MARALINGA PERM REG'D
NORWICH TERRIERS
Breeders of Fine Quality Terriers since 1981
HEALTH IN THE NORWICH TERRIER
Norwich Terriers are healthy, hardy, happy, little dogs that live to be a good old age. They are subject to few problems and almost always lead healthy, active, long lives. As in every breed there can be health problems such as hips dysplasia, slipping patellas, epilepsy, and breathing problems caused by various different things. I have encountered one case of legg perthes in the past 15 years. I do not know if this is a problem in the breed or a one of problem. I will not use these two dogs in my breeding program in the future.
Always ask the breeders if they certify the hips, patellas and eyes on all of their breeding dogs. They must also send them to be certified by the proper registration bodies so that they can be verified by the prospective buyer. Just saying my vet checked and they are fine is just not good enough. I have included the sites for verifying the hips, patellas and eyes on my index page which is the first page that you'll open to my site. Once you are connected to the site they are self explanatory as to how to search for the kennel or particular dogs you'd like to see.
The Canine Health Information Center (CHIC)was formed at the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals to provide a new information resource center to assist owners and breeders and scientists in breeding health dogs. The CHIC will maintain data, provide professional advice and determine testing priorities. Each breed has different health concerns. The Norwich Terrier Club of America (parent club) has picked three important health issues in the Norwich Terrier that should be checked in order to qualify for a CHIC number. They are eyes, hips and patellas. A CHIC number is issued for any dog that has met these requirement. The assigning of a CHIC number does not mean that all of the test results for that dog were normal; it means only that all of the required tests were performed on that dog and that the results are available in the CHIC database.
Visit (CHIC) The Canine Information Health Center www.caninehealthinfo.org/
Having breed Norwich for 17 years now, I still feel Norwich are a healthy breed if selectively bred. They are well worth the effort to spend the time to seek out a good reliable breeder from which to buy a healthy puppy. Be prepared to spend some time looking as Norwich can be very difficult to find for sale.