Breed health schemes use screening tests to reduce the prevalence of inherited conditions in pedigree dogs. Understanding and supporting these schemes is fundamental to long-term dog welfare improvement.
Breed health schemes represent a systematic approach to reducing the inherited disease burden in pedigree dogs. When breeders consistently screen parents and select away from affected animals, population-level disease prevalence falls over generations, reducing the welfare burden for individual dogs. The schemes are most effective when participation is high and results are publicly available to inform buyer decisions. Supporting health-tested breeders with purchasing decisions creates market incentives for broader participation. For brachycephalic breeds, phenotypic selection away from extreme conformation is the critical welfare intervention that health testing alone cannot address.