The Kennel Club/ Dachshund Health UK IVDD Scheme for Dachshunds

A dog’s risk of developing IVDD is controlled by a number of different genes and influenced by several environmental and lifestyle factors (e.g. diet, exercise or factors when in the womb before birth etc.). Each of the genes that help to make a dog’s body may have different possible versions, or variants. Versions of some of a dog's genes increase the risk of IVDD, while others decrease the risk.

Each dog will have a mix of these 'good' and 'bad' versions of genes, making it very difficult to predict whether a dog will be affected. The impact made by one version of a gene might only be slight, but lots of genes having a small influence can have a combined additive effect.

IVDD is a serious and painful condition. Owners of affected dogs may see:

• Signs of severe pain, such as yelping, moving cautiously or not wanting to move their head or neck
• Incoordination of the limbs and paws
• Frequent accidents in the house
• Not being able to move their limbs

Some dogs affected with IVDD can be treated with medication and rest, while others may require invasive or life-changing surgery and long-term rehabilitation therapy, or sadly in severe cases, this devastating disease can lead to euthanasia.

In 2018 the Dachshund breed council’s DachsLife surveys found that, out of 1,173 Dachshunds that were over three years old, 21.1% were reported to have IVDD.

Some varieties of Dachshund appeared to be more prone to IVDD than others. Results from the survey were:

• Miniature Smooth Haired Dachshunds - 29.9%
• Smooth Haired Dachshunds - 16.8%
• Miniature Wire Haired Dachshunds - 16.5%
• Miniature Long Haired Dachshunds - 15.7%
• Long Haired Dachshunds - 9.4%
• Wire Haired Dachshunds - 8.6%

To be assessed under the scheme, your dog must be between 24 to 48 months of age at the time of the X-ray.

Your dog will only need to be screened once and the result will be valid for their entire lifetime.

You will need to bring your dog’s Kennel Club registration certificate and microchip identification with you to the participating centre. This will need to match the information provided at the time of IVDD scheme registration.

The Kennel Club charges a £20 registration fee to cover the scoring and administration for each submission. The total cost to have your dog assessed under the scheme will depend on the cost to have your dog radiographed at your chosen participating centre. Individual radiograph fees can be seen under each participating centre, however, please confirm this with your chosen centre before your appointment as this is subject to alteration.

To reward early adopters of the scheme, The Kennel Club and Dachshund Health UK are offering subsidies for a limited period (see next tab below).

The role of a participating centre is to take the radiographs in accordance with the scheme’s screening protocol and upload these via the scheme’s SharePoint portal. If your veterinary practice is interested in becoming a participating centre for the scheme, please complete the following application form and we’ll be in touch regarding the next steps.

Upon enrolment, you’d be provided with a welcome pack to make sure you have quick access to all the information you’ll need. If you have any questions, please email us -

To reward early adopters The Kennel Club is offering a £100 subsidy for all dogs that participate in the IVDD scheme for Dachshunds during 2024.

Apply for a subsidy by completing an IVDD subsidy request form.

Owners are required to pay the full screening cost at the participating centre before applying for the subsidy. To receive The Kennel Club subsidy, you will need to complete the subsidy request form once your dog's radiograph has been submitted for grading by the participating centre. We will then be in contact with you regarding your application.

Other subsidies may also be available to owners from Dachshund Health UK.

Yes - to reward those who initially participated in the IVDD scheme subsidised by Dachshund Health UK, we will be accepting X-rays for submission if scored by Dr Anu Lappalainen between 2016–2020. If owners submit all relevant files and information to The Kennel Club, the grade can be verified and recorded on the dog’s record.

For more information please contact 

If your set of radiographs are found not to comply with the scheme’s protocol, they will be rejected for screening. In these instances, we will notify you, and the participating centre, and will require a subsequent set of radiographs to complete the submission.

We will not charge an additional screening fee.

Following the launch of The Kennel Club IVDD Scheme for Dachshunds (All Varieties), we will collate all results from screening at The Kennel Club. Results will be available to the Dachshund Breed Council for publication and for breed records and public information. Our intention is for results to also appear on The Kennel Club Health Test Results Finder and in the Breed Record Supplement. However, due to the expected development schedule of The Kennel Club’s website and online customer service management system, we do not anticipate the ability to display results online until the middle of 2022. In the meantime, results will be available via the health team and The Kennel Club remains committed to sharing results with the breed for health information and research purposes.

If you wish to appeal your grade please email 

You can read the terms and conditions of the scheme here.

Currently, IVDD Scheme results are not yet published on Health Test Result Finder. However, you can access this information here and also through the owner. We hope that the results will soon be available on Health Test Result Finder.

If you have experienced an issue with The Kennel Club/Dachshund Health UK Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD) scheme for Dachshunds (all varieties), please complete this form to report the issue. Your feedback is very important to us so we can improve our services for the future.

Statistics on the number of dogs graded by the scheme and their results can be accessed in our IVDD Scheme breed-specific information.

We’re sorry you can’t find a participating centre in your area. We’re currently recruiting additional centres and would love to hear from you. If you have a veterinary practice local to you that has on-site diagnostic imaging facilities, please email their details to us at

and we can invite them to apply to be a participating centre.

If you’re interested in participating in the scheme and have on-site diagnostic imaging facilities, we’d love to hear from you. Please email

for more information on our application process.