07/14/2026
๐ ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐๐ต๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐น๐๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐ค๐ง๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฉบ
๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐ฌ๐ก๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฆ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ด ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐๐
๐, ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐ฌ๐ก๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐โ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ฆ๐๐ญ. ๐
The Dachshund Club of Americaโs health testing guidelines are directed at Dachshunds that are part of a breeding program. For breeding dogs, the parent club recommends and encourages ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐๐ core OFA health evaluations be completed before they are used for breeding:
โฅ ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ก๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ (๐๐๐๐) ๐๏ธ
โฅ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง (๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐๐, ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง) โค๏ธ
โฅ ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฆต
All three can be completed in full once a dog is at least 12 months old. At that point, the dog meets the parent clubโs baseline health testing recommendations for breeding.
*๐๐บ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐จ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด.
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๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ต ๐ง๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ง๐ผ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐งฌ + ๐ฉบ
Health testing and genetic testing are meant to be used together because they evaluate different aspects of the same dog.
โฅ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ evaluates the dogโs DNA for known, testable mutations that affect the breed. This is the ๐ ๐๐ง๐จ๐ญ๐ฒ๐ฉ๐.
โฅ ๐๐
๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฆ๐ฌ evaluate how the dogโs body is actually expressing and functioning in real life. This is the ๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ง๐จ๐ญ๐ฒ๐ฉ๐.
๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐บ๐ฑ๐ฆ tells us about inherited risk and what the dog can pass on. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐บ๐ฑ๐ฆ tells us what is currently present and observable, including inherited diseases that have no genetic test or only limited, unreliable genetic testing. Using both together allows breeders the opportunity to avoid high risk pairings at the DNA level and to monitor how a dog actually develops and ages while it is in a breeding program.
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๐ฅ๐ผ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐
๐ฎ๐บ๐ ๐ฉ๐. ๐ฉ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ต ๐ง๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐
Routine wellness exams are ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต, but they are ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต the same as formal OFA evaluations on breeding dogs.
โฅ Routine findings usually stay in a private vet record that no one else can see and that may be vague in nature
โฅ They are not standardized, graded, or entered in a searchable database
โฅ Other breeders and puppy buyers cannot easily check or track them
OFA examinations and reports are standardized and entered into a public, searchable database. That is what makes health claims verifiable instead of just โmy vet checked it and said it was fine.โ
๐๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด โ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅโ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
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๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐
CHIC stands for ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ.
When a Dachshund in a breeding program completes the parent clubโs recommended health testing and the results are submitted to OFA, that dog is eligible for a CHIC number.
A CHIC number means:
โฅ The dog has completed all of the specific tests that the parent club recommends for breeding stock
โฅ The results, normal ๐๐ง๐ abnormal, are available in the OFA database
A CHIC number does ๐๐๐ guarantee that a dog is perfect or free of health issues. It signals that the breeder is participating in transparent, evidence based health testing and is willing to share those findings openly for others to see and use in decision making.
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๐๐ฏ๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐๐น๐๐, ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ข๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐งฐ
An abnormal OFA result in a breeding dog does not automatically mean the dog can never be bred. It means you have information that must be understood and considered. This is specifically true with CAER eye exams, where some mild non-limiting or breed typical findings are coded as โbreeder option.โ
The purpose of breeder option codes is to:
โฅ Document mild or breed typical eye findings clearly
โฅ Allow breeders to decide whether and how to use that dog in a breeding program
โฅ Provide data for tracking how often these findings appear and in which lines
๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฌ, ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฌ. When a result falls outside the realm of normal, whether it is a breeder option eye finding, a mild heart murmur, or a patella grade, the key questions are: Does the breeder do further investigation into abnormal results, does the breeder fully understand the finding(s), do they understand what is and is not acceptable to breed, and how are they using that information to make calculated breeding decisions instead of ignoring it or explaining it away.
Instead of making ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ask the breeder what their thought process was. Ask why they chose that pairing, what their goal was, and how they weighed the health information for both dogs.
๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ด, ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ด ๐ข๐ท๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด.
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๐๐ญ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ก๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐ง๐๐จ๐ช๐ก๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐๐จ๐, ๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ช๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐พ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ข, ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐จ.
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