Kennel Club Accredited Breeders Scheme

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The aim of the Kennel Club Accredited Breeder Scheme is to provide a framework to encourage the breeding of healthy, well-adjusted puppies. It lays down a series of requirements that breeders must follow in order to participate in the scheme.

Puppy buyers from Accredited Breeders will gain the assurance that the breeder have undertaken to follow basic good practice as laid out by the scheme.

Accredited Breeders agree to:

1. Ensure that all breeding stock is Kennel Club registered.

2. Hand over the dog's registration certificate at time of sale if available, or forward it to the new owner as soon as possible. Explain any endorsements that might pertain and obtain written and signed confirmation from the new owner, at or before the date on which the dog is physically transferred, that the new owner is aware of the endorsement(s), regardless of whether or not the endorsed registration certificate is available.

3. Follow Kennel Club policy regarding maximum age and number/frequency of litters.

4. Permanently identify breeding stock by DNA profile, microchip, or tattoo. (N.B. After the first year of the Scheme’s operation, all breeding stock will be required to be DNA profiled.)

5. Make use of health screening schemes, relevant to their breed, on all breeding stock. These schemes include DNA testing, hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia and inherited eye conditions.

6. Socialise the puppies and provide written advice, in the Puppy Sales Wallet, on continuation of socialisation, exercise and future training.

7. Provide written advice, in the Puppy Sales Wallet, on feeding and worming programmes.

8. Provide a written record, in the Puppy Sales Wallet, on the immunisation measures taken.

9. Provide reasonable post-sales telephone advice.

10. Inform buyers of the requirements and the recommendations that apply to Kennel Club Accredited Breeders as well as the existence of the complaints procedure.

11. Draw up a contract of sale for each puppy and provide a copy in the Puppy Sales Wallet.

Accredited Breeders must use a Puppy Sales Wallet for each puppy going to a new owner. The Puppy Sales Wallet is designed to contain the following:
- Accredited Breeder’s contact details
- Breed Club contact details
- A copy of the contract of sale and written explanation of any endorsements
- A new owner questionnaire
- Written advice on socialisation, training, feeding, exercise, worming regime, immunization advice as well as copies of any health or other relevant certificates

In addition to the above requirements, it is recommended that Accredited Breeders should:

1. Make sure that whelping facilities accord with good practice.

2. The contract of sale should clearly lay out to the buyer the nature and details of any guarantee given (e.g. time limit) and/or any provisions for refund or return and replacement of puppy. If endorsements are being used the contract should also explain why these have been placed and under what circumstances they would be removed (if any). The contract should be signed and dated by both breeder and purchaser, showing that both have agreed to these terms.

3. Commit to help, if necessary, with the re-homing of a dog, for whatever reason, throughout the dog's lifetime.

DNA PROFILING

WHAT IS DNA PROFILING?
Buried within the DNA of each and every individual is a unique DNA signature that can be used to identify that individual. DNA profiling is the name given to the technique that has been developed to reveal this DNA signature.

WHAT CAN DNA PROFILING OFFER YOU ?
The DNA signature that is revealed by profiling can uniquely identify an individual dog. However, the profile is not just a means of identification, it also carries within it information on the parents of the dog. This is because a puppy inherits half of its DNA from its dam and the remaining half from its sire. Thus, half of the components that make up the profile are maternal in origin and the other half paternal. So it is in these two areas that profiling has impact: individual identification and parentage verification.

IDENTIFICATION
The DNA profile is the ultimate in individual identification and offers a ‘tamper-proof’ means of identity. The profile need only be produced once and the DNA sample used to produce it can be stored as a permanent DNA record throughout the dog’s life. Identification could be essential in a number of instances. For example, the availability of a profile could be used to identify an animal that may have been lost or stolen, and subsequently recovered. The profile could also be used to check the authenticity of a DNA sample being used to screen for the presence of disease-causing genes.

PARENTAGE / PEDIGREE ANALYSIS
Provided that the DNA profiles of both parents are available, pups in a litter can be profiled and their profiles checked with their parents’ profiles to confirm that the correct parents have been registered. This will ultimately have commercial value in that it puts a premium on those litters that have been analysed by DNA profiling.

HOW IS PROFILING DONE?
It is necessary to prepare a DNA sample from an individual dog. A convenient, non-invasive way of collecting cells from a dog, from which DNA can be obtained, is by cheek (buccal) cell sampling. All that is required is to gently rub a small plastic brush against the inside of the dog’s cheek to remove some loose buccal cells. The brush containing the cells is then returned to the laboratory for analysis. (DNA can also be made from other tissue sources such as blood). Once isolated, the DNA can then be analysed to reveal the individual-specific DNA signature.