The BHC for the Irish Wolfhound is Dr Maura Lyons.
Download a copy of the Kennel Club BHC Plan.
A letter sent by the Kennel Club in November 2008 described the difficult times and the need for concrete changes to underscore that we all care deeply about the health of pedigree dogs. To replace any existing codes of ethics, the KC imposed a new Code of Ethics across the board, for which clubs must apply to the KC to include any other clauses. Now that the IW clubs have agreed to the additional clauses, and the KC has approved them, the breed code of conduct has been restored to its original form.
As a requirement for ongoing health surveillance by Kennel Club registered clubs, all clubs should establish a breed health committee. In this case, the requirement was already met.
As part of the Health Plan, all breed standards were reviewed to ensure they provide guidance that leads to healthy breeding and exhibition. Happily, the KC found no changes need to be made to the Irish Wolfhound standard, except for the introductory paragraph that now applies to all breed standards:
‘A Breed Standard is the guideline which describes the ideal characteristics, temperament and appearance of a breed and ensures that the breed is fit for function. Absolute soundness is essential. Breeders and judges should at all times be careful to avoid obvious conditions or exaggerations which would be detrimental in any way to the health, welfare or soundness of this breed. From time to time certain conditions or exaggerations may be considered to have the potential to affect dogs in some breeds adversely, and judges and breeders are requested to refer to the Kennel Club website for details of any such current issues. If a feature or quality is desirable it should only be present in the right measure.’
There remain three primary health concerns for the breed, including heart disease, bone cancer, and bloat, but pneumonia has recently taken over bloat as the third leading concern.
Once the health plans have been issued and feedback has been received regarding breed health issues, the Kennel Club intends to examine genetic diversity on a breed-by-breed basis.
By reporting newly diagnosed conditions in dogs, the KC is ensuring that each breed will have immediate access to its current health status and can act appropriately and responsibly. One of the KC’s priorities for the health group is to collect and record health information and feed the data into a central resource that can monitor health across breeds. The individual breed health groups will be required to submit annual or bi-annual health reports presenting the health statistics collected since their last report to achieve this goal. As a result, the KC, specialists and breed clubs can consult more quickly when a newly emerging condition is discovered within a breed or breeds.
