www.caninehealthinfo.org

Providing a source of health information for owners, breeders, and scientists that will assist in breeding healthy dogs.

Bouviers were enrolled in CHIC in 2007

Bouvier fanciers are fortunate that the Bouvier Health Foundation (BHF) recommended to the ABdFC Board of Governors that the Bouvier breed be enrolled in CHIC.

CHIC works with parent clubs to identify health screening protocols appropriate for individual breeds.

The CHIC database, which consolidates health screening results from multiple sources, is cosponsored by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) and the AKC Canine Health Foundation. Dogs tested in accordance with requirements established by their parent club, and with the test results registered in the public domain, are issued CHIC numbers.

CHIC requires permanent identification with either tattoo or microchip for all individual animals in enrolled breeds. The health tests currently required for the Bouvier are hips, elbows, cardiac certification by OFA, and eye certification by CERF.

OFA or CERF test results automatically are included in the AKC/CHIC database and can be included in an individual dog’s CHIC report at no charge. Abnormal results are included in a CHIC report and published only if the dog’s owner checks the box on the form allowing for their release. Dogs with abnormal results not authorized for release will not be issued a CHIC number, but dogs with abnormal reports authorized for release will be issued a CHIC number.

Results from other recognized registries, such as PennHIP, GDC, OVC, or parent club maintained databases, can be included for a one time fee of $25. Any additional results after the one time fee is paid are recorded at no charge. Additionally, there is no charge when entering results on an affected animal from a non-CERF/OFA source.

Breed specific requirements remain flexible after a breed is enrolled in the CHIC program. The breed specific requirements can be modified as health priorities within a breed change or as new screening tests become available. A CHIC number issued to a dog that completed all tests required at the time are not revoked if breed specific requirements are change.

When all the required test results have been registered appropriately, the CHIC number should generate automatically. There may be a short lag between recording the last required test and issuance of a CHIC number because the program that identifies newly qualified CHIC dogs typically is run only two to three times a month. If it has been more than 4 weeks since the registration of the last test result for a dog and you haven’t yet received the CHIC number, you may email <chic@offa.org> to inquire about the dog’s status.

CHIC Numbers are NOT a reflection of normalcy and therefore not a “stamp of approval” for breeding purposes.

CHIC is not about normalcy. The CHIC registry exists to encourage both health testing and sharing of all results, normal and abnormal, so that more informed breeding decisions can be made in an effort to reduce the incidence of genetic disease and improve canine health.

The CHIC web site is user friendly and very easy to navigate.

To access the information about a dog on the CHIC web site the user does not have to know the registration number, or even the entire registered name.

The CHIC web page for a specific dog lists the health testing results of that dog. It also gives results for the sire and dam and all half-sibs of that dog for which the owners have checked the box to allow release of test results. Another page will generate a three-generation pedigree containing test results that have been released by owners of those ancestors.

What is the usefulness of CHIC?

For breeders, CHIC provides a reliable source of information regarding dogs they may use in their breeding programs.

For buyers, the CHIC program provides accurate information about the results of a breeder’s health testing.

For parent clubs, the CHIC infrastructure is supplied and maintained by the OFA. The data is maintained in a secure envirnment by trained staff. This frees parent clubs to focus on their core strengths of identifying health concerns, educating their membership, and encouraging participation in the CHIC program.

For researchers, CHIC provides confidential and accurate aggregate information on multiple generations of dogs.
CHIC information will also be useful for epidemiological studies enhancing our knowledge of health issues affecting all breeds of dogs.

A club may also use the CHIC program to maintain information on additional health issues for anecdotal purposes. Later, as screening tests become available, the disease may be added to the breed specific requirements.

Informed Consent

CHIC operates an informed consent database. All information regarding test results remains confidential unless the owner specifically authorizes release of the information into the public domain. The robustness of CHIC is enhanced as owners recognize that releasing all test results contributes to the genetic health of the breed by greatly increasing the potential for pedigree analysis.

For those not quite ready to accept open sharing of information, there is still value in submitting their results

All test information entered into the database is available in aggregate for research and statistical reporting purposes, but does not disclose identification of individual dogs. This results in improved information on the prevalence of disease, as well as information regarding progress in reducing the incidence of disease.

Dogs who have both OFA database listings and CHIC certification are now cross-referenced from the OFA site. Dogs who have a CHIC number will be listed in the OFA database with the CHIC logo, which will be linked to their information in the CHIC database. This will help breeders and owners using both sites to find health data on dogs.

Project: The Mapping and Characterization of Mutations Responsible for Canine Glaucoma.

An investigation into the genetic causes of canine glaucoma being conducted at the University of Missouri-Columbia College of Veterinary Medicine. Initial objectives include verifying and updating the medical histories of members of the canine glaucoma families and obtain medical records and DNA from additional family members. Eventual goals of the investigation include mapping the glaucoma loci and identifying the mutations responsible for glaucoma in Bouvier des Flandres. Ultimately, the investigators hope to devise DNA tests for suspect glaucoma mutations and use these tests to determine if the test results consistently predict the disease phenotype. A similar study is being done in Bassett Hounds. After the genes responsible for glaucoma are identified in Bouviers and Bassett Hounds, the researchers want to determine if the same genes are responsible for glaucoma in Dandie Dinmont Terriers and Welsh Terriers.

Owners of Bouvier des Flandres are encouraged to send blood samples if their dogs have glaucoma or their dogs are close relatives of glaucomatous dogs. Ideally siblings, parents or offspring of affected dogs, but blood from half-siblings, aunts, uncles etc. of affected dogs is also desired. Forms and instructions for sending samples can be found in the “Glaucoma and Lens Luxation” section of the University of Missouri-Columbia College of Veterinary Medicine Canine Genetic Diseases Network website (www.caninegeneticdiseases.net). For questions not answered on the website, you may contact the Project Coordinator Liz Hansen at HansenL@missouri.edu or by calling 573-884-3712.

The ready availability of DNA material for research is gaining importance as technology for utilizing DNA is rapidly expanding. With sufficient deposits in the “DNA Bank” by owners, the CHIC DNA Repository can provide researchers with optimized family groups and control populations needed for their research into canine health.

As research advances, breeders can take advantage of future DNA-based disease tests. This potential remains with a DNA deposit even after a dog is deceased. If a deleterious gene is discovered in an offspring of a deceased dog, a DNA screening test on the stored sample can determine the presence or absence of the gene in the ancestor and thus whether other progeny might be at risk.

The CHIC DNA Repository can foster a team environment among breeders, owners and the researchers to increase the likelihood of genetic discovery.

Blood Sample

Blood is the gold standard for genetic material. The yield of DNA from a blood sample is sufficient for all research methods, including technologies on the horizon. Moreover, the stability and purity of the DNA is of the highest caliber, which offers many benefits.

While banking of blood samples for DNA has advantages, it also has the drawbacks of cost and invasiveness of drawing the blood.

The banking organization, in this case CHIC, incurs the cost of extracting the DNA from the blood sample, of entering data from a phenotypic questionnaire about the donor-dog submitted with the sample and on-going surveys that follow the health status of the dog, and of storage and inventory control for samples and data.

The cost to the owner is $20.00 to purchase the test kit from CHIC plus the veterinary expense of drawing the blood and shipping the frozen sample.

Cheek Swab

Cheek swab samples are less expensive and less invasive than blood samples, but the yield and purity of DNA derived from cheek samples is inferior to that obtained from blood.

A swab kit can be purchased from CHIC for $5.00, and the samples can be taken by the owner without the expense of a veterinary office call. Swabs are shipped in standard envelopes through the U.S. Postal Service, and they can be stored for at least a decade at room temperature, so long as they are stored under conditions of low humidity. The success rate for obtaining DNA from a swab in the laboratory is roughly 98%, so multiple swabs should be submitted for each dog to ensure representation in the archive.

Breed specific advantages of accumulating adequate samples in the CHIC DNA Repository are twofold:

1. it increases the likelihood that a researcher will choose to use our breed for their project because of the readily accessible study population and,
2. because the phenotypic health of donor dogs is followed, it can act to raise an early alarm as a disease begins to infiltrate our breed.

To Participate in the CHIC DNA Repository the application form can be downloaded from http://www.caninehealthinfo.org/dnabank.html

You will receive the appropriate swab or blood collection kit in the mail. The health survey, which will accompany the sample deposit, will also be found on-line.