Certain dog breeds have high prevalence of congenital cardiac defects. Breed health schemes with cardiac screening before breeding reduce inherited disease burden.
Dogs with severe congenital heart defects experience exercise intolerance, respiratory distress and shortened lifespan. Cavalier MVD causes progressive breathlessness and cardiac failure that significantly reduces quality of life in the last years of life. Breed health schemes that mandate cardiac examination before breeding progressively reduce the prevalence of inherited cardiac disease. The CKCS MVD breeding protocol, developed in collaboration between breeders and cardiologists, has demonstrably shifted the population distribution of disease age of onset in participating lines.