with Wisdom Panel, you get more breed information, quicker results, a much nicer dashboard, and a free phone call with a veterinarian.

Overall, though, it really depends on how much detail you want from your dog’s DNA test. If you just want to find out your pup’s breed and trace back through a few generations, Wisdom Panel is a great choice.

If you really want to locate long-lost relatives, uncover your pup’s history, or you’re worried about your dog’s breed-specific health conditions go for Embark. Sure, you’ll be waiting a little longer, but it’s worth it for the extra information you’re after.

Now you’ve tested your dog’s DNA, what about your own? See our review of the 10 best accurate and cheap at-home DNA tests.

FAQs

Which dog DNA test is most accurate?

Both Wisdom Panel and Embark are highly accurate, with 99% accuracy. They screen for over 350 breeds and 230,000 genetic markers to correctly identify your dog’s breed and associated health conditions, physical traits, and more.

How long does Wisdom Panel take?

It takes 2-3 weeks from when the DNA test arrives in the lab to get your dog’s DNA results. You can track your dog’s test on your online dashboard and you’ll receive an email notification when the report is finished.

How long does Embark take?

It takes 3-5 weeks from when the DNA test arrives in the lab to get your dog’s DNA results. You get emails along the way, so you know when your test has arrived at the lab and when it’s being assessed, as well as when the results are ready to view.

Which is easier to use, Wisdom Panel or Embark?

Both tests require a 30-second saliva sample using a wand. Wisdom Panel kits include two plastic swabs, but Embark only has one, so it takes you less time. However, there isn’t one test easier than the other since the collection methods are the same.

What’s the difference between Wisdom Panel and Embark?

With either test, you can find out your dog’s breed, trace their ancestors back to great grandparents, and screen for various health conditions.

With Embark, you have extra features including paternal and maternal lines, and a relative finder. Wisdom Panel offers a free phone call with a veterinarian if your dog tests positive for any health condition, but this isn’t included with Embark.