The Pilgrims weren’t the only ones who arrived at Plymouth in 1620. They brought dogs on the Mayflower with them. These Pilgrim pups might have been present at the first Thanksgiving. How do we know there were dogs on the Mayflower? Thanks to journals the Pilgrims kept, we know that...
Did you know that we can trace dogs and Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos, all the way back to ancient civilizations? Day of the Dead has roots in Aztec and Maya traditions. Today, it's an important part of Mexican culture. Modern Día de los Muertos takes...
Embark offers the world’s first and only canine relative finder, so you can further explore your dog’s DNA story. Our Relative Finder shows your dog’s relatives based on how much DNA they share. It also gives you the ability to connect with their owners. In fact, it has already led...
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...
“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...
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...
At Embark, we often receive questions like this one: "How can you differentiate ancestry between closely related breeds?" For example, American Bulldogs and modern English Bulldogs are the descendants of working English Bulldogs that made their way to America with working-class immigrants. So, how can we tell the difference between...
Where did dogs come from? While the answer isn’t yet clear, DNA has given scientists many clues about the origin of our canine companions. What do we know about where dogs came from? As The New York Times reports, “Scientists generally agree that humanity’s best friend descended from gray wolves,...
