Embark Breed Identification Kit - Most Accurate Dog DNA Testing Kit - 99% Breed Ancestry Accuracy for Mixed Breed Dogs - Plus Relative Finder & Family Tree

This was a fun and surprisingly informative test to run on our dog. The kit is easy to use — you just swab inside the dog’s cheek, seal the sample, and mail it back using the included packaging. The instructions were clear and the whole process only took a few minutes. After sending it in, you just wait for the results to show up online. The report breaks down the breeds in your dog and gives a pretty detailed look at the genetics and traits. It’s especially interesting if you have a mixed breed and have always wondered what they actually are. It does take a little time to get the results back, but the information you receive is pretty detailed once it’s ready. Overall it’s a cool product if you’re curious about your dog’s background.

Worth every penny. I loved the setp by step updates and they not only give you the DNA results, they have health and behavior I for for you fur baby.

Fast results and super straightforward! 📝 Gives detailed breed info and health insights I didn’t expect. Kit is well-made, and instructions are clear. Fascinating to learn more about my pup’s ancestry—highly recommend! ✨🔬

I adopted my dog from a rescue shelter in 2020 with their guess that she was a mixed bassett breed dog, but I haven't been able to afford to get her tested without the help of amazon gift cards, don't judge me these tests are EXPENSIVE, so I ordered a DNA breed test kit and got a sample from my little girl, which is harder than it sounds when I didn't desensitize her to having her muzzle area handled. I like that the test came as a 'swab' test which is uninvasive to other body cavities , and just a minor discomfort for my dog, again not used to having her muzzle area handled, when swabbing her cheek pouches to gather enough DNA to get the test done. I also like that the results take a realatively short time, 2-4 weeks instead of 2-4 MONTHS. I'm definitely looking forward to finally finding out what breed mix my little rescue is!!

We did the Embark DNA test for our mixed breed and I’m honestly so glad we did. The process was simple — just a cheek swab and mail it back. Results took a few weeks, but the wait was worth it. The breakdown was incredibly detailed. It didn’t just give breed percentages — it explained traits, potential health markers, and even relatives in their database. That part was wild. We always guessed what our dog might be, and the results were completely different than we expected. It actually helped us understand certain behaviors better. It’s not cheap, but if you’re curious about your dog’s true mix or want insight into potential health risks, this feels like the most thorough option out there. Would absolutely recommend for anyone with a rescue or mixed breed.

So easy to swab the cheeks, even in a younger puppy. The processing was quick even though it said it would be close to a month for results. I love seeing the breeds that make up the mutts I love so much. I already knew the main ones but seeing what makes up the smaller percentages is nice. Pretty expensive for what it offers though. Definitely wait for a good sale. Especially if you get the health and trait upgrade after the fact. Most of the health things are very breed specific so they don't even apply to most other dogs. $50 more was crazy for the little more it told me. Most of the traits said they weren't certain anyways so what was the point?

This was my second time purchasing this product. It was really easy to use and the instructions were clear. Collecting the sample was quick, and I got updates along the way while waiting for the results. The breakdown of breeds was super detailed and included traits and health insights, which was really interesting to learn about. It was fun, informative, and totally worth it if you’re curious about your dog’s background.

$130! What I like about this Embark kit (besides the name) is that it arrives quickly, is easy to use, the company let me know how things were progressing, and the report looks nice. What I dislike about it is that I think that breed identification is wrong, not only on my dog but on many others I’ve looked at. [The attached photos show 1) two views of Belinda; 2) Belinda’s photo with supposed breeds from her Embark page; 3) Belinda beside a 35 lb Shelty for comparison; 4) Photo of a Continental Toy Spaniel or Papillon Phalène from the World Dog Show to show similarities to Belinda; four bitches from the Embark site with the same mitochondrial DNA 1Ab Haplogroup and A402 Haplotype as Belinda, to show that they aren’t enough to establish the breed, anymore than they do with humans.] When I submitted the information for my dog, Belinda, I did not include a photo or name what I think the breed is because I wanted the DNA test to make the determination. I don’t think it can be trusted. I believe Belinda is a papillon of the sort called a Phalène (moth), with ears that lift and drop as if she is trying to fly and ear tassels sometimes 7” long. (Papillons with upright ears and Phalène with mobile flying ears come from the same litters and are both shown as papillons in shows.) She has a wavy smooth single coat a couple inches long, as expected for a papillon. (Much linger on the culottes.) She has a very light long white tail that flies around but is not held curled. She is five, and I got her at 18 months, and she has always weighed 12 lbs 3 oz. That’s several pounds heavy for a papillon, so I figured she was mixed with something else. (Though she might just be from a papillon stock too heavy to show.) She is 12” at the shoulder, with long legs. She has culottes, as papillons always do. She’s a very fast runner, as papillons often are. She has one of the typical papillon faces (some have more pinched faces). Papillons often appear in paintings of royalty and nobility from the 16th to the 18th century, always as Phalènes, and Belinda looks just like them. They were her size back then. We call her a “killer papillon” because she loves to chase deer and thinks she is much bigger than she actually is. She’s an ankle-biting herder, always careful not to get stepped on. She happily runs several miles beside trotting horses. I chose Embark because Papillon was in their list of dogs they can identify. To my shock, Embark identified Belinda as 56% Pomeranian, 23% Dachshund, and 21% Supermutt (from Pekingese, ShihTzu, Pug, and Lhasa Apso). No Papillon at all! Oh, and an 11% Wolfiness Factor (the highest percentage I’ve seen—based on ancient wolf genes, not recent ones, supposedly—a larger percentage than Eskimo dogs!) Supposedly, both of Belinda’s parents were Pomeranians and two of her grandparents were Dachshunds. Imagine! That sounds almost deliberate. Okay, Pomeranians are way smaller than 12 lbs (though their larger cousin the German Spitz Mittel would be about the right size). Unlike Belinda and unlike papillons, they have double coats, the outer one rough. Like Papillons, they have culottes. They all have upright triangle ears, unlike Belinda’s flying Phalène ears with ear locks hanging down. I don’t know if the Embark test can distinguish a Pomeranian from the larger sizes of German Spitz dogs. As for Dachshunds, Belinda has silky fur, as do some dachshunds, but that’s about the only thing they have in common. Her legs are long, her body is not, and her ears are constantly in motion. She easily leaps three feet into a bed. That is not a Dachshund quality. Belinda’s Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroup is A1b, and her Haplotype is A402. I’ve attached photos of several other dogs with the same haplogroup and Haplotype, according to Embark. They don’t look very similar. Many Papillons also are in Haplogroup A1b, but so are Pomeranians, Dobermans, St. Bernards, and a Great Danes. Embark says that A402 is limited to Dachshunds, but a lot of dogs with that Haplotype don’t seem to look much like dachshunds. I realize that dog DNA studies are not as far advanced as human DNA studies. Maybe Embark’s tests for various diseases are accurate. I didn’t have those tested. I’m not a geneticist. I don’t understand all this. I do know that the human DNA testing companies can accurately tell you what your Haplotype is and where that occurs and where various markers are found. They can sort of guess where your ancestors come from, but sometimes that might be “Mediterranean,” or “Northern European.” Both of those cover many countries. Many people in Ireland and in Spain share certain genetic markers, but they may not look much alike. I’ve noticed that the 23 & Me and Ancestry DNA tests got much more specific about my Norwegian and South German and English ancestry when I told them that’s where my ancestors came from. However, they both also identified Ashkenazi Jewish, African, and East Indian ancestry I suspected I had but didn’t tell them about. I think a panel of dog show judges could be just as accurate at guessing dog breed just by looking at photos, especially if the owners volunteer that their dogs are purebred. I could do better myself, I think, than some of the Embark identifications. I saw three dogs identified as half Papillon and half Miniature Australian Shepherd, but they looked like Papillons to me. I hate to say the Embark identification kit is a scam, but I will say that if the result is unexpected, don’t assume it is right. If a dog is mixed, some of the markers used to identify a breed might occur in many breeds. With a purebred dog, perhaps the DNA markers fitting a pattern is conclusive. With a mixed breed, perhaps the very mixture makes it much harder to be conclusive. I am certain, however, that my Papillon Belinda is not a Pomeranian/Dachshund/Wolf. I wrote to Embark with specific questions about the science. I received an immediate response saying I’d get a full response in 48 hours. A week later I received a form letter that didn’t answer any of my questions. I responded, asking for an answer to my questions and explaining that I planned to write this review. I received no response.