Cimarron’s Dog DNA Journey: How Wisdom Panel and Embark Line Up

I wanted to share our experience with getting DNA testing on Cimarron, the 12 year old senior “chiggy” who I adopted last summer. I started testing dogs 5-6 years ago and I think the results do help us understand our dogs better. But, as someone who some academic training in research, I don’t think it’s perfect. So, that’s why I want to tell Cimarron’s story.

I got a DNA test from Wisdom Panel early in the process because it’s my go-to due to affordability. It sat for 2 months while I worked to socialize Cimarron. She fought me pretty hard, but we got the sample and sent it off in October.

Two weeks later when I got the results, I was stunned. Why? Because there seemed to be a missing link. Cimarron came to me as a Chiggy, as reflected in her puppy records dating back to puppyhood. None of the Wisdom Panel breeds explained her IGGY build and temperament. I even asked vets to check her back for pathology and they said she was fine but had a Greyhound build. (Results are posted below with Embark results. )

I decided to get her an Embark test for Black Friday just to compare. It sat until early January, when I caught in a mellow mood and I was able to get a good sample. (Side note: The Embark test had a return envelope to an address they moved from 2 years previous. They initially told me the swab was lost, sent a new test. I went through the hassle of recollecting a sample on a dog who gets fear aggression around such things. Within a week, the first swab showed up in the lab followed by the second swab. I wasn’t impressed.)

We got the Embark results earlier this week. The results were markedly different. Both have chi as primary, but a 30% difference! Wisdom Panel found 5 sub-breeds not identified by Embark. Embark found 2 sub-breeds not identified by Wisdom Panel. Still no Italian Greyhound, but Embark did find Rat Terrier as the secondary breed. Apparently, some Rat Terrier lines descend from Italian Greyhounds or Whippets. She obviously carries a strong phenotype that suggests sight hound ancestors. Because they were bred into Rat Terriers many years ago, it would not show up as a separate breed.

It’s worth noting that Cimarron only had 1 “first cousins” identified on both tests. I think family trees aid the algorithms in accuracy of results. Her cousins on one side had different breeds than the other side, likely explaining the difference between the tests. And, I’m taking any breed that’s less than 10% is there are no close kin with a grain of salt. In other words, she may have some Italian Greyhound in her more recently that’s just not showing up because her cousins don’t have it.