Dog DNA test – Embark Breed + Health Kit

When you are not sure about your pooch’s parentage, the DNA test kit can offer you the most potent information regarding the ancestor. This information will help you find the genetic diseases and health issues that could affect the quality of life of your best buddy. The family tree offers you information from a huge database that contains the genetic signature of the most common and uncommon dog breeds.

Embark Breed + Health Kit gives you a wide range of different breeds and their genetic signature as a standard. This high-quality kit comes at a reasonable price and lets you know the pet’s parentage without hassle. You can download and share the results with your vet by clicking the easy-to-use menu from the website.

mobile app show you dog relatives

If you want to learn more about why Embark Breed + Health Kit is the best you can get, read along and decide for yourself. And they have a sale now. You can save up to $50 off with promo code HARK.

inside the box

Inside the box

  1. Instructions
  2. Swab
  3. Return envelope

So you just Activate, make a swab and send.

Embark Breed + Health Kit

The database of Embark contains almost all the dog breeds that the American kennel club recognizes. You can also benefit from the genetic information of stray dogs and gray wolves. The Embark kit offers you more than 200,000 genetic markers with more than 95 to 99% accuracy. Most pet parents use the health kit to know about any mutation their dog can have.

The manufacturers offer leads on more than 200 genetic mutations to provide the basic line for vets to organize a health plan for their dogs.

information about dog health, risks

They also communicate worrisome results to the owners, which is a distinctive competitive edge to Embark over their competitors. You also get downloadable and shareable results on the website. The easy-to-use dashboard provides you with extreme control over the interface.

Who is this for?

The dog’s appearance is confusing and deceptive when you want to identify the breed, just taking into consideration the appearance. The vets and experts like to play and guess the breed of the dog just from the appearance, but that doesn’t go along well. For example, a study conducted in 2012 with 100 shelter dogs. A significant number of professionals, 5922, took part in the study of identifying the breed of shelter dogs just by their appearance. The results enthralled everyone, including the participating experts. All of the combined knowledge and wisdom couldn’t give accurate results of more than 27%.

In 2015 another study involving four shelters and experts also explained the same phenomenon. The experts and vets claimed that only 25% of the dogs had pitbull genes in them. They used their expertise and knowledge to identify the breed of the dog because of the experience. Most of the time, the vets and experts consider the chest size, muzzle, or other physical features to tell the name of the breed. But that doesn’t mean their guesses are correct. When the shelter dogs were checked for their lineage with the help of a DNA kit, it revealed that half of the dogs had pitbull genes and parents which really shocked everyone. 

When you want to buy a dog from the breeder or seller, most of the time, they can charge you a higher price for a pedigree or designer dog. The best approach here is to wait three to four weeks after swabbing the puppy or adult dog for the results.

make swab

The DNA test kit will provide you with information on the parentage and percentage of breed in your preferred pet. So you would be able to pay the exact amount that the dog deserves. If you want your dog to be registered in a kennel club like the American kennel club, you will also need this test to get confirmation of the breed standard. 

But what about the breed results—are they accurate?

The human genetics algorithm is the technology that also works here when you want to know your dog’s breed. Various research and studies explore the occurrence of errors in this system. Different researchers claim that the discrepancies in this system could compromise the results, leading to an error of as high as 40%. Genetics is a complex field of study, and the markers are not that easy to define and identify. Once the marker has been defined, the algorithm will only work with the data provided by the concerned parties.

There is no authority or governmental influence on the testing service providers. It is also difficult to individually check for the authenticity and accuracy of these test kits and providers. You don’t also get a single breed as a result. You will only get the percentage and family tree. The dam and sire are important when you want to establish the breed of your beloved pooch. The mutt will have the percentage from the dominant genes of both parents. The percentage defined by these tests is accurate only according to their own database. 

The database consists of different markers and genes of breeds. Embark has 200,000 markers and comes with 94 to 99% accuracy because of the advanced and up-to-date plentiful information. The percentage you get from the test cannot be used as the genetic build-up for different diseases. It is only the suggestion that your dog could get affected by the same disease affecting the breed but changing the diet and medication plan can only be done with the help of vets and experts. Embark health and tool kit offers you the highest accuracy among the competitors. 

Flaws but not deal breakers

Embark comes with the largest swab wand that you can find in the competition category. This wand is like a Q-tip, but it is almost three to four times larger than the one you have at home. To take a sample, you need to keep the swab on the cheek or under the dog’s tongue. Smaller dogs find it difficult to keep it under their tongue or rub it in their mouth. This uncomfortably is not a thing that can make you skip this product and go for another option. But still, many pet parents find it difficult with that much larger Q-tip to take the sample. 

The packaging comes with two different instructions that can confuse the customers. One set of instructions requires you to open the swab, take the sample and then place it into a stabilizing solution that comes with the package in a plastic bottle. The other set of instructions requires you to place the swab into the sealable plastic bag. You can post this already-paid plastic bag that will allow you to receive the results in three to six weeks. Though Embark is revising its printing policy, we hope it will make things clear and less confusing for the customers. 

According to some experts, Embark doesn’t offer you the most promising results when you have a rare breed. Their database has more than 200,000 markers, but still, there are some missing breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club. It decreases the test accuracy a bit, but you will get the information of all the breeds in your dog that has more than a 5% share in the genome construction of your beloved dog. Most swabbing sticks require you the effort of 15 to 20 seconds swabbing in the mouth. But with the embark, you need to invest an extra 10 seconds to get the desired sample. 

Frequently asked questions

Dog DNA test is accurate?

Genetics in Medicine report explains that more than 40% of human genetic tests are inaccurate. When you want to have dog genetic information, the companies will also offer you the result based on their algorithm. In fact, these tests and their results result from systemic guessing. According to the researchers, there is no yardstick to measure the accuracy of the tests separately.

But still, experts believe that the company with the larger database on dog genetic markers can win the bet. The Wisdom Panel had 1800 genetic markers in 2019, but they upgraded their database and reached 100,000 genetic markers. The increase in the database increases the accuracy to 93% in the market.

Embark kits accuracy is astonishing 95 to 99%. They are using 200,000 genetic markers. It doesn’t matter how famous a dog breed you have. The kit will provide you with accurate information regarding the sire and dam family tree without any discrepancy. But still, the accuracy depends on the database and algorithm, which cannot be tested separately.  

What will a dog DNA test tell you?

A DNA kit will let you know the breed makeup of your beloved pooch. When you go for excellent quality kits, you can have the family tree for both parents’ sides. The sire or father family tree and mother or dame family tree will give you all the essential information that you will need to take good care of your pooch. The DNA kit also helps you know any mutation or genetic anomaly your mutt has. 

The DNA test will provide you with the potent information that will help your vet identify the significant issues and problems your best buddy might be going to suffer in the future. You can also understand the energy levels and other requirements of your dog. It will help you provide the physical exercises to meet the minimum requirements of your beloved buddy to have a happy and healthy well behaved dog. 

How do you do a DNA test on a dog?

You don’t need a professional to take the sample. All you need is to wash your hands and wear gloves that you mostly find in the kit. Make sure that your dog hasn’t eaten anything in the previous two hours. Take out the swabbing stick that will help you extract the DNA in the form of saliva from the dog’s mouth. 

Hold your dog in your legs or ask someone else to do it for you if you haven’t trained your dog through obedience training. You need to keep your dog in a firm position to do the process. When your dog is in the right position, put the swab in the mouth and rub it on the dog’s cheeks. You will need to continue rubbing for more than 15 to 20 seconds. Once the swab is filled with saliva, take it out and do not pace it on anything or try to touch it; this way, you can compromise the results. 

Put the swabbing stick in the packet given in the package for contamination-free sampling. Now you can mail the kit back to the manufacturer, where they will match your dog’s DNA with the database of the genetic signature of various breeds. You will get the report on the website or receive the mail regarding the parentage of your pup within two to four weeks.

References:

  1. Embark Dna Test
  2. What Breed of Dog Do You Have?
  3. Inconsistent identification of pit bull-type dogs by shelter staff
  4. Stephany Tandy-Connor MS, Jenna Guiltinan MS, Kate Krempely MS, Holly LaDuca MS, Patrick Reineke BS, Stephanie Gutierrez BS, Phillip Gray PhD & Brigette Tippin Davis PhD, FACMG. False-positive results released by direct-to-consumer genetic tests highlight the importance of clinical confirmation testing for appropriate patient care

1 Photos of the Dog DNA test – Embark Breed + Health Kit

Author of 1001doggy.com Silvia Brown
Written by Silvia Brown
Glad to see you, my friends! I started this blog several years ago as a hobby and continue to write articles about dogs.
I'm a dog lover and the proud owner of two wonderful dogs: French Bulldog Maya and Beagle Tom. It's been more than 10 years since I had a dogs and worked closely with them. I've raised four dogs throughout my life and have experience assisting in the births of two dogs. At least once a week, I volunteer with friends at a dog shelter AMA Animal Rescue and Animal Care Centers of NYC in NY.

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