What a CHIC Number Means
A health record is easier to understand when you know what its labels mean. CHIC stands for Canine Health Information Center. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals' CHIC program sets screening requirements with input from each breed's parent club. OFA explains that breeds have different health concerns, and that some conditions have no screening test. The program's list is therefore a starting point for understanding records, rather than a complete description of a dog's health.
The Irish Setter Club of America (ISCA) says an Irish Setter can receive a CHIC number when the required screenings and identification requirements are met and the results are public. Results do not all have to be normal. A number confirms that the requirements were completed and the results disclosed; it does not tell you that every result was clear. Keep that distinction in mind whenever a description says only that a dog has a CHIC number.
For an adopter, the useful next step is to read the individual results rather than stop at the number. Keep the record's exact wording available when you ask your veterinarian about it. A screening label, a completed result and a question that remains unanswered are different pieces of information. There is no need to turn them into a single judgment about whether a dog is healthy.
Hips, Thyroid and PRA
The ISCA health screening list names three basic areas for the Irish Setter's OFA-CHIC requirements. For hip dysplasia, it lists either an OFA evaluation or a PennHIP evaluation. For autoimmune thyroiditis, it lists an OFA evaluation from an approved laboratory. For progressive retinal atrophy, abbreviated PRA, it lists a DNA test result from an approved laboratory or the Irish Setter Genetic Registry (ISGR).
These are the alternatives given by the club, so an unfamiliar abbreviation in a record is a reason to ask what it refers to. Keep the hip, thyroid and PRA entries separate when reading the paperwork. An entry in one area does not explain the result in another. Ask your veterinarian to explain any wording you do not understand, using the actual record rather than a shortened description.
ISCA also lists permanent identification by microchip or tattoo as a CHIC requirement across participating breeds. Identification is part of the program's requirements alongside the screenings. When discussing a record, distinguish the dog's identification information from the test findings. Neither the presence of identification nor the existence of a CHIC number replaces reading those findings.
CLAD and Other DNA Tests
ISCA also discusses Canine Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency, or CLAD, an inherited condition seen in Irish Setters and Irish Red and White Setters. The club reports that it has not identified affected or carrier Irish Setters in the United States in recent years. That is the club's report about the dogs identified, rather than a result for any particular dog whose paperwork you may be reading.
For CLAD and the rcd-1 and rcd-4 PRA tests, ISCA recognizes results only from approved laboratories. The names of the tests matter when comparing records. A general description such as DNA testing leaves open which test the description means. Ask your veterinarian about the specific result and the club's stated requirements rather than assuming that one reference to DNA testing covers every item discussed here.
When You Adopt
ISCA's guidance says dogs adopted from a shelter or rescue should test negative for brucellosis before contact with the family and other pets. Ask your veterinarian about that guidance and any available result. This is a separate point in the club's adoption guidance; it should not be confused with the hip, thyroid and PRA entries in its CHIC list.
If a dog's family history or screening paperwork is unavailable, leave that information marked as unknown rather than supplying an assumption. Bring the records you do have and your questions to your veterinarian. The purpose of understanding the club's list is to make those questions clear: what information is present, what the labels mean, and what still needs explanation for the individual dog.