On March 4, CBC News (Canada’s publicly owned news and information service) ran a television and online report about an investigation of four companies that offer dog DNA tests that purport to identify the breeds in mixed-breed dogs. Within a day, practically everyone I know was posting links to the online report with comments like, “I knew those tests were bunk!”
In the past 15-plus years that they’ve been available, I’ve been skeptical of the ability of these commercial testing products myself. However, I will say that, in my experience – and that of the CBC report – two companies in particular seem to provide results that are at least in the ballpark of possibility for the most common dog breeds found in North America. And one company seems to have a pretty good handle on identifying the origin of mixed breed dogs from other parts of the world. My response to the report, though, takes in a few details that many commenters seemed to miss.
The CBC sent DNA samples for four individuals to four different companies that offer mixed-breed dog DNA tests: Accu-Metrics, DNA My Dog, Embark, and Wisdom Panel. But they picked odd (in my opinion) candidates to use for the tests: A human, a purebred Great Dane, a mixed-breed dog from Turkey, and a mixed-breed dog from Kuwait.
As far as the human sample was concerned: I was pleased to learn that Embark and Wisdom Panel immediately sussed out that no dog DNA was present in the sample. And was not terrifically surprised when Accu-Metrics and DNA My Dog returned various dog-breed mixes in their results for the human sample. (Before seeing this report, I had never heard of Accu-Metrics before, and, a long time ago, received similarly incredible results of a test from DNA My Dog.)
The latter two companies also failed to accurately identify the purebred Great Dane. Results from DNA MY Dog suggested the dog was mostly Great Dane, but also 10% -25% Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Accu-Metrics returned the breed that the CBC suggested on its submission form that the dog most resembled: a Chihuahua! I don’t see any need to further discuss any results – or ever recommend the services from – either of those two companies.
Both Embark and Wisdom Panel correctly identified the Great Dane as 100% Great Dane.
Mixed-Breed Dogs from Other Continents
I so wish that CBC had used mixed-breed dogs from North America as their last two “test dogs,” because there are likely to be very few representatives of the most common purebreds dogs on other continents in Embark’s and Wisdom Panel’s databases. The most common (or likely) mixed-breed dogs on the streets in Turkey and Kuwait are not likely to be the breeds that are most common (or likely candidates) mixed-breed dogs found in Canada or the U.S.
Wisdom Panel identified the breed mix for the Turkish dog as Segugio Italiano, Chihuahua, Anatolian Shepherd, German Shepherd, and Estrela Mountain Dog. Without information as to how common those dog breeds are found in Turkey, it’s impossible to know how accurate this might be. To its credit, Embark identified the breed mix of the same dog as 100% West Asian Village Dog – meaning they were able to pinpoint the mixed-breed dog’s geographical origins. I’d call that a home run!
Similarly, Embark identified the dog from Kuwait as 100% Arabian Village Dog – again, at least accurately identifying the dog’s geographical place of origin. (Kuwait is also located in West Asia, but also at the northern edge of Eastern Arabia.) Wisdom Panel identified the dog as being a mix of American Pit Bull Terrier, Chihuahua, German Shepherd, Segugio Italiano, and Xoloitzcuintle.
Comparing Embark and Wisdom Panel, the two leaders
I’m a little dubious about the idea that these two foreign-born dogs could share three breeds in their Wisdom Panel results (Chihuahua, German Shepherd, Segugio Italiano), so I’m rather more impressed with Embark’s performance here. However, I’d want to compare the results from these two companies on more prosaic mixed breed dogs from this continent before dismissing Wisdom Panel altogether. In our past comparisons, using my two mixed-breed dogs Otto and Woody, the results were pretty darn close.
Otto’s DNA Test Results:
Woody’s DNA Test Results:
Back when I was still fostering Boone, my 1-year-old adolescent dog, I ordered a DNA test kit from Wisdom Panel, and these were the results:
But I think I am going to go ahead and order a test kit from Embark, to compare these results. I have a feeling, based on the CBC report, that I might invest a little more confidence in Embark’s results, but I’ll let you know!
I have tried both Embark and Wisdom Panel. Wisdom Panel is more accurate. We rescued a Jindo who came from Korea. Wisdom had her majority breed Jindo which is exactly what she is and resembles. In fact, her name when we rescued her was Jindo. We call her Jin Jin. Wisdom indicated she was 75% Jindo, and 12.5% Chow and 12.5% Akita. Embark had labeled her as EAST ASIAN VILLAGE DOG. While it could describe a Jindo, the test indicates there is no specific breed aligned to this classification. Wisdom also provided a family tree of breeds for her and which side of her family is Jindo and which side is a mix of Jindo and the other two breeds. I have also tried Embark on another mixed breed rescue with less than satisfactory results. Going forward, Wisdom Panel is our gold standard/go to for DNA tests.
My rescue looks like a Rat Terrier, but at first they said Jack Russell Terrier. So I did Wisdom to see and it came back 50% Parson Russell Terrier and 50% companion dog. That was almost helpful! Not that it really matters to me, as I love him to pieces.
The shelter thought Duncan was a Papillon mix. Probably bc of his butterfly fringed ears. He is 40% long haired chihuahua. Fifteen % Pomeranian. Hence the ears. There are so many wonderful things about Embark that I could go on and on but I won’t. I loved the fact I sent them only a swab. No pic, absolutely no info at all. Just a swab and they nailed it. The results explained so many questions I had about him. I would never use anyone else. They send me other dog’s info that have the same mix and give me the opportunity to touch base with those people. I take an annual survey to help in their research
I used both Wisdom Panel and Embark. Wisdom Panel reported that my black and tan 55# dog was chihuahua and dalmation. My dogs black and tan coloring is similar to a doberman or rottweiler. Then I tried Embark. Embark came back with beagle, german shepherd, lab, retreiver, chow, aussie, collie. His personality is very much in line with the beagle. He likes to run off and explore if he gets a chance and has done very well in nosework. I have used Embark with another rescued dog and a friend used Embark on a rescued puppy mill breeder. My opinion is Wisdom Panel missed the mark completely and Embark has been excellent in all respects. I would recommend Embark and only Embark.
I’ve done both on Diana pawPrints and Freyja grey. Aside from results, I like that Embark allows me to message relatives, something Wisdom panel does not. Diana has a brother, Pete, on Embark and they met for a play date. She has another brother on Wisdom, Winston, who we have no way of contacting.
As for Freyja Grey, I think her results on Wisdom are closer than Embark. I suspect she might be part Seppala Sled Dog and her results look very much like those of the breeds they’ve crossed into the working sled dogs.
Both Embark and Wisdom are working to improve their accuracy and I think Wisdom has come quite a ways as can be seen comparing Boone’s recent test to those of Otto and Woody.
Back in the infancy of these tests I had one done on Ramses. While I didn’t see it at first, once it came back and I saw his biggest parts were Afghan Hound and Boston Terrier, I started seeing those traits. The nose, his gait when he ran towards me.