Priority health schemes and tests
The Kennel Club's Assured Breeders must use the following (or equivalent) schemes, tests and advice. All other breeders are strongly advised to also use these.
- Eye screening scheme (BVA/KC/ISDS)
- DNA test - MAC (find a list of tested dogs)
Important health schemes and tests
We strongly recommend that all breeders, both assured breeders (ABs) and non ABs, use the following (or equivalent) schemes, tests and advice.
- Litter screening for eye disease
- Check inbreeding calculators
Find out about a particular dog's results
Please visit our Health Test Results Finder to discover the DNA or screening scheme test results for any dog on The Kennel Club's Breed Register.
You can also view the inbreeding coefficient calculation for a puppy's parents, or for a dog you're thinking of breeding from.
Have any questions about health in your breed?
If you have any concerns about a particular health condition in your breed then you may wish to speak to your vet or you could contact yourbreed health co-ordinator.
Breed health co-ordinators are individuals working on behalf of breed clubs and councils who are advocates for the health and welfare of their chosen breed. They acts as a spokesperson on matters of health and will collaborate with The Kennel Club on any health concerns the breed may have.
To contact your breed health co-ordinator please email
Christine Ellingworth
The Breed Health and Conservation Plans
Our breed health and conservations plans (BHCPs) use evidence and data to help us understand the health issues found in each pedigree dog breed. These plans help breeders and owners identify health and welfare problems and use information, health tests and health schemes to avoid passing on those problems to future puppies. They also support and provide breeders with tools and specialist expertise to help manage genetic diversity, understand the impacts of close breeding, and find the best ways to preserve the population of their breed.
Working together for the breed
We’ve worked with breed clubs and breed representatives to gather all available evidence to help us determine the priority concerns for the breed and decide how we can work together to manage and reduce these problems.
Breed priorities
The current key priorities for the breed are:
- Cancers
- Hereditary eye conditions
- Identify/ publicise available DNA tests for conditions known to occur in the breed
- Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC)
- Periodontal disease
- Welfare / behavioural issues
How we plan to make improvements
We’ve agreed the following list of actions with the breed clubs to improve the health of the breed. Both parties are committed to working on these areas and will review these on a regular basis to ensure the actions remain focussed and relevant to the breed’s health.
Breed Club actions include:
- The breed clubs to investigate other breed health surveys and methods through which they collect information, specifically with regard to breakdown of cancers, recording of bodyweight, and behaviour – IN PROGRESS
- The breed clubs to investigate how they can improve on advice to owners with regard to dental care
- The breed clubs to consider advice and guidance to assist owners and breeders with regard to behavioural issues in the breed
- The breed clubs to put forward proposals for the recognition of available and applicable DNA tests, to allow for recording of results
Our actions include:
- To establish the allele frequency of mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) in the breed
- To establish the proportion of puppies born that are hereditarily clear – COMPLETE (this action was completed in 2021 and will be routinely added in the next Breed Health and Conservation Plan updates)
- Ourselves and breed clubs to look at categorisation of undesirable behaviours where relevant to welfare and health impact
- To collaborate with the breed in developing a mortality reporting database, which can be posted on the Breed Information Centre/ breed club websites – IN PROGRESS
- To repeat the population analysis for the breed – IN PROGRESS
The full evidence base is available at the discretion of the breed clubs, however if you would like to seek access to the full report, please contact our health team.
Health (The Kennel Club)
How do I use this information?
Breeders should be mindful of the top priorities in their breed and ensure they are working to reduce and eliminate the presence of these diseases when choosing to breed their dogs.
Puppy buyers should also be aware of these issues and be sure to ask their breeder how they are contributing towards the above actions, and whether any of these problems have been seen in their breeding lines.
