IVDD Risk by Breed

In dachshunds, intervertebral disc disease (IVDD) prevalence varies a lot by variety — from 7.1% in standard wire-haired dachshunds to 24.4% in standard smooth-haired dachshunds, per a 2015 survey of nearly 2,000 dogs. Separately, a 2017 genetics paper found that dogs carrying an FGF4 gene insertion on chromosome 12 — the dachshund, beagle, American cocker spaniel, and French bulldog are the breeds it names — have about 51 times the odds of IVDD compared to dogs without it. Pick your situation below.

Dachshund? Pick your variety

Other breed? Check the FGF4 list

What this can't tell you

The dachshund figures above are prevalence at a point in time in a UK owner survey, not a lifetime-risk calculation, and they cover dachshunds only. The FGF4 finding is a large, real effect (odds ratio 51.23, 95% CI 46.69–56.20) in the dogs the 2017 paper studied, but that paper names only four breeds explicitly as carrying the insertion — plenty of chondrodystrophic-looking breeds (corgis, basset hounds, Pekingese, and others) are widely believed to carry it too, but we don't have the paper's breed-by-breed genotype table to confirm which ones, so we're not listing them as confirmed. If your breed isn't below, that means this specific paper doesn't say — not that your dog is in the clear. A genetic test (through your vet) is the only way to know your own dog's FGF4 status.