Health Clearances
Every breed has its kryptonite—those health challenges from which dogs across the breed suffer. With thorough testing, significant health issues can be minimized. Any serious breeder should know what plagues their breed and should obtain the necessary clearances for dogs they breed. This automatically eliminates the purchase of a puppy from a puppy store, a backyard breeder, or a puppy mill through retail rescue. Your search should start with an intentional, conscientious, ethical breeder who is invested in the improvement of the breed. One giant indication of that is the presence of all health clearances.
The Orthopedic Foundation of America (OFA) website has a treasure trove of information. If you are just starting out and aren’t sure which clearances the parents should have, you can go to the OFA website at www.ofa.org. The home page has a search tool for determining what genetics screening each breed should have (it’s under “Diseases” and “Browse by Breed”).
Every breed has a parent club, and every parent club sets forth baseline health clearances for that breed. In an effort to aid buyers, OFA offers “CHIC [Canine Health Information Center] certification,” which is something a dog achieves if she has been successfully screened for every disease specified by the parent club for that breed.
CHIC certification is like a mechanic’s inspection on a car or a medical license for your doctor. It’s non-negotiable. As a buyer, simply verify that both parents of the puppy you are considering have CHIC certification. If they do, the chances of a healthy puppy increase dramatically. If they don’t, continue your search elsewhere until you find a breeder with full clearances on both parents.
To illustrate, let’s assume we’re looking for a Golden Retriever. For Goldens, it’s the “big four” that need clearances from the OFA in order to be ethically bred: hips, elbows, eyes, and heart. Beyond that, there are DNA tests that should be performed. This is a cursory overview, as I could become the Tolstoy of puppies on this topic. Consider it an introduction and know that you’ll have more research to do from here depending on the breed you are interested in.
Hips & Elbows
Hip dysplasia is a complex condition that involves genetic and environmental factors. In short, the hip joint functions as a ball and socket, and in dogs with hip dysplasia, the ball does not fit smoothly into the socket. Instead, it rubs and grinds, eroding the protective cushioning of the joint. In order for a dog to be considered “cleared” of hip dysplasia, X-rays of the hip joints must be evaluated and graded by the OFA. There are three categories into which a dog’s hips can fall that constitute “cleared” hips: Excellent, Good, and Fair. If a dog receives one of these ratings, one of the four elements for CHIC certification is completed.
There are also three categories into which a dog’s hips can fall that constitute “failed” hips, all of which indicate dysplasia in increasingly severe forms: Mild, Moderate, and Severe. Dogs with this rating are, on the whole, not suitable for breeding (though exceptions exist, these are special and unusual circumstances that are far too nuanced to address here).
Statistically, the OFA database has 161,000 Goldens, 19.8 percent of whom received an “abnormal” rating on their hips. Considering that most of those dogs were tested with an eye toward breeding, that is an alarming statistic, and it reveals why this particular test is so essential for ensuring that each parent possesses healthy hips. And while a puppy from parents with healthy hips isn’t a guarantee (again, that combination of environmental and genetic factors), it is vital in giving a puppy the best chance of healthy hips. We’ve brought hundreds of puppies into this world from parents with cleared hips and have had only two develop hip dysplasia, one of whom was raised on slippery floors—a known environmental contributor to hip dysplasia.
Elbows are evaluated on the same grading system as hips.
Eyes
Eye clearance is the third element for CHIC clearance in Goldens and must be performed by a board-certified ophthalmologist. Hereditary cataracts are at a higher incidence in Goldens and can cause blindness. Currently, the only treatment for cataracts is surgical removal, which requires general anesthesia and is extremely expensive. It is therefore incumbent upon us to ensure that we are not irresponsibly passing on such a burden to families who have trusted us to send them a healthy puppy. Getting an OFA clearance is the only way to do so.
Other eye conditions will also result in a Golden’s failing to pass. Unlike the other three OFA clearances, the clearance obtained by an eye examination is valid for only one year. Hereditary cataracts typically develop between one and three years of age, so yearly examinations are essential. The presence of hereditary cataracts marks the end of the quest for CHIC certification, and there are no circumstances under which breeding would be ethical or appropriate.
Cardiac
The fourth essential clearance for Goldens is a cardiac clearance. Again, this must be performed by a board-certified cardiologist. The OFA website is a powerful tool in verifying how a cardiac clearance was performed, as it is noted whether an exam was performed by a regular veterinarian or by a veterinary cardiologist. It simply must be done by a cardiologist.
The cardiac clearance does not have any gray areas—if a dog has a normal heart exam, he passes (the final piece in the CHIC puzzle). If a dog has any degree of disease, even mild, he should not be bred and will not receive clearance.