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This article was produced in partnership with Wisdom Panel.
If you’re a rescue pet parent, chances are you’ve been asked the breed of your pet and had to respond with either an educated guess or “Not sure—they’re a mystery mix!”
It’s not always a very satisfying answer, and for some pet parents, the curiosity is strong. That’s what prompted us to test Wisdom Panel, one of the most popular companies currently offering dog DNA tests. Through the process, we discovered that there’s much more to a dog DNA test than learning your pet’s breed—including some surprising health benefits.
In this review, we’ll walk you through how the Wisdom Panel DNA test works, our results and experience with the company, and how it stands up compared to other DNA testing on the pet market.
Key Features of Wisdom Panel’s DNA Tests
Wisdom Panel offers three tiers of dog DNA tests: Breed Discovery, Essential, and Premium. Each kit comes with two swabs and a box to ship your sample back for free. Which tier you choose will depend on whether you’re just interested in finding out your dog’s breed or you’d like some more insight into their genetic makeup and health.
Here’s a breakdown of what each different kit offers.
The Breed Discovery test includes:
- Screening against 365+ breeds
- Family history going back three generations
- Test for MDR1 (drug medication sensitivities)
- A list of close, extended, and distant relatives
- Robust website resources on breed traits, temperament, and care needs
- Easy-to-use app and website
- Results within three weeks
The Essential test includes all of the above, plus:
- Screening for 25+ genetic health conditions
- Testing for 50+ physical traits
The Premium test includes everything above, plus:
- Genetic mutation testing for 265+ canine health conditions
- Veterinarian phone consultation available to discuss results from health tests
Pricing
Unsurprisingly, the Premium test is the most costly of the three tiers at $159.99 at the time of writing. The biggest value proposition of opting for a premium test is the screening for health conditions. This is definitely worthwhile if you’re unsure about your pet’s health history. We opted to test the Premium version to get a sense of the full experience with Wisdom Panel.
Offering some middle ground between no health data and extensive health insights, the Essential test is $104.99. And, on the lowest end of pricing, the Breed Discovery test is $84.99. These kits often go on sale, however, if you’re looking for a discounted price.
Compared to Embark, another top leader in the dog DNA space, Wisdom Panel’s kits are more affordable. In fact, Embark’s breed and health kit clocks in at nearly $200 at regular price. However, we did find that Embark’s genetic marker analysis was more in-depth. So, it may be worth splurging if this is the element you’re most interested in.
Accuracy and reliability
Currently, none of the dog DNA testing companies on the market offer full transparency into their methodologies, but Wisdom Panel has shared that they test your pet’s genetic code against millions of possible breed combinations. Wisdom Panel also has a downloadable whitepaper detailing the algorithm used to match your dog’s sample to their panel of breeds.
In less technical terms, Wisdom Panel uses ~100K markers and includes breeds that are 1% of your pet’s background. As a rule of thumb, anything below 10-20% is likely negligible since lower levels tend to introduce more uncertainty. As a comparison, Embark, which uses ~200K markers, combines breed results that are less than 5% into a “supermutt” category.
DNA Kit | Wisdom Panel | Embark |
Pricing | Breed Discovery: $84.99
Essential: $104.99 Premium: $159.99 |
Breed: $129
Breed + Health: $199 |
Turnaround Time | 3 weeks | 2-4 weeks |
Breeds Screened | 365+ breeds | 350+ breeds |
Physical Traits Screened | 50+ traits (Essential & Premium) | 35+ traits (Breed + Health Kit) |
Genetic Health Testing | 25+ genetic health conditions (Essential)
265+ genetic health conditions (Premium) |
250+ genetic health risks (Breed + Health Kit) |
Relative Finder/Family Tree | Yes | Yes |
Vet/Expert Review | Vet consultation for “at risk” health findings | Talk with a vet geneticist |
Website | Easy-to-use site
Extensive resources on breed traits, temperament, and care needs |
Easy-to-use site
Extensive resources on breed traits, temperament, and care needs |
Test Methodology | Uses ~100K markers Includes breeds that are 1% of your pet’s background |
Uses ~200K markers
Combines breed results that are less than 5% into “supermutt” category |
Enzo’s Testing Experience
My mystery mix, Enzo, has some very distinctive characteristics: he has spotty paws and floppy ears, plus an intense prey drive for anything from squirrels to cats (yet zero interest in playing fetch). He also gently nips my ankles to herd me toward his food bowl or leash, and he has a sometimes overbearing need to cuddle or be held.
I suspected he probably has some heeler or border collie, but I wondered if knowing his breed for certain would help me understand some of his quirks and unique needs better.
Another practical reason for learning more about Enzo’s heritage was to identify potential future (or present) health conditions. Wisdom Panel’s DNA test can detect some genetic disorders and other medical complications. Enzo started having seizures back in 2019, and our vet diagnosed him with epilepsy by ruling out other conditions. I wanted to know if this or any other health issues might show up on his results.
Using the DNA kit & website
The instructions for Wisdom Panel’s dog DNA test were very straightforward: activate your test using the sample ID on the side of the box, swab your pup’s inner cheek, and drop the pre-labeled shipping box in a mailbox near you.
Unfortunately, if you’re disorganized like me, you might forget to take the simple step of activating the test before dropping it in the mail. Luckily, Wisdom Panel’s customer service was extremely helpful, and they were able to quickly locate my sample ID using my name. (I would still recommend actually following the instructions.)
Enzo didn’t particularly love having his mouth swabbed and made some nice snarling faces when I moved toward his cheek with one of the two provided swabs. Since you’re supposed to collect the sample at least two hours after feeding your dog, I wasn’t able to use my usual tactic of bribing him with treats. The process was quick, though, and not too different from my past attempts to brush his teeth.
Wisdom Panel doesn’t require a picture of your dog, though you can upload one to your online profile if you like. They also don’t ask any questions about what breed you think your dog might be, so their results were entirely reliant on matching Enzo’s DNA against their database of breed-related genetic markers. (I didn’t upload any photos until the test results were in.)
While waiting for the DNA test kit results to come back, we were able to log into Wisdom Panel’s interface to see the status of my kit as it moved through the lab testing process. They have both an online interface and an easy-to-use app.
Enzo’s dog DNA kit test results
Our test results arrived almost exactly three weeks after I’d mailed in the swabs. According to Wisdom Panel’s testing, Enzo is 39% Australian Cattle Dog, 17% Border Collie, and 56% other breed types, including Asian & Oceanian, Guard, Terrier, Hound, Companion, and Sporting. Basically, he’s a little bit of everything.
His top two breeds were what we had guessed—but the Chow Chow and Chihuahua were unexpected! Though any breed below ~10% should be met with some healthy skepticism since the accuracy diminishes at a certain point, it was fun to see the individual breakout of breeds (rather than it being grouped into “supermutt”).
Relatives and family tree
A few months after we did the test, Wisdom Panel rolled out the ability to see relatives—close, extended, and distant. Though my test was done before this feature existed, I was able to retroactively see a list of Enzo’s relatives. The list has grown over time and likely will continue to grow as more pet parents get DNA tests for their pets. You can enable a messaging feature to allow other pet parents to reach out if you’d like.
Identifying genetic health risks
Since we used Wisdom Panel’s Premium kit, they also performed 210 tests to look for genetic risks. (They’ve since expanded this to test for 265+ genetic health conditions.) Enzo’s health results reported one notable genetic variant: Primary Lens Luxation. This indicated that the lens of his eye had a small chance of becoming loose and eventually displaced. There wasn’t any genetic indication of epilepsy present.
One perk of the health panel and Premium test is the option to follow up with a veterinarian for a 15-minute call to talk through any notable results. I chatted with a Wisdom Panel vet who walked me through Enzo’s risk level, the implications of the disease, treatment options, and what to look for in the future—like eye irritation or squinting.
I asked why Enzo’s seizures hadn’t been flagged and was told that Wisdom Panel hopes to continue to broaden their test—but it, like most dog DNA tests, isn’t yet able to screen for every health risk. Another complicating factor is that not all epilepsy cases are genetic—trauma and metabolic disorders can also play a role. So it’s possible no genetic test would have caught Enzo’s epilepsy.
Final Review: Is the Wisdom Panel Dog DNA Test Worth It?
Wisdom Panel’s dog DNA test is an effective way to learn more about your pet’s genetics. They provided a streamlined testing process, responsive customer service, and an easy-to-use interface with helpful educational resources. The results were comprehensive, and it was a good value for its price point.
Dog DNA testing isn’t a catch-all solution to health disorders, especially multi-factorial ones (disorders that involve multiple genes). But the Wisdom Panel test did flag some signs to watch out for, and I’ll be keeping an eye on Enzo’s vision. No pun intended. Ultimately, though, we recommend consulting with your primary veterinarian on the test results and any health concerns.
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