July Program - Lourdes Carvajal, chair of our Standards and Health Committee, gave a presentation about the CHIC program. CHIC stands for Canine Health Information Center and is a joint effort of the AKC and the OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals). It has four main goals (per the GDCA website)--to work with parent clubs in the definition of health issues for which a central information system should be established, to establish and maintain a central health information system in a form and manner that will support research into canine disease, to provide health information to owners and breeders, to base the availability on individually identified dogs on the consent of the owner, and to establish scientifically valid criteria for the acceptance of information into the database.

Lourdes explained that this is basically a database for breeders to post the health condition of their dogs; this is a great tool for breeders when determining what dogs would be suitable for breeding to their dogs, for puppy buyers to ensure they are acquiring a puppy free of certain inherited health problems, for the parent club to promote better health and longevity in its registry and for health researchers.

Parent clubs have to apply for membership and each parent club requires different tests. The GDCA joined this program in 2003 and requires tests for hip dysplasia (results are accepted from OFA, PennHip, GDC, or OVC), eyes (results accepted from CERF), congenital cardiac disease (results accepted from OFA) and autoimmune thyroid disease (results accepted from OFA). As of June 28, 2008, 532 Great Danes are entered in the database.

Lourdes stated that tests should be done at about two or three years of age, preferably before the dog is bred, and it’s just as important for males to be tested as it is for females. Bitches should not have hip xrays within 3 weeks (either before or after) of being in season as hormonal changes cause the pelvic bones to open. Even those not planning on breeding their pets would benefit from these tests by receiving advance notice of conditions their dogs may develop in later life and steps can be taken proactively to alleviate those conditions.

Owners make the decision prior to any testing as to whether the results will be released to CHIC, before knowing whether the results will be good or bad, so those who do so obviously have a certain amount of confidence in the soundness of their bloodlines. Each separate test receives a separate determination; the cardiac test may result in a grade of “normal”, while the hips may only be evaluated as “fair”. Upon acceptance into the registry, a CHIC identification number is assigned and information about the dog is posted. That information includes not only the results of the various health tests, but also birth date and pedigree; a picture can also be posted if desired.

To be accepted into the CHIC registry, each dog must have permanent means of identification, such as a tattoo, microchip or DNA profile.

Lourdes also touched briefly on the Champion of Health program begun by the GDCA to encourage Dane breeders to register their dogs in the CHIC database. This started with the 2006 National Specialty; requirements are as follows: the owner must be a member of the GDCA or an affiliate club, the dog must have a CHIC number and the dog must have recently achieved a significant accomplishment at the national level, whether in the ring, in the field or as a producer.

Three to five dogs are nominated for this honor each year; several dogs from our Club have been among those nominated.