The Embark Breed ID kit is a cheek-swab dog DNA test that screens for more than 400 breeds and matches dogs with relatives in Embark's database, without the health screening of Embark's pricier kits. The Spruce Pets named it its pick for mixed breeds, finding it easy to use and reporting that results arrived a couple of weeks earlier than promised. Chris and Whitney in the Windy City ran it alongside a Wisdom Panel test on the same dog and found the top breeds and percentages closely matched, with Embark's relative matching turning up the dog's mother. It suits owners of mixed-breed dogs who mainly want ancestry and relatives; owners of very small dogs, or anyone wanting genetic health results, should look elsewhere.
Full review
Breed results that held up against a second test
Chris and Whitney in the Windy City tested their mixed-breed dog Gertie with Wisdom Panel and, a year later, with the Embark breed-only kit. Embark placed her at 19.8% Poodle, 18.7% Beagle, 16.2% American Pit Bull Terrier and 14.3% Bernese Mountain Dog, with Samoyed and Pomeranian making up most of the rest. The reviewers said the breeds and percentages were very similar to Wisdom Panel's, which gave them more confidence in both tests. The differences were mostly at the margins: Embark folded several small contributors into a 19.4% 'Supermutt' share and named only three breeds within it, without percentages, where Wisdom Panel listed 13 breeds down to 1%.
Quick turnaround and simple swabbing
The Spruce Pets found the kit easy to use, send back and understand, and its results came back a couple of weeks faster than promised. Its one practical complaint was the swab: the head is large, which may make it harder to use on small dogs. Chris and Whitney in the Windy City described the process as essentially identical to Wisdom Panel's, from scanning a QR code to posting the tube with a prepaid label and receiving roughly weekly email updates. They preferred Embark's soft, foam-like swab to the more plasticky bristled collector in the Wisdom Panel kit, and noted that each breed in the report links to a page about that breed.
Strong on relatives, lighter on traits
Relative matching is where Embark stood out for Chris and Whitney in the Windy City: it separates immediate family from more distant matches, and it found their dog's mother, Pippa, along with likely siblings, plus a family tree going back to great-grandparents. The trade-off is a slimmer report. The same reviewers missed the traits, behaviour and adult-weight section of their Wisdom Panel results and said Embark has nothing comparable. This kit also leaves out health screening; the reviewers noted that buyers who want it have to pay more for a version that includes it.
Strengths
- +Results came back a couple of weeks sooner than Embark promised in The Spruce Pets' test
- +Screens for over 400 breeds with a detailed percentage breakdown of a mixed dog
- +Easy to swab, post back and read, according to The Spruce Pets
- +Relative matching identifies immediate family; one YouTube tester found their dog's mother
- +Top breed results closely matched a Wisdom Panel test on the same dog
Watch-outs
- −Large swab head may be awkward to use on small dogs
- −Minor breeds are lumped into a 'Supermutt' share without individual percentages
- −Lacks the trait and adult-weight section that Wisdom Panel's report includes
How it compares
The Embark Breed ID kit is the breed-only version of the Embark Breed + Health Dog DNA Test; The Spruce Pets listed it at $109 against $139 for the Breed & Health kit, which adds screening for more than 230 health conditions. The Wisdom Panel Essential Dog DNA Test, listed by The Spruce Pets at $105, includes basic genetic health screening that this kit does not, while Embark's breed database covers 400+ breeds against Wisdom Panel's 350+.
Rating sources
Our 4.3 score is the average of these published ratings. Ratings marked * were derived from the reviewer’s written analysis or video transcript — the publisher didn’t print an explicit numeric score, so we inferred one from their own words. Click through to verify. More about methodology.
