CHEDS (Canine Hip and Elbow Dysplasia Scheme)

In January 2000 the Australian Veterinary Association and the Australian National Kennel Council developed a jointly run screening program to reduce hip and elbow disease in registered pure bred dogs.

From 1st May 2016 the Australian Veterinary Association withdrew from the scheme and since then Dogs Australia (Australian National Kennel Council) has assumed sole responsibility for the administration of the CHEDS (Canine Hip and Elbow Dysplasia Scheme) under the supervision of Dr Roger Lavelle MA Vet MB MRCVS DVR FANZCVS FAVA.

Some important features of the CHEDS are:

• Administration of the scheme is via the Dogs Australia Office.
• Application forms for hip and/or elbow scoring are available through the radiologists’ portals or from
• Hip and elbow assessment will be by members of the Radiology Chapter of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists (ANZCVS) or radiologists with equivalent qualifications.
• Radiographs determined by the reader to be of poor quality must be repeated at the veterinary surgeon’s expense.
• Results will be provided to the owner/agent in digital format and be recorded directly by the reader onto the Dogs Australia ORCHID (Officially Registered Canine Health Information Database). From the resulting statistics, there will be breed specific averages available for Dogs Australia registered dogs, updated regularly.
• A sympathetic appeal system is in place.
• There are regular quality control assessments.
• The scheme is open to all dogs, pure bred or not, Dogs Australia registered or not and from any country.

Information for Owners

The scheme is open to all dogs of at least twelve months of age, with no upper age limit.  The owner of the dog should;

• Arrange for appropriate radiographs to be taken at any veterinary surgery, ensuring the dog’s identity is confirmed and placed on the images, either by microchip or recognised tattoo.
• General anaesthesia or heavy sedation must be employed; images MUST be in DICOM format. Information for veterinary surgeons and owners regarding dealing with DICOM files can be found here: https://vetscoring.com/instructions/
• The owner and/or veterinarian must choose their preferred reader from the list of authorised readers on the Dogs Australia website.
• Complete the appropriate Dogs Australia submission form available either from the selected reader’s portal or from Canine Hip & Elbow Dysplasia Report

Reading Fees

Appeals Fees

Note: Once a hip and/or elbow score has been issued for a dog, the radiographs may not be re-submitted for scoring under CHEDS other than via the Dogs Australia CHEDS Appeal Scheme.

From the beginning of 2024, Dogs Australia have implemented a levy on the reading fees.

The levy is $10 per dog for submissions from Dogs Australia members’ dogs and $20 per dog for all other submissions.

Note there are no levies on appeal fees.

The levy has been applied in order to support the maintenance and further development of CHEDS and ORCHID by Dogs Australia, providing an easily accessible, national (and increasingly international), reasonably priced health scheme which allows storage of both individual results and breed specific averages and means, adding to breeders’ ability to make well informed breeding decisions.