The Canine Health Information Center, also known as CHIC, is a centralized canine health database jointly sponsored by the  AKC/Canine Health Foundation (AKC/CHF) and the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA).
 
Conceived in 1999, the pilot program became operational in 2001 with 8 breeds enrolled.  Today there are over 200 breeds participating through their parent clubs, and over 155,000 dogs have been issued CHIC numbers.

​

The CHIC database is a tool that collects health information on individual animals from multiple sources.  This centralized pool of data is maintained to assist breeders in making more informed breeding decisions and for scientists in conducting research. In order for data to be included in CHIC, test results must be based on scientifically valid diagnostic criteria.

​

Core to the CHIC philosophy is the realization that each breed has different health concerns.  Not all diseases have known modes of inheritance, nor do all diseases have screening tests.  Some screening tests are based on phenotypic evaluation, others on genetic testing.  With all these variables, a key element of CHIC is to customize or tailor the CHIC requirements to the needs of each breed.  These unique requirements are established through input from the parent club prior to the breed’s entry into the CHIC program.  Breed specific requirements typically consist of the inherited diseases that are of the greatest concern and for which some screening test is available.  Regardless of breed, each dog must be permanently identified in order to have test results included in CHIC.  Permanent identification may be in the form of microchip, or tattoo.
   
A CHIC number and CHIC report are issued when test results are entered into the database satisfying each breed specific requirement, and when the owner of the dog has opted to release the results into the public domain. The CHIC number by itself does not imply normal test results, rather, it indicates that all the required breed specific tests were performed and the results made publicly available.  The CHIC report is a consolidated listing of the tests performed, the age of the dog at the time of the test, and the corresponding test results.  As new results are recorded, updated, CHIC reports reflecting the additional information are generated.
 
Once included in the CHIC program, the breed specific requirements are dynamic. As health priorities within a breed change, or as new screening tests become available, the breed specific requirements can be modified to reflect the current environment.  If the breed specific requirements are modified, existing CHIC numbers are not revoked.   The CHIC number is issued to a dog completing all required tests at a given point in time.
      
CHIC provides each participating parent club quarterly reports consisting of both aggregate numbers and specific dogs that have been issued CHIC numbers.

 

CHIC WEBSITE :

The CHIC website is located at :  www.caninehealthinfo.org

The website contains basic information on CHIC and maintains a listing of the participating breeds and specific breed

requirements.  The CHIC website also provides a search engine to identify dogs that have been issued CHIC numbers

and direct hotlinks to the OFA website so users can take advantage of the expanded health screening information

available on the dog’s sire, dam, offspring, and siblings ...