Wisdom Panel Dog DNA test reviews: The tests I used are on sale for Black Friday!

Wisdom Panel is by far one of the most popular brands for dog DNA test kits in the UK. They offer three different types of tests: the Premium Dog DNA test, the Essential Dog DNA test and the Breed Discovery Dog DNA test. Currently, the Wisdom Panel Premium Dog DNA Test and the Wisdom Panel Essential Dog DNA Test are on sale for Black Friday so if you've always want to know more about your pooch, now's your chance. You can save £50 on the RRP of the Premium Test and 35% off the Essential Test, allowing you to get to know your pup better for less.

Just like us humans, all dogs are different and made up of varying traits and genes to make them who they are. Our Senior Home & Pets Writer, Rosie Floyd, has always been a little curious about exactly what breeds are in the mix for her three dogs, which is why she jumped at the chance to review the Wisdom Panel Dog DNA tests for Take a Break Pets. Why is Wisdom Panel so popular and what’s the difference between the three tests? Rosie investigates and the results may surprise you (they certainly did her!)

Wisdom Panel Dog DNA Tests overview:

Meet the dogs:

Barney

Barney has always been the dog that I've been the most curious about his genealogy. When I went to view his litter, I saw that his mum was a Golden Retriever and I was told his dad was a Labrador. However, Barney isn't your average-sized Labrador; he's a big boy. Even as a puppy, he had a huge head and massive feet. Whenever I would introduce him to people, they'd say to me 'he's not a Labrador' and as he grew, it became a game among family and friends to try and guess what breed mix he was. Newfoundland and Rottweiler were breeds that commonly cropped up while I always maintained he was a Labrador x Golden Retriever so I was excited to see what the DNA test uncovered.

Bella

Bella is the newest dog in my pack at just two years old. I got her from a licensed, reputable breeder from the local area so I've always known she is a Cockapoo. The thing with Cockapoos is that although they've come to be a highly recognisable breed, they are still a crossbreed of a Cocker Spaniel and a Poodle. The thing that fascinates me about Cockapoos is that they can all be different. My brother has a Cockapoo called Teddie and he looks completely different to Bella so it got me curious to know how much of her is made up from Poodle and how much is from her Spaniel ancestors.

Gina

I've always known that Gina is a mixed-breed dog but I've never really known exactly what she is. My parents went to pick Gina out of the litter and they've always said she's a Yorkshire Terrier x Jack Russell. Gina is now 11 so I thought now that she's in her twilight years, it was a good time to know once and for all what breeds make up my 'Heinz 57 dog' as my mum likes to affectionately refer to her as.

Testing the Wisdom Panel Dog DNA tests:

How do you swab a dog for Wisdom Panels?

In every Wisdom Panel dog DNA test, regardless of what kit you choose, you get a DNA test ID, which you use to register online, a prepaid postage envelope and two swabs. You need to rub the two swabs all around your dog's mouth and gums for 15 seconds each. This is definitely easier said than done...

Swabbing a large dog

Barney is the most tolerant of all of my dogs and will pretty much allow you to do anything to him that you need to, so I tried with him first. If he doesn't like something, he won't bite but he will turn his head away from you and keep offering you his paw and he did that almost instantly after putting the swab in his mouth for the first time. I soon came to realise that getting the DNA samples would be at least a two-person job as you need to be able to hold your dog in one place to stop them from running while also getting them to open their mouth (or open it for them).

After enlisting help from a family friend to hold Barney and keep him calm, I was able to pretty quickly get both of his swabs done. For every type of Wisdom Panel dog DNA test, you need to then leave each swab for five minutes before packaging up so I used two plastic cups to keep the swabs separate from each other and free from any cross-contamination from loose fluff from my other dogs.

Swabbing a medium dog

While Barney's swabs were marinating, I then chose to swab Bella. As she's a much smaller pooch compared to Barney, I chose to put her up on a table so she was at a more manageable height for getting the swab. Bella did not like being swabbed at all and as soon as she realised the brush coming towards her mouth didn't contain anything yummy for her to snaffle, she tried jumping off the table. I then resorted to holding her and stroking her to keep her calm while a family friend attempted to get the samples. She kept turning her head away but after a lot of awkward manoeuvring and plenty of praise and encouragement, we were finally able to get Bella's samples.

An important thing to note with all of the Wisdom Panel tests is that your dog can't eat for at least two hours before taking the test as the food residue left in their mouth can interfere with the sample. This means that you can't coax your dog to take the test by giving them treats in between or wrapping it up in a piece of meat from the fridge like you would do if you were giving them medication.

Swabbing a small dog

Due to Gina being a bit under the weather when I did the other two's swabs, I waited a couple of weeks before doing hers. Out of all the dogs, I was looking forward to doing hers the least as she's a bit of a growler and biter when provoked. As predicted, she tried to bite my fingers as soon as I headed towards her mouth with the swab and when she wasn't trying to bite me, she locked her jaw into place so I couldn't get her mouth open. This meant I had to time it right to put the swab in her mouth for a couple of seconds each time until I'd reached the 15 seconds on each one, which meant it took about 10 minutes to do the test in total, not including the five minutes waiting time before putting back in the envelope.

I'd say if you have a reactive dog or a dog that is prone to biting, you will struggle to get the swab in the first place and it might take a bit of perseverance until you've been able to get the 15-second sample on each swab.

How long does it take for a dog’s DNA results from a Wisdom Panel?

In my experience, the results for each test came back super speedily. From the day of posting, Barney's Wisdom Panel Premium results took 14 days, Bella's Wisdom Panel Essential results took 17 days and Gina's Wisdom Panel Breed Discovery results took 16 days. With that in mind, it should take around two to three weeks for a dog's DNA results to come back from Wisdom Panel.

After you've taken the swabs, you need to put them back inside the packet they came in and into the prepaid postage envelope where you fill in your contact details and the DNA test ID. They then use this to match up with the details you put in online to register the test so they can make sure they send the results to the right email address.

Before taking the tests, I read some customer reviews online that said it's best to take the tests to the post office the day you do them as they can sometimes fail if they've been left around for too long.

Wisdom Panel Dog DNA tests: The results

Wisdom Panel Premium Dog DNA Test results

I tested Barney with the Wisdom Panel Premium Dog DNA test and these are the features it has:

• Matches DNA to 365+ Breeds, with insights into family history and a list of close, extended and distant relatives that have also completed the test that have DNA matches to your pooch
• Tests for 260+ health conditions, with an option to discuss 'at risk' health findings with a vet
• Screening for MDR1 drug/medication sensitivities
• Insight into your dog's genetic code
• Tests for 58 physical genetic traits

Breed and ancestry

The first thing I did when I received Barney's results was look at his breed makeup. I was delighted to confirm that he is in fact 50 per cent Labrador after all the years of friends and family doubting him. The breed that I was surprised to see in the mix was a Mastiff but it does go some way to explain his large stature. Even though it's only four per cent, it's clearly made quite a bit of difference to his overall size.

According to the family tree information provided by the DNA tests, one side of Barney's family has just been pure labrador for the last three generations down to his great-grandparents. However, one of his parents, one of his grandparents and one of his grandparents were Golden Retriever mixes which must be where the Mastiff and Flat-Coated Retriever come in.

Genetic traits

The premium test also tests your dog's DNA against genetic traits, such as coat colour and condition and the overall appearance of their head and body. I feel like a lot of the things the test picked up I already knew about Barney, but it was good to have a genetic backup of why he has certain traits. For example, I already know Barney is a big dog but he has two copies of a gene that makes a bulky appearance and back muscles more likely, which explains why I needed to put him on weight-loss dog food at one point...

Barney also has a lot of hair that sheds everywhere and the test has confirmed to me that he has genetics for a shedding trait. Another thing that has always interested me about Barney is that although he has a jet-black coat, you can sometimes see red flecks in it. The DNA test has shown he has two copies of a gene that is responsible for added tan and dark pigments to fur so I finally have an answer to his random redness.

Health conditions

The major draw to the Premium test compared to the other two is that it screens for 263 health conditions, so you can see if there are any conditions that your pooch is genetically more likely to get based on their DNA makeup. Luckily, Barney's tests have come back completely clear but when you take a look at the full health results, you can see exactly what your pooch's DNA has been tested for. If Barney's results did show something up, you have the option with a premium test to speak to a vet about any concerns you may have and signs to spot relating to that health condition.

Genetic code

The other feature that the Premium test has that the other two don't is a section about your dog's unique genetic code. It features copies of each of your dog's chromosome pairs, with one coming from each parent, so you can see which chromosomes come from which breeds in your dog's ancestry. For Barney, they were mostly pretty much half and half Golden Retriever and Labrador but chromosomes 7, 8, 9, 11 and 30 have a large presence of Mastiff in them.

I do think Wisdom Panel could explain this part a bit better because although they have an explainer of what this part of the test is about, it doesn't say what all the different chromosome numbers mean so I can't analyse it properly compared to Barney.

Wisdom Panel Essential Dog DNA Test results

I tested Bella with the Wisdom Panel Essential Dog DNA test and these are the features it has:

• Matches DNA to 365+ Breeds, with insights into family history and a list of close, extended and distant relatives that have also completed the test and have DNA matches to your pooch
• Tests for 25+ health conditions
• Screening for MDR1 drug/medication sensitivities
• Tests for 58 physical genetic traits

Breed and ancestry

Much like with Barney's test, I went straight for the ancestry section on Bella's test. Bella's breeder told me that her parents were a Toy Poodle and a Cocker Spaniel so I wasn't expecting too much of a shock in that case, but I was surprised to see all the different types of spaniels in the mix. One side of Bella's family tree was pure Toy/Minature Poodle but one of her parents and grandparents had a bit of Springer Spaniel in them. One of her great-grandparents was a Springer Spaniel mix too which must be where all the other types of Spaniel come from.

Genetic traits

Something interesting that came up on Bella's trait test report is that she has a copy of the 'roan patterning' gene, which is caused by an intermingling of white and pigmented hairs and a common trait among Cocker Spaniels. Bella is a red-haired dog but she has little patches of white hair in her coat, which could be caused by this trait. The trait report also identified that she has two copies of a reduced shedding variant in her DNA so I don't need to whip out the vacuum cleaner so often to clean up after her.

Health conditions

The Wisdom Panel Essential Dog DNA test screens against 30 health conditions, compared to the 260+ of the Premium test. For the things that Bella was tested for, she came up as being at risk for Chondrodystrophy (CDDY) and Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD). It's a skeletal disorder that is characterised by shortened limbs and abnormal early degeneration of the spinal discs. Bella has two copies of the gene that causes this condition, so while this doesn't mean that she will definitely get it or have it already, it means that she's at greater risk of developing it.

Wisdom Panel has provided a definition of what this gene copy means and symptoms to look out for that could mean that she has it. It is a worry as a pet owner seeing something come up on the tests but I think this has now made me more aware of what could happen to Bella in the future.

Wisdom Panel Breed Discovery Dog DNA Test results

I tested Gina with the Wisdom Panel Breed Discovery Dog DNA test and these are the features it has:

• Matches DNA to 365+ Breeds, with insights into family history and a list of close, extended and distant relatives that have also completed the test and have DNA matches to your pooch
• Screening for MDR1 drug/medication sensitivities

Breed and ancestry

As Gina is my most 'mixed' mix breed dog, I was intrigued to see what would come up in her ancestry section and the results really shocked me! I've always said that Gina is a Yorkshire Terrier x Jack Russell but she's actually got no Jack Russell in her at all. Parson Russells and Jack Russells do look very similar to each other so I will forgive my parents for making me think she was part Jack Russell for all these years but it's so interesting to see what else is in the mix.

I would describe Gina as a typical terrier, which makes sense now she's got seven terriers in her genetic makeup. I was immediately getting ready to Google all the different breeds in Gina's mix but Wisdom Panel had all the breed profiles listed below so I could spend some time getting to understand Gina a bit more.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see the Yorkshire Terrier percentage in her up so high as I really thought both of her parents were completely mixed breeds. However, according to her family tree, one side of her parentage is completely pure Yorkshire Terrier, with the other side being where all the different terrier mixes come from.

Health conditions

The main way the breed discovery test varies from the other two is that it didn't have in-depth health testing. It still tests to see if your dog carries the MRD1 variant though, which could mean they are allergic/have sensitivities to common drugs/medicines. The main reason I opted for this test with Gina is that, because she's an older dog, I didn't want to get bogged down with what could be wrong with her. Ignorance is bliss, after all. Gina is clear of the MRD1 variant so if she does get sick in the future, it's highly unlikely that she would have sensitivities to medication given to her.

Wisdom Panel Dog DNA Test reviews: My final thoughts

Overall, I’ve had a really positive experience with all three of the Wisdom Panel Dog DNA tests and I feel like I know all three of my pooches a little bit better now. I’ve finally got the proof I need to confirm Barney’s genetic makeup after it has been questioned for all of these years and I’ve discovered that Gina’s not actually got any Jack Russell in her after having her for 11 years! It’s also made me aware of the possibility that Bella may have issues with her spine when she’s older.

The thing you need to remember with these DNA health test results is that it doesn’t mean they’re definitely going to get any condition they’ve come up with as being at risk or a notable area of concern. It’s just that they’re more likely to or at an increased risk due to the breeds in their genetic makeup. It’s important to take it with a pinch of salt and not get fixated that your dog is sick or going to get sick in the future. If you want the clearest picture of your dog, it’s worth getting the Premium test and even the Essentials test screens for common health concerns. However, if knowing the full picture would worry you or just want to know the breeds that make up your pooch, the Breed Discovery test will be more than adequate.

The biggest thing I liked about the tests is seeing the exact percentages of different breeds that make up your pooch as well as diving more into the family tree and seeing what side the different mixes come from. My only wish is that it went back further so I could see my pup’s great, great, grandparents and so on. I also found the trait testing super interesting as well as you can see if there are genetic reasons for why your dog looks the way they do.

Rosie Floyd is a Senior Home & Pets Product Writer for Take A Break Pets, specialising in all things dogs. She grew up always having at least one dog as part of the family and has experience in owning a variety of breeds, including Labradors, Cockapoos and Yorkshire Terriers.