If It Looks Like Duck

[shortstep]

The Kennel Club

Pilot scheme for registering dogs of unverified parentage

19-Apr-11

A pilot scheme which could enhance genetic diversity has been announced by the Kennel Club. It will allow purebred unregistered dogs to be registered on the Breed Register on a case by case basis. This is a return to the position which existed forty years ago when similar rules were in force.

Enhancing genetic diversity

The move, approved by the Kennel Club General Committee last year, will if used, enhance genetic diversity by widening breed gene pools and allowing new bloodlines to be introduced within breeds.

Under the new pilot scheme, every successful application will be admitted to the register with three asterisks next to its name. Asterisks will be applied for three further generations, in order to identify the fact that there is unknown or unregistered ancestry behind a dog.

How to apply

Applications will need to be accompanied by a letter of explanation of how the applicant acquired the dogand will then only be considered on the proviso that the dog:

a) is verified by two Championship level judges appointed by the Kennel Club who should agree that the dog is representative of its breed.

b) is DNA profiled.

c) has relevant health tests (equivalent to that required and recommended under the Kennel Club Accredited Breeder Scheme) for the breed. Breed specific health requirements under the ABS can be viewed at www.thekennelclub.org.uk/breedhealth.

To ensure that only genuine applicants apply, strict requirements have been put in place that will need to be completed before an application is finally approved by the Committee, and in addition there will be an administration fee of £100 per dog. Every application will be considered on a case by case basis.

Whilst the Kennel Club is keen to open up its register, it should be noted that there is no guarantee that dogs so registered (and their progeny) will be accepted for registration by overseas registering bodies. That will depend upon their local regulations.

Application forms are available direct from the Registration Office on 0844 4633 980

ENDS

[125.11]

19th April 2011

Notes to Editors

If a dog of unknown origin is accepted on the Breed Register, the dog’s registration will be annotated by three asterisks to indicate unverified origins. If it is bred from and mated to other fully registered dogs of the same breed (with no asterisks next to their name), their progeny, the F1 progeny, will also be annotated with three asterisks.

If the F1 progeny are bred from, and mated to other fully registered dogs of the agreed breed (with no asterisks against their name), their progeny, the F2 progeny, will be annotated with two asterisks. F2 progeny mated to fully registered dogs of the agreed breed (with no asterisks against their name), will produce F3 progeny that will be registered with one asterisk. The F4 and subsequent generations will have no special annotation.

http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/3672/23/5/3

Edited April 19, 2011 by shortstep

[poodlefan]

Not a crazy idea and not a new one either.

I can vouch for the fact that the American Quarter Horse Association did (and perhaps still does) allow registration of horses deemed by judges to fit the breed standard.

There are some bloody nice Whippets out and about in this country that have been bred for decades by folk who never bothered to register them. Interestingly, many are on the smaller side at a time when size is an issue in the breed.

I'm sure there are similar breeds in the UK.. in working lines in particular.

As long as there's a standard for quality, I don't have a problem with this.

[WreckitWhippet]

I'll take my dogs pedigree, with no asterisks thanks.

[shortstep]

I am pretty sure this was driven by the pressure of the activity going on from the Parliament inquiry on welfare issues in pedigree dog breeding.

This is one of the actions they are taking to demonstrate their commitment to addressing health issues in KC dogs and to show that they will follow the advise being given to them on the welfare issues of purebred dogs.

From what I understand this open stud book plan will apply to all breeds in the KC. It will mean that the KC will be an open stud book for all breeds. It really is a direct statement about about a change of ideas on dog breeding in the KC.

But as was mentioned in the Cardigan Corgi post

http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=218457

The current kennel club culture of, "I only breeding for my next show dog and only to better the breed and as I am an ethical breeder so I place all pups with limited registration unelss they go to a show home", is taking a heavy toll on the KC in more than one way.

It has lead to far more purebred dogs being bred outside of the kennel club than in the kennel club, and not necessarily poor quality dogs.

It is making membership and registration in the kennel club seem irrelevant at best and not good at worst, the public is starting to believe that the best place to find 'healthy well bred' dogs is not in the kennel club.

Just like in ANKC, UK membership is declining and so are dog registration numbers, they are not too far from being considered in freefall.

New dog breed groups are popping up, with different goals (such as the cardigan folks in the link above) and in no time they have more dogs and members than in the kennel club.

It is an interesting time of change.

Edited April 19, 2011 by shortstep

[WreckitWhippet]

It will make the limited register worthless now.

Buy a pup on limit or without papers and simply approach the KC for assessment and off you go. You now have the lines, you've always wanted and via the back door.

I guess the next step for those who want to guarantee their lines and hard work, will be to desex everything that leaves their kennels. Some are already doing this,

[Staranais]

I too like this idea, so long as they don't go overboard with it and are careful with what they register.

But then again, I'm a geneticist and not a breeder. I imagine some breeders will not like this at all. But at least the asterix annotation will cater to those people who do not want the new dogs contributing to their lines. Seems like a reasonable compromise.

[shortstep]

It will make the limited register worthless now.

Buy a pup on limit or without papers and simply approach the KC for assessment and off you go. You now have the lines, you've always wanted and via the back door.

I guess the next step for those who want to guarantee their lines and hard work, will be to desex everything that leaves their kennels. Some are already doing this,

Microchip, tattoo (and even DNA if contested) should be able to identify the dogs already in the KC and sold on limited?

But big part of the reason the kennel club is failing is there are far too few dogs sold with breeding rights.

There has to be a source for the next generation of dogs and the gene pool adn population needs to be expanding instead of shrinking.

Right now to say that next generation will only come from a few dogs owned by show breeders is just not acceptable to society, it is only adds fuel to the welfare issues be changed against kennel club dogs.

Edited April 19, 2011 by shortstep

[BJean]

The FCI in France (perpetually) and the AKC in USA (on occassion)

have a similar system in place for allowing Anatolians from Turkey to be introduced to the pedigree system.

But the ANKC will not recognise these dogs unless there is three generations behind them.

I think it would be a fair guess to say that the ANKC Kangal has the highes COI in the country, or at the very least, one of the highest.

ANKC Anatolians have the advantage of the FCI and AKC systems, so there COIs are on the other end of the scale.

Edited April 19, 2011 by lilli

[shortstep]

The FCI in France (perpetually) and the AKC in USA (on occassion)

have a similar system in place for allowing Anatolians from Turkey to be introduced to the pedigree system.

But the ANKC will not recognise these dogs unless there is three generations behind them.

I think it would be a fair guess to say that the ANKC Kangal has the highes COI in the country, or at the very least, one of the highest.

ANKC Anatolians have the advantage of the FCI and AKC systems, so there COIs are on the other end of the scale.

Well, maybe if Canada had been welcoming to Dr. Jeffery Bragg's Siberians he would not have written Purebred Dogs in to the 21st Century

http://www.netpets.com/dogs/healthspa/bragg.html#toc

Which was fuel to a whole new generation of dog breeders and dog breeding culture.

I admire him greatly, even more so of late, as he did not condone PDE as a method to be used to drive change he believes in.

He now seems a moderate. How the world has changed in just a few years.

Edited April 19, 2011 by shortstep

[WreckitWhippet]

It will make the limited register worthless now.

Buy a pup on limit or without papers and simply approach the KC for assessment and off you go. You now have the lines, you've always wanted and via the back door.

I guess the next step for those who want to guarantee their lines and hard work, will be to desex everything that leaves their kennels. Some are already doing this,

Microchip, tattoo (and even DNA if contested) should be able to identify the dogs already in the KC and sold on limited?

But big part of the reason the kennel club is failing is there are far too few dogs sold with breeding rights. There has to be a source for the next generation of dogs and the gene pool adn population needs to be expanding instead of shrinking.

Right now to say that next generation will only come from a few dogs owned by show breeders is just not acceptable to society, it is only adds fuel to the welfare issues be changed against kennel club dogs.

That's a breeders decision and one that I strongly support.

I can't see how introducing mongrels into the pedigree data base and making them available is going to help with any "welfare issues". It will be a case of use them at your peril. Besides the " relevant " breed health checks, the rest will be entirely unknown.

[poodlefan]

It will make the limited register worthless now.

Buy a pup on limit or without papers and simply approach the KC for assessment and off you go. You now have the lines, you've always wanted and via the back door.

I guess the next step for those who want to guarantee their lines and hard work, will be to desex everything that leaves their kennels. Some are already doing this,

Limited register dogs already have pedigrees. I don't see how this could apply to them. Note to breeders - microchip your pups people! DNA profiling would also kill any moves to register limited register pups in this manner.

Lilli:

The FCI in France (perpetually) and the AKC in USA (on occassion)

have a similar system in place for allowing Anatolians from Turkey to be introduced to the pedigree system.

AKC have it for Basenji's from Africa too. Basenji breeders struggle with a limited gene pool and hunt for dogs in Africa from time to time. My Basenji breeder friend tells me the last hunt reaped some good dogs.

Edited April 19, 2011 by poodlefan

[Kirislin]

Not a crazy idea and not a new one either.

I can vouch for the fact that the American Quarter Horse Association did (and perhaps still does) allow registration of horses deemed by judges to fit the breed standard.

There are some bloody nice Whippets out and about in this country that have been bred for decades by folk who never bothered to register them. Interestingly, many are on the smaller side at a time when size is an issue in the breed.

I'm sure there are similar breeds in the UK.. in working lines in particular.

As long as there's a standard for quality, I don't have a problem with this.

Me neither, I'd love to see some fresh blood in whippets, as long as they're health tested first. I much prefer the old style smaller whippet and you hardly ever see them these days.

[poodlefan]

Not a crazy idea and not a new one either.

I can vouch for the fact that the American Quarter Horse Association did (and perhaps still does) allow registration of horses deemed by judges to fit the breed standard.

There are some bloody nice Whippets out and about in this country that have been bred for decades by folk who never bothered to register them. Interestingly, many are on the smaller side at a time when size is an issue in the breed.

I'm sure there are similar breeds in the UK.. in working lines in particular.

As long as there's a standard for quality, I don't have a problem with this.

Me neither, I'd love to see some fresh blood in whippets, as long as they're health tested first. I much prefer the old style smaller whippet and you hardly ever see them these days.

I see them all the time at country shows in NSW Kirislin - often with the horse trucks.

In the UK, there are thousands of Whippets that aren't registered with the KC - most are hunters and racers

Edited April 19, 2011 by poodlefan

[shortstep]

It will make the limited register worthless now.

Buy a pup on limit or without papers and simply approach the KC for assessment and off you go. You now have the lines, you've always wanted and via the back door.

I guess the next step for those who want to guarantee their lines and hard work, will be to desex everything that leaves their kennels. Some are already doing this,

Microchip, tattoo (and even DNA if contested) should be able to identify the dogs already in the KC and sold on limited?

But big part of the reason the kennel club is failing is there are far too few dogs sold with breeding rights. There has to be a source for the next generation of dogs and the gene pool adn population needs to be expanding instead of shrinking.

Right now to say that next generation will only come from a few dogs owned by show breeders is just not acceptable to society, it is only adds fuel to the welfare issues be changed against kennel club dogs.

That's a breeders decision and one that I strongly support.

I can't see how introducing mongrels into the pedigree data base and making them available is going to help with any "welfare issues". It will be a case of use them at your peril. Besides the " relevant " breed health checks, the rest will be entirely unknown.

I think the point of this is, that change is coming, be it by choice or driven by parliament enquiry and government direction.

Sure seems to me it is time to start addressing these issues before it is thrust upon us.

I am saying, if we want choice we better start acting now.

Frankly I do not think there will ever be a system that will suit everyone.

Edited April 19, 2011 by shortstep

[Kirislin]

I see them all the time at country shows in NSW Kirislin - often with the horse trucks.

In the UK, there are thousands of Whippets that aren't registered with the KC - most are hunters and racers

Yup, which is what they were bred for in the first place.

[WreckitWhippet]

I can't see how it's going to address " welfare issues ".

Those who have bred, valued and protected their lines, will continue to do so. They will simply exclude the newly available mongrels, limit register and desex everything they don't keep for themselves or place with others they trust.

[Aidan3]

Besides the " relevant " breed health checks, the rest will be entirely unknown.

To enable me to understand this a little better, what potential issues with judges approval and DNA profiling do you see?

[poodlefan]

I can't see how it's going to address " welfare issues ".

Those who have bred, valued and protected their lines, will continue to do so. They will simply exclude the newly available mongrels, limit register and desex everything they don't keep for themselves or place with others they trust.

Thereby denying a whole new generation of dog breeders a start with decent bloodlines. I despair about the short sightedness of those that won't release a main register dog to anyone and that won't give a newb a shot.

Bo Bengston, when interviewed about things he took great pride in as a breeder mentioned one thing first.

He said his greatest source of pride over his years of breeding Whippets was that he had given 46 Whippet exhibitors/breeders their first show champion with a dog with his prefix. That's what I call a breeder with a strategic perspective.

To me there is no greater tragedy than to see a great kennel's bloodlines die with its breeder's exit from the fancy.

Somewhere between desexing and Limited Registering everything and Main Regisistering everything because you really don't give a damn there should be some scope for the next generation of dog breeders/exhibitors.

Edited April 19, 2011 by poodlefan

[shortstep]

AKC have it for Basenji's from Africa too. Basenji breeders struggle with a limited gene pool and hunt for dogs in Africa from time to time. My Basenji breeder friend tells me the last hunt reaped some good dogs.

I thnk we need to stretch ourselves a little bit,

atleast we need to know what others think of our actions.

Are our pats on the back really well thought out and deserved?

http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2010/...go-terrier.html

A single breed - the Congo Terrier - sums up the history of dogs.

Have you noticed that in the world of dogs, names and places never quite line up?

Look at Welsh Terriers.

I know digging men in Wales, but none that use a Kennel Club Welsh Terrier to hunt fox to ground.

I know digging men in Scotland, but none that use a Scottish terrier.

Afghans?

There are no Kennel Club Afghan dogs coursing in South Central Asia.

Show line German Shepherds?

Not too many of those herding sheep in Germany!

And in central Africa, the locals are not using "Congo Terriers" that have Kennel Club papers.

A Congo terrier?

What on earth is that?

The Kennel Club's Pariah Dog

The “Congo terrier” was discovered by explorer Georg Schweinfurth on an expedition to Africa in 1869.

He called the dogs "Niam-niam dogs," which described the tribal region where they were found, and he noted they were often quite fat, as the Niam-niam people loved dogs so much they thought nothing of tossing them into the stew pot for dinner!

The dogs themselves were spitz-like and barkless, with erect ears and curled tails, as is often the case with primitive dogs. Where the Niam-niam dogs were different was in their relatively small size, their short coat, and the fact that they often featured a white band of fur around their neck.

Though Schweinfurth called them Niam-niam dogs, similar animals were found across a wide belt of central Africa, stretching from Liberia in the West, to Sudan in the East.

Like many other primitive landrace pariah dogs, the Niam-niam dog had only one estrus a year and rarely barked, but instead vocalized with howls, yodels, and whines similar to those of the wolf, coyote, dingo, or jackal.

Of course, a largely silent dog in thick cover is not necessarily an asset. No matter; this deficit was corrected by African hunters who attached a wooden "bell" or clapper to the necks of their dogs so they could more easily drive small game out of thick cover.

In 1895, the Niam-niam dog was displayed at the Crufts dog show as the "Congo terrier."

The name did not last too long.

In the late 1930s, the Congo Terrier was formally brought into the Kennel Club and renamed the "Basenji" -- a Bantu name that meant "village dog."

The first order of Kennel Club business was to craft a narrow appearance-based "standard" for the Basenji. This was not hard to do, as only seven dogs were initially admitted.

Clearly these seven dogs were perfect specimens of their type!

Inbreeding to Failure

Seven dogs, of course, is not much of a gene pool. In fact, the gene pool of the Basenji never grew much bigger than this. Over the course of the next 60 years, no more than 30 dogs comprised the entire founding stock of the breed in the U.K., the U.S., and Europe.

Inbreeding within this small stock of foundation dogs quickly led to a crushing genetic load and a rise in disease.

The first issue to raise its head was Hemolytic Anemia. When testing was started, twenty percent of all Basenjis carried this recessive gene. What to do?

The answer: Cull.

And cull they did, with about 18 percent of Basenjis weeded out of the American Kennel Club gene pool over the course of a decade.

Of course, this deep reduction in an already narrow gene pool sped up the inbreeding merry-go-round.

Within a decade, another health problem had popped up: Fanconi syndrome, a type of kidney failure. A health survey found 10 percent of all American Basenjis had Fanconi syndrome, and of these dogs, 76 percent were being bred.

What to do?

The Outcross Solution

The solution, of course, was an outcross.

The good news was that there were was no shortage of excellent dogs in Africa. After a 1988 visit to the Congo, AKC judge Damara Bolte reported that:

"In five days and 800 kilometers of driving, we saw at least 200 dogs of which only three were not Basenjis."

Could anyone driving down the road see the same number of Welsh Terriers in Wales, or Scottish Terriers in Scotland? Impossible!

In 1990 the Basenji Club of America successfully petitioned the American Kennel Club to open the AKC registry to African dogs, and 12 were admitted.

The addition of 12 African imports helped, but it was not enough. With popular sire selection, inbreeding within the Basenji gene pool continued. And how could it not, with less than a dozen dogs comprising over 95% of the Y chromosomes in Kennel Club dogs across the U.S., Europe and the U.K.?

Form, Function and Fantasy

As noted earlier, Basenjis have always been found across a wide swath of central Africa. The early dogs came from the Sudan, Sierra Leon, Liberia, the Cameroon, and the Congo.

In 1998, an American Peace Corps worker in Benin reported the country was awash in Basenjis, and that they could be acquired for as little as a dollar.

In 2004, an American imported six of these dogs, and they were shown at the 2004 Basenji Club of America Nationals. By then, however, the AKC registry had once again closed.

The Basenji Club petitioned the AKC to reopen the registry. This was done in January 2007, with a new closing scheduled for 2013.

Will opening the AKC Basenji registry a second time really matter?

Yes and no.

It will not matter to the Basenjis in Africa, which have never needed saving.

The hunting dogs of Africa are protected by those who hunt them. In this regard, they are no different from the working terriers of Wales and Scotland, the coursing dogs of South Central Asia, or bird dogs the world over.

But the Basenji community will not be dissuaded. They insist they are "saving" a breed.

But what is it that they saving, and who are they saving it from?

One thing is clear: Basenji enthusiasts are not trying to save hunting dogs in Africa.

You cannot save dogs in Africa by removing them from the continent, and you cannot save a hunting breed by not hunting them at all.

So what are the Kennel Club enthusiasts really trying to save?

Mostly, they are working to preserve a romantic notion of their own making.

For their breed to be special, a Basenji has to be more than another village dog, even if the word "Basenji" means just that in the Lingala language of the Congo.

And so, Basenji owners tighten down on what they see as the “special essentials” of their breed.

They insist no Basenji should ever bark, and never mind if some always have, and that a barkless dog is such a liability that the Africans themselves bell their dogs when they hunt.

And, of course, all Basenjis must have a tightly curled tail, and no matter that a tightly curled tail serves no function in the field.

Function? The American and European Basenji is not about function! This dog is about form and fantasy.

Hunting? What does hunting have to do with the Basenji? Nothing!

Why should Basenjis be held to a working standard when the Kennel Club Welsh Terrier and Scotty are not? This is the Kennel Club, not the African bush. Form trumps function; everyone knows that. And form is maintained by inbreeding right up to the edge of genetic failure. Why should the Basenji be any different in this regard?

And so Kennel Club Basenji enthusiasts hold tightly to a breed standard invented in England based on seven dogs. And when shown pictures of small hunting dogs in central Africa that do not quite conform to every aspect of "the standard,” they sniff disdainfully.

“Those aren’t Basenjis. Those are nothing more than village hunting dogs."

Right. No irony there!

Just ask any Welshman with mud on his boots, calluses on his hands, and a terrier at his heels. What does he know of Welsh terriers? Not a thing!

And so we come to the ultimate irony: What are Basenji enthusiasts trying to protect their American and European dog from?

Why inbreeding within the closed registry system of the Kennel Club, of course!

More reading if interested

http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2010/...magic-meat.html

Edited April 19, 2011 by shortstep

[Steve]

I can't see how it's going to address " welfare issues ".

Those who have bred, valued and protected their lines, will continue to do so. They will simply exclude the newly available mongrels, limit register and desex everything they don't keep for themselves or place with others they trust.

Thereby denying a whole new generation of dog breeders a start with decent bloodlines. I despair about the short sightedness of those that won't release a main register dog to anyone and that won't give a newb a shot.

Bo Bengston, when interviewed about things he took great pride in as a breeder mentioned one thing first.

He said his greatest source of pride over his years of breeding Whippets was that he had given 46 Whippet exhibitors/breeders their first show champion with a dog with his prefix. That's what I call a breeder with a strategic perspective.

To me there is no greater tragedy than to see a great kennel's bloodlines die with its breeder's exit from the fancy.

Yep I would rather see them putting things in place to educate and make the breeders who have limited the gene pool by choice in this way stop and re think what they do by protecting their lines. Unless this is stopped opening the gene pool now will see it develop the same way any way. I dont want asterisks on my pedigree either thanks. Interesting though that if the UKKC saying they are going to do it - its O.K. at least then no one can bleat on about MDBA registered dogs not being recognised by them blah blah blah