A lot of buzz as been circulating around the dog scene the past few months about what EXACTLY does a CHIC score mean when it comes to purchasing a puppy or chosing a mate in our breeding programs.

FIRST AND FOREMOST….HAVING A C.H.I.C NUMBER DOES NOT NECESSARILY INDICATE THE DOG HAS BEEN DEEMED “CLEAR” OF THE TESTS IT HAS UNDERGONE TO QUALIFY FOR IT’S CHIC NUMBER.

What it DOES mean is that the dog who has received the C.H.I.C number has undergone the required health testing to qualify for it’s CHIC number…REGARDLESS of whether the dog passed these tests or not

In other words, the point of the C.H.I.C REGISTRY is to create a more transparent database , incudling all dogs who have PASSED or in some cases NOT PASSED their health clearances. The registry allows breeders and buyers a broader picture of the overall health status of a breeders stock to better make decisions in purchasing puppies and breeding litters.

THERE HAS BEEN MUCH CONFUSION AMONG OVERSEAS BUYERS THAT A DOG WITH A C.H.I.C NUMBER INDICATES THE DOG IS NOT AFFECTED WITH THE HEALTH PROBLEMS IT WAS TESTED FOR WHICH CAN BE EXTREMELY MISLEADING. IN THE U.S. ONLY OFA, CERF ETC. “PASSING” SCORES GIVE YOU AN ACCURATE PICTURE OF THE ACTUAL DOG’S STATUS IN THOSE AREAS TESTED.

C.H.I.C. NUMBERS ONLY INDICATE THE DOG UNDERWENT THE TESTS AND THE SCORES ARE PUBLISHED…GOOD OR BAD.

I fully support C.H.I.C and it’s objectives below….but since Worldchow members have contacted me and I have seen mention of this on other all breed boards, I felt it was important to clarify what C.H.I.C is about.

Sandra

——————————————————

THE CHIC WEBSITE
http://www.caninehealthinfo.org/chicinfo.html