The Kennel Club Assured Breeders scheme helps people buy puppies from good breeders who are passionate about the health and welfare of dogs.
What is the Assured Breeders scheme?
Our scheme promotes responsible dog breeders who have a strong focus on high welfare standards, giving the puppies they produce the best chance at living a long and happy life.
All of our Assured Breeders:
- Breed to high welfare standards
- Only breed from dogs that have been tested and screened for health conditions specific to their breed
- Are inspected and monitored by us to ensure that they maintain the high standards that we expect
To ensure that our scheme is robust and impartial, we are accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) to certify breeders on our scheme.
Why become an Assured Breeder?
For puppy buyers, finding a good breeder can be difficult. Nearly a third of puppy buyers admit that they may have bought their puppy from a puppy farm, inadvertently fuelling this cruel trade.
If you're a caring and responsible breeder, doing all you can to produce healthy, happy puppies, you can help to stop this and be part of the movement to end puppy farming. We need all good breeders, all with the same values, to join the scheme and get behind one single message: ‘buy from an Assured Breeder’. If all responsible breeders support this simple message, and puppy buyers are clear on where to buy a healthy puppy, it will help in the fight against puppy farming.
Our scheme helps responsible breeders to stand out from the rest and gives puppy buyers the reassurance that the breeders on our scheme are inspected and monitored by us. There are lots of great dog breeders out there, but our scheme makes it easy for them to be found in one place.
Rewards for Assured Breeders
To reward and assist our Assured Breeders, we offer the following benefits:
- Access to templates to help create a puppy pack and contract of sale for each puppy sold
- Free puppy sales wallets with each registration document to pass on to puppy buyers
- Free listings on our Find a Puppy service, so Assured Breeders can advertise their puppies (valued at £20 per litter), with the premium Assured Breeder badge next to their name
- Free listing on Find an Assured Breeder
- Prioritised access to support, advice and information from us
- Discounted registration fees, saving £2 per puppy
- Discounts to Kennel Club events
In conjunction with our partners, we offer a comprehensive package of discounts, worth over £350 in savings, including:
- 15% discount with the BVA (British Veterinary Association) for online hip and elbow dysplasia schemes submissions
- 10% discount on DNA testing with The Kennel Club DNA Testing Services
- 15% discount on DNA testing with Canine Genetic Testing at the University of Cambridge
- 20% discount on DNA testing with Optigen
- 10% discount on DNA testing with Laboklin
- 15% discount on The Kennel Club's identification tags, which feature high-quality laser engraving
- £4 discount on Breed Record Supplement subscriptions
How much does it cost to join the Assured Breeders scheme?
- Administration fee (£25) - We charge an initial administration fee for each application. Once your initial application has been accepted, you will be eligible to access the discounts associated with the scheme, including discounts on health testing and screening schemes
- Joining fee (£60) - Once your initial application has been accepted, we will provide you with a payment link, via email, to take a joining fee. You will then be submitted for a pre-joining assessment visit
- Annual membership (£60 each year) - After you have been an Assured Breeder for a year, you will be expected to pay an annual membership. Please note that you will need to receive a breeder assessment visit every three years to ensure that you comply with the scheme requirements
- Non-breeding discount (£45 each year) - If you have not had a litter in the last 12 months, we offer a non-breeding discounted annual rate
What we do with the money made from the scheme
Our Assured Breeders scheme exists to improve the health and welfare of dogs and is certainly not a way for us to make money. The money that we receive goes back into the print, marketing and administration costs of running the scheme.
Further developments, such as the implementation of a network of regional breeder assessors and our call to make the standards of the scheme mandatory for all breeders by law, means that we are continually investing in developing the scheme further.
Who can join our Assured Breeders scheme?
Many of our Assured Breeders have a wealth of experience, and will have bred for many years, but our scheme is open to any breeder who can demonstrate a commitment to responsible breeding. All of our breeders must subscribe to, and abide by, good breeding practice and fulfil the health testing requirements that we set.
We do require breeders to have bred at least one litter before we accept them onto the scheme. However, if an applicant hasn’t previously bred a litter but has received a successful breeder assessment visit, the applicant’s yearly payment will be activated and the membership will remain in a pending state until they apply to register a litter that meets all the requirements of our scheme.
I breed my dogs infrequently, is the scheme for me?
Most people who register their dogs with us don't breed large numbers of litters. 75% of people who register litters with us only ever breed one litter per year, or fewer. However, we need all breeders, large and small, to be part of our scheme - even if they only ever sell one or two puppies outside of their family in a lifetime. Irresponsible breeders and puppy farmers may use the excuse that they breed infrequently and so do not need the scheme. But if all of those people who are genuinely in a position choose to sign up, then disingenuous breeders will no longer be able to trade.
What do I need to do to be an Assured Breeder?
All of our Assured Breeders must:
- Agree to be inspected by us
- Maintain the high standards of welfare that we set out in our scheme standard
- Test and screen any dogs used for breeding for health issues that are related to their breed
- Providing pre- and post-sales advice and assistance to puppy buyers
- Take each puppy to the vet for a check before selling them
- Provide a puppy pack to all new owners that includes helpful information on diet, worming, vaccinations, breed specific characteristics, grooming, exercise, rearing and socialisation
- Provide a contract of sale
- Agree to assist with rehoming, should the unthinkable happen, if the new owner is unable to care for the puppy throughout its life
Find out more about all of the things you need to do to be an Assured Breeder.
How can I join the Assured Breeders scheme?
Find out more information about our Assured Breeders scheme and how you can apply to join.
Where can I find out more about breeding?
As our understanding about the health and well-being of dogs increases, it's vital to keep up to date with these changes. That’s why we created The Kennel Club Academy with dog breeders in mind. This is our home to accessible online education, where breeders can learn at their own pace, building upon and expanding their knowledge in the world of dogs. There are a variety of resources that will appeal to breeders, in particular our breeder education learning resources, which feature insightful videos covering topics from pre-breeding considerations right through to rearing, owning and caring for the health of your dogs.
We also have a breeders zone on our website, packed full of information on breeding.