The Kennel Club has been through numerous audits with UKAS and made a number of amendments to the scheme to achieve recognition by UKAS as a competent evaluator, which has met international accreditation standards.
In an important move that helps the Kennel Club to fulfil its UKAS requirements, every new member of the scheme will be inspected before they are accepted, and all current members will be inspected within three years. Random checks will continue as in the past, particularly where any concerns are highlighted or when issues have been raised through feedback from puppy buyers.

Other long-standing rules of the scheme which remain include ensuring that all animals are kept and raised in good conditions, both parents are assessed using the appropriate health and DNA tests before they are bred from, and ensuring that the puppies are well socialised before going to new homes.
Last month the Kennel Club announced a set of updated rules forming the ABS Standard, which contain all of the compulsory requirements of the scheme. These revised rules retained many of the long-standing requirements of the scheme, but the wording was modified to add clarity about the exact requirements for members to achieve[2].

The Kennel Club will shortly be announcing a plan to demonstrate the impact that UKAS accreditation will have. As a transitional arrangement, this will include a system for clearly identifying which breeders have been visited under the Kennel Club’s new accredited status. There will also be a plan for offering further incentives to Assured Breeders and for covering the inevitable costs of increased inspections.

Bill Lambert, Kennel Club Health and Breeder Services Manager, said: “Responsible dog breeders are passionate about producing puppies which live healthy, happy lives, and they fulfil all the expectations that responsible owners demand. But it is only Kennel Club Assured Breeders that are bound to this commitment by agreeing to mandatory health testing of their breeding animals, by opening their doors to allow inspection and by being committed to providing a service to puppy buyers throughout the life of the animal. Indeed many of our members go above and beyond the scheme’s requirements.

“The scheme has continually developed since its inception, which meant that the further changes we needed to make to achieve formal accreditation by UKAS were straightforward. The greatest change is still to come as we increase the number of breeder assessment visits that we carry out so that there can be no doubt that those on the scheme are continuing to adopt the standards that we expect.

“We again urge all responsible breeders to join the Kennel Club Assured Breeder Scheme, which is the simplest and easiest way for us all to work together and ensure that puppy buyers find a responsible breeder and are not duped by somebody who is less committed to breeding healthy dogs. The scheme does not make any money for the Kennel Club; we have in fact subsidised the costs of the scheme for many years, but running it is just another example of how the Kennel Club makes a difference for dogs.”