ORCHID

ORCHID is the Officially Registered Canine Health Information Database! for Dogs Australia. Dogs Australia is committed to improving the health of all dogs. The purpose of this web-site is to allow on-line recording of health information by health professionals and to make statistical information derived from that data publicly available. To encourage dog owners to provide information, the owners will be able to specify, for each test result, whether the result is public or private.

Dogs Australia members, i.e. members of any of the Dogs Australia state bodies such as Dogs QLD, Dogs NSW etc, can login with their person number and password. This is NOT the same as the member number. You can have your person number and password emailed to you by going to: https://dogsecom.ausn.com.au/ForgotPasswordNew.aspx.

At the current time the web site is only doing the following health results: hips, elbows, spines, eyes for adults and litters and respiratory function grading. Note that hips or elbows results prior to 16 Sep 2016 were obtained from historical records so they are NOT complete and may also not be accurate. For assistance, please visit the ORCHID Facebook page or email orchid@dogsaustralia.org.au or for technical assistance email Wild Systems: support@breedmate.com.

As of 5th Sep 2022 ALL health results are now listed even if marked private BUT if they are private then the actual health result outcome is not shown.

Search all health results» Statistics» Videos» Tutorials» How to use this website» About this website»

NEWS: As of 30 March 2022 all certificates are now issued with a QR code. This means that when you view a certificate, you can verify it by just pointing your mobile phone's camera at the form. The phone will then offer to open the link which then displays the original form. NEWS: As of 19 Feb 2023 due to privacy concerns, when a certificate is viewed via its QR code, the contact or owner's address, email and phone are not displayed.
NEWS: Respiratory Function Grading (RFG) scheme result statistics are now calculated daily and shown on the RFG Home page.
NEWS: Fees for CHEDS have increased as of 1 Jan 2024. This is the first fee increase in 12 years. See details on the CHEDS Home page.

Members

Dogs Australia members can login with their person number and do the following for dogs they own:

  • View the public AND private results.
  • View or download PDF health certificates or copy links to those certificates.
  • Change the "permission to publish" to either public or private.

Statistics

By recording health results over a number of years and plotting statistics like five year rolling breed averages we can determine the current health situation for any breed. We also calculate yearly averages so we can see if they are getting better or worse. Click here to see the latest hip score statistics Click here to see the latest hip score trends Click here to see the latest spine score statistics Click here to see the latest spine score trends.

Health Schemes

Currently we have fully implemented the CHED scheme (hips, elbows, spine), the ACES (eyes) adult and litter scheme and the Respiratory Function Grading (RFG) schemes.

Click here to see a list of other canine health registries.

CHED

CHED is the Canine Hip and Elbows Dysplasia scheme and is responsible for assessment of hips, elbows and spines. ORCHID started recording CHED results in Sep 2016. There are currently four CHED panellists. You can read more about it here on the main ANKC web site.

Hip score statistics are automatically updated as new results are added by the radiologists on the panel. To see the latest statistics click here.

Dogs Australia members can login with their person number to view private results or view or download a PDF health certificate, for dogs they own.

More details are on the CHED home page.

Download the CHED submission form.

Instructions for vets when taking x-rays for CHEDS can be found here.

ACES

ACES is a national system of examination, certification and data reporting of abnormal eye conditions (both inherited and non- inherited) in all dog breeds. ACES reports on both adults and litters. ORCHID started recording ACES results in Nov 2018. There are currently over 26 ACES panellists. ACES is carried out Australia-wide by registered veterinary eye specialists to standards set by the Ophthalmology Chapter of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists (ANZCVS). The Australian Canine Eye Scheme is administered by Dogs Australia.

ACES panellists recommend against breeding from dogs affected by recognised or suspected hereditary eye conditions due to the risk of progeny being affected. Eye assessments are carried out by registered veterinary eye specialists.

More details are on the ACES home page.

RFG

RFG is the Respiratory Function Grading scheme. ORCHID started recording RFG results in Dec 2022. There are currently over 12 RFG panellists.

Dogs Australia (DA) has licensed the "Respiratory Function Grading" (RFG) scheme from the UK Kennel Club (KC). DA operates and administers the RFG Scheme supported by the University of Cambridge who have approved the assessment protocol for the scheme. The aim of the scheme is to detect the presence and severity of brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome using a clinical assessment and exercise tolerance test. There are details on the scheme at Cambridge University website and the Kennel Club website

More details are on the RFG home page.