The Kennel Club has asked us to share with breed communities details of its new Health Standard to be introduced for all breeds in the coming months (an exact date hasn’t yet been set). On a breed-specific basis, KC recognised health tests have been categorised and prioritised into ‘essential’, ‘advisable’, or ‘other’ to highlight which they consider to be the most important tests puppy buyers should be looking for and to advise breeders how to prioritise tests when making breeding decisions. The Health Standard is evidence-based and takes into account published literature, prevalence data and – for the first time – genetic diversity.

Although a numerically large breed, English Springer Spaniels have low genetic diversity due historically to poor breeding practices (mainly over-use of popular sires) and the new Health Standard therefore prioritises maintenance of genetic diversity alongside available health tests. For a full explanation and details of how it will apply to ESS, please visit the ‘News’ page on the ESS Health website at

https://sites.google.com/site/englishspringerhealth/news?authuser=0#h.zazcwrfu2wjp.

Given that there are some changes being implemented for the breed, the KC has offered to discuss their rationale with us as BHCs in the coming months if this is something the breed community would like us to do. Please therefore message us (Lesley Bloomfield / Louise Scott) if you have any questions, concerns or comments you’d like to raise. We have also shared this information with the ESS Breed Clubs.