Dog breed health API
A free, open JSON API for dog breed health data: median lifespan, conformation, hereditary conditions and the composite Breed Health Score for 155 breeds. No key required.
Base URL
https://breedhealthscore.com
Endpoints
GET /api/breeds.json | All 155 breeds (list, enveloped). |
GET /api/v1/breeds/{slug}.json | One breed, full detail (components, conditions, image). |
GET /api/v1/openapi.json | OpenAPI 3.0.3 spec. |
GET /api/v1/index.json | Discovery: endpoints, docs and licence. |
Example
curl https://breedhealthscore.com/api/breeds.json
{
"dataset": "breed-health-score",
"api_version": "v1",
"licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
"attribution": "Breed Health Score (breedhealthscore.com); lifespan data from McMillan et al. 2024, CC-BY 4.0.",
"total": 155,
"count": 155,
"breeds": [
{
"breed": "Labrador Retriever",
"slug": "labrador-retriever",
"url": "https://breedhealthscore.com/breed/labrador-retriever/",
"median_lifespan_years": 13.1,
"size": "large",
"brachycephalic": false,
"health_score": 74,
"grade": "B"
}
]
}
Every record carries a url back to the breed page. The single-breed endpoint wraps one breed object in the same envelope, with extra components and conditions fields.
Licence & attribution
The API is free to use under CC-BY-4.0. In return we ask that you credit Breed Health Score with a visible link back to breedhealthscore.com wherever the data appears. Median-lifespan data is from McMillan, K.M. et al. (2024) "Longevity of companion dog breeds", Scientific Reports (584,734 UK dogs). Data CC-BY 4.0.
API FAQ
Is there a free dog breed health API?
Yes. Breed Health Score offers a free, read-only JSON API covering 155 dog breeds, with median lifespan, size, conformation flags and the composite Breed Health Score. No key or sign-up is required.
How do I get a single breed?
Request /api/v1/breeds/{slug}.json, for example https://breedhealthscore.com/api/v1/breeds/labrador-retriever.json. Slugs are lower-case with hyphens and match the breed page URLs.
Can I use the data commercially?
Yes, under CC-BY-4.0: you must credit Breed Health Score and include a visible link back to breedhealthscore.com. The underlying lifespan data is from McMillan et al. 2024, also CC-BY-4.0.
Are there rate limits?
The API is served as static files over a CDN, so there is no hard limit, but please cache responses and be reasonable. Heavy or automated use should cache locally rather than re-fetch on every request.
Is there an OpenAPI spec?
Yes, an OpenAPI 3.0.3 spec is available at https://breedhealthscore.com/api/v1/openapi.json for generating clients and for AI agents.
See also the methodology for how the Breed Health Score is calculated, and the terms of use.