Latest Updates To Kennel Club Assured Breeder Scheme

27 November 2019

The Kennel Club has announced the most recent updates to the breed-specific health testing and screening schedule for the Assured Breeder Scheme (ABS), aimed to further improve dog health and responsible breeding.

The range of breed-specific health testing and screening requirements and recommendations under the ABS is regularly reviewed following consultations with breed clubs and councils and with the agreement and advice from the Kennel Club Dog Health Group, in a collaborative effort to ensure that health and welfare issues are kept at the forefront of what the scheme sets out to achieve: the encouragement of responsible breeding.

The list of ABS breed specific requirements and recommendations is updated twice a year to ensure that they remain relevant and of maximum health benefit to all dogs bred by Kennel Club Assured Breeders. Further tests can be expected to be announced as they are developed.

As previously, the most recent updates come into effect immediately. However, existing Assured Breeders have a period of grace of six months in order to comply with any new requirements and recommendations to allow them to take account of any existing breeding plans.

The ABS guidelines emphasise the importance of conducting not only the required health tests but the recommended ones also. Results provide data which allow researchers to help develop a picture of how each breed is affected by particular diseases, and how best to improve the health of affected breeds and develop cheaper and faster testing methods.

Breed specific updates can be found on the Kennel Club’s website here.

More information on the Assured Breeder Scheme can be found here.