Between August 2021 and February 2022, the Health Committee of the CTCC reviewed our existing Health Guidelines which were based on recommendations produced 
by the Cairn Terrier Club of America many years ago. Since these guidelines were produced, much has changed, with significant advances in genetic testing and new research. New and expanded guidelines were produced based on review of the literature and consultation with veterinary and genetic experts. These guidelines have been approved by the Board of Directors. It is recommended that you read the Preamble to Health Recommendations document prior to reading the Recommendations. Documents can be accessed by clicking on the title in coloured text.
Preamble to Health Recommendations
The documents below represent the new health guidelines in various degrees of detail (from least to most detailed) and formats.
- The Health Testing Guidelines document provides key recommendations on health testing for breeding dogs and puppies. Not all health conditions are addressed in this document as this is intended to address the highest priority / critical conditions and represents the foundation for health testing in a breeding program. This guideline is testing focused (what tests should be done for breeding dogs and for puppies) rather than being focused around specific conditions.
2022 CTCC Health Testing Guidelines for breeding dogs and puppies - The Executive Summary of the Health Recommendations is a set of recommendations that addresses not only the high priority conditions addressed in the Health Testing Guidelines document, but also conditions that are of lesser significance to the breed and conditions where we have less data on which to base robust recommendations. This document is condition focused and only provides recommendations without including the rationale or information about the conditions in an effort to keep the document a reasonable size. For more detailed recommendations including the rationale for various recommendations see the Full Health Recommendations document.
2022 EXECUTIVE SUM Health Recommendations - The Full Health Recommendations is a much more detailed document including information not not covered in the Executive Summary. This document addresses the rationale for recommendations.
2022 Full Health Recommendations
The Health Committee continues to work on other health related documents and these will be posted as they become available.
Briefing documents are available for each individual disorder – the briefing documents include clinical information about the condition, a review of information gleaned from the scientific literature, suggested action points for the club, and references for those who are interested in a deep dive into the condition. These documents are available to club members in the members section of this site. If you are not a member and would like access to a particular document please contact