Wisdom Panel Essential Dog DNA Kit Review

Wisdom Panel Essential is Mars Veterinary’s dog DNA kit that offers the perfect mix of affordability and value.

With the Essential product, you’ll get deep insights about your dog’s genetic breed make up, along with key health screenings, all without breaking the bank.

Wisdom Panel Essential provides:

• In-Depth Breed Report. Your report will show what percentage of different breeds is in your dog’s genes, along with other information, like how much your dog might weigh when fully grown.
• Your Dog’s Family Tree. See your dog’s breed ancestry as far back as your dog’s great grandparents.
• 25 Genetic Health Screenings. Wisdom Panel Essential runs tests for twenty-five of the most common genetic health conditions. This includes the MDR1 (multi-drug sensitivity), which detects the likelihood of adverse drug reactions, and exercise-induced collapse (EIC), which affects a dog’s nerves and muscle and can result in exercise intolerance.
• Dog relative finder. Get access to Wisdom Panel’s dog relative finder, which can help you connect with your pup’s long-lost cousins or siblings, See photos and even compare DNA results!. 99.9% of the dogs tested with Wisdom Panel get a match for a canine relative in the Mars Veterinary database!
• 35+ Physical Trait Tests. Get physical trait info concerning your dog’s appearances, explaining why your dog’ coat looks like it does, what tail shape your dog has genetic traits for, etc.

What You’ll Get in Wisdom Panel Essential

With Wisdom Panel Essential, you’ll get access to several areas of doggie DNA data, including:

Dog DNA Breed Composition & Ancestry

Wisdom Panel examines your dog’s DNA marker pattern and detects the various breeds found in your dog’s last three ancestral generations, using several different algorithm models for superior accuracy.

See exactly which breeds are behind the special one-of-a-kind concoction that is your dog!

You’ll also be able to see your dog’s family tree, and see which breeds your pup’s parents and great-grandparents were!

Dog Relative Finder

Wisdom Panel’s dog relative finder tool helps you find your dog’s cousins and even siblings! And with Mars Veterinary boasting one of the largest animal DNA databases around, you’re sure to get a match.

In fact, 99.9% of the dogs tested via Wisdom Panel end up receiving a matching canine relative!

Physical Trait Detection

Wisdom Panel Essential also gives you access to physical trait detection, classifying over 35 physical dog traits.

Basically, you’ll be able to see which physical traits are detected in your dog, relating to a variety of physical aspects from your dog’s coat color and ear shape to their tail structure!

You can see both recessive and dominant physical traits in your pup’s biology!

Partial Health Screenings

With Wisdom Panel Essential, you’ll also get to see which genetic conditions have been detected in your dog’s DNA. Your dog will be screened for health issues like multi-drug sensitivity (MDR1), and several others.

With the Essential product, you’ll only get access to a limited number of 25 or so health screenings (compared to Wisdom Panel Premium, which provides over 210 health screenings).

How Does Wisdom Panel Essential Stack Up?

Mars Veterinary (the company behind Wisdom Panel), actually has several product offerings:

• Wisdom Panel Premium
• Wisdom Panel Essential
• Wisdom Panel Breed Discovery

Wisdom Panel Premium is the top-of-the-line product, with tons of breed and health insights. The Breed Discovery option is for owners who just want to know the breeds that compile their dog — nothing else.

Essential is in the middle.

For owners who don’t want to spend the extra cash on Wisdom Panel Premium’s full array of 210 health benefit screenings, the Essential version is a great fit.

You’ll get access to all the great dog DNA breed composition data that comes from Wisdom Panel, along with 25 of the most essential genetic health screenings.

But how does Wisdom Panel Essential stack up against other DNA kit offerings outside of Mars Veterinary?

Embark is Wisdom Panel’s main competitor, and Embark offers two DNA test kit options — the Embark Breed + Health Kit and the Embark Breed Identification Kit.

Unlike Wisdom Panel, there is no in-between option.

Either you pay for the higher-tier Embark Breed + Health Kit, with the full array of health screenings and breed insights, or you get the Breed Identification Kit, which is only breed data with no health insights.

It’s pretty cool that Wisdom Panel offers an in-between option, offering some great health screenings without making all dog owners pay for the full 200+ health screening panel.

All in all, when it comes to value and getting the most bang for your buck, Wisdom Panel Essential is the way to go!