American Kennel Club - AKC and Health

AKC and Health

The AKC supports some canine health research and has run advertising campaigns implying that the AKC is committed to healthy dogs, but the AKC's role in furthering dog health is controversial. Temple Grandin maintains that the AKC's standards only regulate physical appearance, not emotional or behavioral health. The AKC itself states that "There is a widely held belief that "AKC" or "AKC papers" guarantee the quality of a dog. This is not the case. AKC is a registry body. A registration certificate... in no way indicates the quality or state of health of the dog."

The AKC has no health standards for breeding; the only breeding restriction is age (a dog can be no younger than 8 months). Though the majority of the 170 breed-specific parent clubs have a health committee devoted to their breed's specific concerns, the AKC prohibits clubs from actually imposing stricter regulations. That is, an AKC breed club cannot require a higher breeding age, hip dysplasia ratings, genetic tests for inheritable diseases, or any other restrictions. Parent clubs have the power to define the looks of the breed, or breed standard and may also restrict participation in non-regular events or classes such as Futurities or Maturities to only those dogs meeting their defined criteria. These non-regular events can require health testing, DNA sampling, instinct/ability testing, and other outlined requirements as established by the hosting club.

In summary, attention to health among breeders is voluntary and not mandated. By contrast, many dog clubs outside the US do require health tests of breeding dogs. The German Shepherd Club of Germany, for example, requires hip and elbow X-rays in addition to other tests before a dog can be bred. Such breeding restrictions are not allowed in AKC member clubs. As a result, some US breeders have established parallel registries or health databases outside of the AKC; for example, the Berner Garde established such a database in 1995 after genetic diseases reduced the average lifespan of a Bernese Mountain Dog to 7 years. By comparison, the Swiss Bernese Mountain Dog Club introduced mandatory hip X-rays in 1971.

For these, and other reasons, a small number of breed clubs have not yet joined the AKC so they can maintain stringent health standards, but, in general, the breeders' desire to show their dogs at AKC shows such as the Westminster Dog Show has won out over these concerns.

The Club has also been criticized for courting large scale commercial breeders.

The AKC Canine Health Foundation funded research that lead to the mapping of the canine genome (DNA sequence) with grants totaling more than $2 million. Sequencing of the dog genome began in June 2003, funded in large part by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and finished the completed sequence of the entire dog genome at MIT’s Broad Institute in 2005. Because people inherit many of the same diseases as dogs, humans can also benefit from health research funded for dogs.

The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) and the AKC Canine Health Foundation have established the Canine Health Information Center (CHIC) to encourage health testing by breeders and provide breeders and researchers with information to improve breeding programs. More than 135 different breeds have specific health testing pre-requisites required by their parent breed club.