Dog health

Research conducted by the Animal Health Trust and funded by the Kennel Club Charitable Trust has shown that the vast majority of pedigree dogs will not suffer from conditions that are detrimental to their quality of life or that will reduce their life span. However, the Kennel Club wants to ensure that EVERY dog is given the opportunity to live a healthy life and recognises that there are areas where more can be done to safeguard the future health of our breeds.

In particular, the Kennel Club wants to ensure that the breeding of pedigree dogs is undertaken responsibly to help combat:

• Exaggeration – a trend in breeding that can lead to excesses relating to coat volume, obesity, over-angulation, shortness of muzzle, eye formation or excess skin. This, in turn, may prevent dogs from seeing, breathing and walking freely


• Inherited Disease – to ensure that breeders are responsible and make use of the opportunities that the advances in science have given us to ensure that healthy genes are passed on through the generations. Health screening schemes for eye disease and hip and elbow dysplasia, which are run by the Kennel Club and the British Veterinary Association, is one way that this can be achieved and all Kennel Club Accredited Breeders agree to take required tests for their breed

The Kennel Club has worked over many years to achieve the objectives above. Some of these changes have come about it the last six months, for example; the review of all 210 pedigree breed standards, a new code of ethics for breed clubs, changes to the show regulations and the banning of close matings. Others, which formed the groundwork for these most recent announcements, have been in place for much longer, for example; the Accredited Breeder Scheme, the establishment of health screening for dogs, the funding of research into canine health and the training of judges.

There is a lot of information on this page so please click on the links below to be directed quickly to the section you are interested in.

Breed Standards
Ban Close Matings
Independent Review
Revised Code of Ethics
Canine Genetics Centre
Accredited Breeder Scheme
Breeder Symposia
Health funding and testing to improve dog health
The Kennel Club Breed Health and Welfare Strategy group
Shows and Judging


Breed Standards - In January 2009 the Kennel Club announced the results of its review of all breed standards to ensure that all dogs are healthy, of good temperament and fit for their original function. The breed standards - the picture in words that describes each breed of dog - have been revised so that they will not include anything that could in any way be interpreted as encouraging features that might prevent a dog from breathing, walking and seeing freely. This will help to prevent the practice of exaggeration, where features that are perceived to be desirable, such as a short muzzle or loose skin, are made more prominent by breeders, and which can have detrimental effects on a dog’s health.

The revised standards are now fully effective and will be used at Crufts 2009 but the Kennel Club will welcome further representations from breeders until June 2009, when the interim standards will be finalised. To make representations related to your breed email caroline.hallet@thekennelclub.org.uk

The changes represent a major additional step forward for the long term health and welfare of dogs of all breeds and have been made following a series of reviews, which included breed experts and independent scientific and veterinary experts. Breed Standards are constantly reviewed by the Kennel Club and their development has benefited from extensive research that has been funded by the Kennel Club in conjunction with renowned veterinary research centres over the past 40+ years.

Every breed standard now also contains an introductory paragraph that makes it clear to breeders and judges that a dog’s health must be the top priority in any decisions they make and that desirable features must not be exaggerated or be in any way detrimental to the dog’s health. The introductory paragraph to every Breed Standard will read: A Breed Standard is the guideline which describes the ideal characteristics, temperament and appearance of a breed and ensures that the breed is fit for function. Absolute soundness is essential. Breeders and judges should at all times be careful to avoid obvious conditions or exaggerations which would be detrimental in any way to the health, welfare or soundness of this breed. From time to time certain conditions or exaggerations may be considered to have the potential to affect dogs in some breeds adversely, and judges and breeders are requested to refer to the Kennel Club website for details of any such current issues. If a feature or quality is desirable it should only be present in the right measure.

View the revised Breed Standards here.

Ban Close Matings
The Kennel Club has announced that it will crack down on the small number of breeders who continue to use the practice of mating close relatives by refusing to register those puppies that are born from any mother/son, father/daughter or brother/sister mating, taking place on or after 1st March 2009. Departures from this principle will only be made in exceptional circumstances or for scientifically proven welfare reasons. Kennel Club research into the genetic diversity of all breeds in the UK is ongoing and further changes will be considered in the future, on a breed specific basis.

View the announcement here.


Independent Review - Set up and funded by the Kennel Club and Dogs Trust – The review, chaired by Professor Sir Patrick Bateson FRS into the registration, breeding and showing of dogs, reflecting that the priority of both organisations is to promote and support the care, welfare and breeding of healthy dogs.


Revised Code of Ethics - The Kennel Club announced mandatory compliance with its strict code of ethics for all breed clubs registered with the Kennel Club, to ensure that their practices fall in line with Kennel Club policy for putting the health and welfare of puppies first. This includes a clause that explicitly forbids the compulsory culling of healthy puppies.

Click here to read more about the revised Code of Ethics.


Canine Genetics Centre – This new centre will be run in conjunction with the Animal Health Trust, confirming the Kennel Club’s commitment to research into inherited diseases and the provision of DNA testing programmes which identify the genes underlying inherited health problems.


The Accredited Breeder Scheme - Established in 2004 to set a standard for the breeding of healthy well-adjusted puppies. This allows people to buy a puppy with the assurance that the breeder has made a commitment to putting its health and welfare first and foremost. Accredited breeders have the required health checks for their breed carried out, socialise their puppies and agree to allow a Kennel Club representative to check their premises to ensure that they are fulfilling their role as a responsible breeder. The Accredited Breeder Scheme gives buyers the peace of mind that the puppies have been bred with concern for welfare, rather than profit. To find out more about the scheme click here or, if you are a puppy buyer, go to the puppy buyer section on this website.


Breeder Symposia – Ten Kennel Club Breeder Symposia have been held over the years and are a forum for dog breeders, experts and dog lovers to discuss openly issues that affect dogs today and to learn more about current developments in the health arena.

This year's symposia details are TBC.


Health funding and testing to improve dog health - The Kennel Club Charitable Trust funds research into canine disease and the development of health screening schemes. In the last ten years the Kennel Club has given £1.7 million in health related grants to UK universities and research bodies and has recently committed an additional £500,000 to be spent over the next two years for research projects that will improve pedigree dog health. Examples of progress that has been made as a result of this investment include:

• Improvement in dog health due to health testing schemes run by the Kennel Club, in conjunction with the British Veterinary Association, for hip and elbow dysplasia and eye disease. The Kennel Club publishes the results of these tests quarterly and over the past 10 years breeders have spent over £20 million on hip scoring alone. The result has been to significantly improve the hip quality of 19 of the 20 most commonly tested breeds, with the other, which already had the best average score of all, remaining stable


• Elimination of dog diseases through DNA tests, which have been developed thanks to advances in science and the work and support of the Kennel Club and its Charitable Trust. One example of how this has helped is in the elimination of canine leucocyte adhesion deficiency (CLAD) in Irish Setters that caused early death in puppies, which was eradicated through the concerted efforts of both the Kennel Club and Irish Setter breeders


• Funding research into breed specific diseases, including a grant to the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club, which has been distributed to the Royal Veterinary College, Cambridge University Veterinary School and neurologists, to enable research into syringomyelia. This is a disease which the CKCS club identified as being of concern for the breed some five years ago, and for which no one is yet sure of the mode of inheritance

The Kennel Club Breed Health and Welfare Strategy Group - This was established five years ago to discuss the issue of breed health and to work closely with the breed clubs to ensure the appropriate actions are taken. As a result of the meetings, various steps have been taken, including:

• Health Survey. The Kennel Club worked with the British Small Animal Veterinary Association and the Animal Health Trust on the Purebred Dog Health Survey, the largest of its kind in the world. It is being used as a valuable scientific platform to enlist the support of breeders in tackling key health problems where they occur. The information in this survey will be crucial to developing the Breed Health Plans for all breeds and has fed into the revised breed standards


• Continual review of breed standards to ensure that they represent health considerations. In January 2009 the Kennel Club released the results of its revision of all breed standards


• The addition of a health statement to breed standards, in 2002, to say that any departure from the standard is to be considered a fault and that ‘the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog’


• Initiatives by various Breed Clubs to improve the health of their breed. These include a decision by the Bloodhound Club to ensure that eye examinations are routinely conducted at shows and regular breed surveys undertaken. The Bulldog Breed Club has introduced publications on breed health and welfare for members and new owners and established a health scheme with certification, developed by the Breed Council

Shows and Judging - Dog shows are designed to reward healthy dogs and the Kennel Club works to ensure that this is so - and that only those dogs that are healthy representatives of their breeds win prizes at Crufts and other Kennel Club licensed shows. Work is continually being undertaken to ensure that judges judge dogs according to whether they are healthy and fit for function. Some of the steps taken by the Kennel Club include:

• Changes to the show regulations - The Kennel Club show regulations were amended in January 2009 to lay down more clearly than ever, a judges duty to reward only healthy dogs and to give them the authority to remove from competition completely any dog that appears to be unhealthy. Furthermore, Kennel Club officials and show officials are expected to refer any dogs that they believe to be unhealthy to the on-site vet, who can authorise the dog’s removal from further competition at that show


• Judging seminar (February 2009) – This is designed to ensure that all judges are aware of the new breed standards and use these new breed standards at Crufts 2009. The seminar will make clear that a dog’ s health should be the top priority in any judging decisions


• Change to the Kennel Club’s Regulation F8, which now highlights the need for judges to be aware of health issues. ‘Judges at Kennel Club licensed Shows must judge in accordance with Kennel Club Breed Standards. In assessing dogs, judges must penalise any features or exaggerations which they consider would be detrimental to the soundness, health or well being of the dog. Judges are also expected to maintain and abide by the highest standards in accordance with Kennel Club Rules and Regulations and appropriate Codes of Best Practice as published from time to time.’


• Hands on assessments especially for novice judges, which draw attention to canine health and issues of poor conformation. These include advice on how the judge should approach and ‘go over’ the dog (hands on)


• Conformation and Movement seminars - detailed look at conformation which provides an insight on different breeds and their function in life. It draws out canine health issues of how poor conformation can be detected in the dog’s movement and the long term effects of this


• Launch of refresher seminar in Kennel Club Rules and Regulations. This is to provide existing Challenge Certificate awarding judges with the opportunity to gain knowledge of the most up-to-date information especially where there may have been a time gap in a person’s judging career at Championship Shows