Swabbing Tips - How to Swab a Puppy, Avoid Contamination & More!

At what age can you test your puppy? Have a multiple-dog household? Worried about contamination? Accidentally spill some of the liquid? Was your swab damaged? Do not worry! We have you covered.

How old does my dog need to be before I can test her? How soon can I test my puppies?

You can test your puppy at any age since DNA test results will not change. 

We recommend doing cheek swabs around 4 weeks of age or when the pups can safely be isolated from mom and littermates for at least an hour. It is possible to swab a puppy as early as 2 weeks of age, however, you must ensure that he or she can safely be separated from their mother for at least an hour and can be kept warm.

When you do the cheek swab, please have someone help you hold them and give them plenty of water during the one-hour wait. Insert the swab between the cheek and gum and press gently towards the outside, against the cheek. Rub and roll the swab against the cheek for a slow count of 30-45 seconds. This should collect enough cells for DNA extraction. The primary mistake that many people make is not leaving the swab in the mouth long enough to collect sufficient cells.

Note that while genetics will not change as the puppy ages, it can be very difficult to observe physical breed traits in young dogs because they are growing and developing rapidly. Most dogs will not achieve their final mature physical traits until they are at least one to two years of age.

Will the swab hurt my dog?

No, it's gentle and soft, easier than brushing their teeth.

The DNA collection is painless—and sometimes humorous while watching your pup trying to eat it (make sure that doesn't happen, though). 

Embark uses a gentle sponge swab, not the bristle brush that many of the other testing companies use. The sterile, gentle, sponge-tipped swab minimizes any chance of infection or irritation and has been completely approved by thousands of dogs before your own. Rest assured, your pup will be comfortable.

What if I have more than 1 dog at home?

If you have multiple dogs in the household, please keep the dogs separate for two hours. To ensure that a good swab sample is obtained, it is best that your dog does not share water or food bowls with another dog for at least two hours prior to swabbing.

Do NOT use the same swab for multiple dogs as it will prevent results from any of them.

Why did my swab fail?

Typically a swab fails because there was not enough DNA for us to analyze. Check out this article for more information on swab failures and replacement swabs.

Help! My swab was damaged.

If you find your dog got a little peckish during the swabbing process and the swab is now damaged, don't worry. Your dog will be fine—the swab is not toxic.

As for the damaged testing swab, we would be happy to send you a replacement swab free of charge.

In order to send you a replacement, please follow these steps:

1. Activate your kit.
2. Contact us and provide the activation code or the 14-digit swab code on the white label found on the side of the tube (below the barcode).

With this information, we can cancel the damaged swab and authorize a replacement swab on your dog’s profile.

Did I contaminate my swab?

Customers often worry that their swab may be contaminated. For example, they touched the swab briefly with their fingertip or the swab fell on the ground for a moment.

If this happens to you, we recommend that you proceed with sending the sample in for analysis. Our CLIA-certified lab will detect any issue with your swab during quality control, such as not having enough DNA from your dog or having DNA from multiple dogs on it. If the swab is determined to be unusable, we will issue a free replacement swab at no charge. You’ll be notified when this happens. Otherwise, we’ll proceed with returning your results. 

If you are certain that the sample is contaminated, please contact us for further instructions.

The liquid in the tube spilled out. What can I do?

Not to worry, we understand that accidents happen. We are happy to send you a replacement swab free of charge. In order to send you a replacement, please follow these steps:

1. Activate your kit.
2. Contact us and provide the activation code or the 14-digit swab code on the white label found on the side of the tube (below the barcode).

With this information, we can cancel the damaged swab and authorize a replacement swab on your dog’s profile.