Wisdom Panel is the one lab report on this list confirmed directly from a real, current, official sample dog report — not a marketing page describing what the report probably says. That matters, because Wisdom Panel's wording is one word different from what most breeders expect, and it's an easy mistake to make if you're skimming instead of reading.
Clear / Notable / At Risk — not Carrier
Wisdom Panel's health results use three labels: Clear, Notable, and At Risk. The middle term is "Notable," not "Carrier." This is confirmed directly from an official, current Wisdom Panel sample report, not carried over from another lab's convention or an older version of Wisdom Panel's own reporting.
The word choice isn't cosmetic. "Carrier" implies a specific genetic relationship — one copy of a recessive variant, unaffected, able to pass it on. "Notable" is broader: it flags that the result is worth your attention without asserting the same precise carrier relationship in every case. If you're used to reading Embark's "Carrier" and you see "Notable" on a Wisdom Panel report, don't assume they mean exactly the same thing without checking what's actually being measured on that specific line — the same "clean recessive vs. everything else" distinction from the general health-panel guide still applies underneath whichever label the lab uses.
The three product tiers report different amounts
Wisdom Panel sells three consumer tiers — Breed Discovery, Essential, and Premium — and they don't all include the same health/trait content. Premium is the tier that includes health screening at the depth this article is describing; Breed Discovery is a narrower, breed-mix-only product. If a result you expected isn't on your report, check which tier was actually run before assuming something went wrong — a Breed Discovery report was never going to carry a health panel to begin with.
Wisdom Panel's health screening at the Premium tier covers 265+ conditions in dogs. Results are delivered through an online account, with an optional downloadable report — the same Clear/Notable/At Risk system applies whether you're reading it on-screen or on the PDF.
A breeder-specific product line exists too
Separate from the consumer Wisdom Panel tiers, Wisdom Panel's parent company also operates a breeder-focused line (marketed as Optimal Selection) covering 270+ disorders plus heterozygosity and parentage tools, including a litter- outcome prediction feature. If you're a breeder specifically, it's worth knowing this product exists as a distinct option from the consumer-tier report — the terminology described in this article (Clear/Notable/At Risk) is the consumer-report convention; a breeder-tier report may present additional detail the consumer tiers don't.
What breeders actually say about Wisdom Panel
Wisdom Panel's methodology has genuinely improved over time — the Clear/Notable/At Risk system above and the 265+ condition Premium panel are real, current, confirmed capabilities, not marketing claims. That said, it's worth being direct about something we hear consistently rather than pretend otherwise: within the breeder community, Wisdom Panel is widely regarded as less reliable than the other labs in this cluster, and a meaningful share of breeders have written it off as their go-to option as a result. This is breeder-reported reputation, not an independent accuracy study PGL has run or reviewed — treat it as one input into your own decision, not a verdict.
How Wisdom Panel compares to the other labs breeders use
| Lab | Breed ID | Merle Base Pair Test | Order by locus | Turnaround | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Embark | Yes, generally accurate | Not offered | No — bundled panels only | Standard | Only lab in this cluster with a Red Intensity marker (0–10) |
| UC Davis VGL | Not offered | Yes — the only lab here with base-pair-length testing | Yes | Standard | The precise assay for merle length class |
| Wisdom Panel | Yes | Not offered | No | Standard | Improved over time, but see the note above on breeder-reported reliability |
| Animal Genetics | Not offered | Not offered (see that guide's note on merle-screening accuracy) | Yes | Fastest of the five | |
| Orivet / Paw Print Genetics | Not independently confirmed | Not independently confirmed | Not independently confirmed | Not independently confirmed | Report format not independently confirmed for this cluster |
Put it through the interpreter
Once you know which tier you're holding and what "Notable" actually means for the specific line you're looking at, the next step is running the actual result through a real calculation.
Decode your Wisdom Panel results in the DNA Report Interpreter →
The interpreter's Wisdom Panel option uses this exact Clear / Notable / At Risk wording, so you're entering what your report actually says.
Download the Poodle Health Panel Worksheet for a printable summary.
Credible evidence supports what is described here, but it rests on general, uncited scientific principle rather than a specific study, and the article says so rather than rounding up.
- Published
- October 9, 2026
- Last reviewed
- August 25, 2026
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