Dog DNA Testing

All living things inherit their traits from their parents, whether it’s a person’s height, a dog’s coat type, or a flower’s petal color. Traits aren’t copied with 100% accuracy from parent to offspring, though. Since traits are inherited from both parents, all sorts of mixing and matching can occur on the genetic level. The environment...

Why do littermates look different from each other? How is breed ancestry inherited? Learn more in this introductory video on genetic inheritance. What is genetic inheritance? How does genetic recombination work? Why do human siblings not look exactly alike? Why do canine littermates often look different from each other? Even though puppies will receive half...

Current science geek, future genetics whiz?   Keep watching for more boredom busters from Embark, including word searches, crosswords, and more quizzes. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. 

When two different purebred dogs have puppies, the resulting litter can have a wide spectrum of looks. This effect is compounded if the parents themselves are mixed breed. Sometimes it can be hard to believe the puppies are related going solely off their appearance. While it’s possible for one litter of puppies to have multiple...

People are often surprised to learn their dog has some Chow Chow ancestry. Why are Chows common in mixed-breed dogs, but uncommon as purebreds? Learn more about this surprisingly common breed result with Embark’s Chief Science Officer, Dr. Adam Boyko. Chow Chows were popular in the 1980s Although we don’t see as many purebred Chows...

Spots and ticking can have a surprising origin in your dog A dog’s breed is more than coat deep. Dalmatian? Maybe not. Some dogs have spots on areas of white fur, commonly called “ticking”. While this is a characteristic of Dalmatians, many breeds can be spotted, such as Border Collies and American Staffordshire Terriers. Sometimes...

The splotchy coat pattern called merle can come from many breeds A dog’s breed is more than coat deep. Many assume that dogs with a splotchy, merle coat pattern have ancestry from Australian Shepherds or Catahoula Leopard Dogs. However, this isn’t always true. Merle can be inherited from many breeds, including Collie, Great Dane, Dachshund,...

Every day, we hear from Embark customers who are surprised by their dog’s breed results. This often happens with mixed-breed dogs that don’t quite look like you’d imagine based on their breed breakdown.  These expectation-defying differences are possible because of how genetic inheritance works. Just like you, your dog gets one set of genes from...

Hi everyone! Erin, Embark’s Senior Veterinary Geneticist, here. As more people have been choosing Embark for their genetic testing needs, I’ve been receiving quite a few questions about our technology — what is “DNA microarray technology?” “Is it proprietary?” “How do you know it’s accurate?” “How is it different from the single mutation tests that...

Occasionally, we get questions from customers curious about how their dog’s DNA is processed into the genotype data that we analyze to understand breed ancestry and health risks. Once we receive your dog’s cheek swab, the DNA contained in the sample is copied many times in a process called amplification. Next, all of those copies...

“Are these dogs really siblings? They look nothing alike.”  This is a common question people have after using our Relative Finder. After you’ve Embarked your pup, there is a chance that you’ll come across dogs who are very closely related to yours, but look very different.  We’ve written previously about how the breed(s) in your...

Dog; it’s the first word many of us learn and the first friend many of us have. Dogs are an integral part of our communities and lives, they represent a feeling of warmth, home and comfort to so many. While pets often become members of the family, many don’t know as much as they could...