In a study of 13,124 Australian German Shepherd Dogs born between 1976 and 2005, the heritability of the summed phenotype constructed from nine ordinally-scored British Veterinary Association Hip Traits was 0.30. Linear models are commonly applied for genetic analyses of CHD as this methodology most correctly reflects the underlying nature of the data. Complex segregation analyses demonstrated involvement of a major gene for the German Shepherd Dog. Genome-wide linkage studies showed nine genome-wide significant quantitative trait loci for CHD in German Shepherd Dogs. A linkage study in a Labrador Retriever-Greyhound crossbred family revealed twelve dog chromosomes with chromosome- wide significant markers for CHD. In Portuguese Water Dogs, QTL for signs of CHD were demonstrated on CFA1 and 3. A genome-wide association study for CHD and osteoarthritis across several dog breeds including Labrador Retriever-Greyhound crosses identified four CHD-associated and two OA-associated SNPs. The CHD-associated SNPs were located on CFA3, 11 and 30, but not within QTL of the Labrador Retriever-Greyhound crossbred linkage study. In 174 Bernese Mountain Dogs, two different CHD-regions were identified on CFA14. A third CHD-associated region was located on CFA37. A Dutch study on 48 CHD-affected and 30 CHD-free Labrador Retrievers revealed significant SNPs on CFA8 within a previously reported quantitative trait locus in German Shepherd Dogs. A 10-bp intronic deletion haplotype within FBN2 on CFA11 was shown to be associated with CHD. Dogs homozygous for this haplotype had significantly less FBN2 mRNA in their femoral head articular cartilage. The mutant FBN2 haplotype was identified in 49 different breeds, but homozygous mutant haplotypes were only prevalent in Labrador and Golden Retrievers. The objective of the present study was to perform a GWAS on 192 dogs to identify SNPs associated with CHD, followed by a validation of CHD-associated SNPs in a stratified BMS 204352 sample of 843 dogs. We have chosen the German population of German Shepherd Dogs as this population is well suited for an association study, since this breed represents one of the largest purebred dog populations in Europe with a large phenotypic and genetic AK-1 variance for CHD and a consistent recording system of CHD including the collection of EDTA-blood samples.