Quick links and useful information for Assured Breeders

Before breeding from your dogs, it’s important to ensure that both the sire and dam meet all the appropriate health and welfare criteria. We update our requirements and recommendations twice a year, so please check our guidelines before you consider mating your dog.

Read our breed-specific requirements and recommendations including health screening.

As an Assured Breeder, when you register a litter with us, you must ensure that any relevant results have been recorded on our database. You can do this by checking your dog’s details on our Health Tests Result Finder.

Please visit our Health Test Results Finder to discover the DNA or screening scheme test results for any dog on our breed register.

Assured Breeders wishing to submit health results should email these to our health team on the following email Health results (The Kennel Club) .

You can view the inbreeding coefficient calculation for an individual dog, or you can calculate what a potential puppies inbreeding coefficient would be, if you bred two dogs together.

Find our more about our inbreeding coefficient calculators.

Find breed-specific information about available health schemes, colours and breeding restrictions in our Breeds A-Z.

How do I renew my membership?
Your membership will need to be renewed annually. You can renew your membership with our online membership payments form in your online account (see the 'login' link at the top of this page).

How much does it cost to renew my membership?

• The standard annual renewal cost is £60
• If you have not had a litter in the last 12 months, we offer a non-breeding discounted annual rate of £45
• For additional memberships at the same address, the annual renewal cost if £12

Will I receive a reminder about my membership expiring?
Yes. We send membership renewal notices out one month before your annual renewal date. If we don’t receive payment, then your membership status will become ‘inactive’.

Can I renew membership if I become ‘inactive’?
If your membership becomes inactive due to a missing payment, then you’ll be able to renew at a later date to bring your membership up to date, however your membership renewal date will always remain the same.

When should I expect my next breeder assessment visits?
Every member of the scheme will be visited and inspected at least once every three years. We may also carry out additionally and random visits but will always give reasonable notice first.

How are breeder visits arranged?
One of our regional breeder assessors (not the office staff) will contact you directly to arrange a visit date that is convenient. Once this has been agreed, we’ll send you an email confirming the date and will outline what happens during a visit.

Find out more about breeder assessment visits.

We police our scheme in the following ways:

• During application – An applicant’s records with us are checked to make sure that they are likely to be able to fulfil the basic scheme requirements. Sometimes we might need extra information to check this
• Breeder assessment visits – Each member is visited by one of our trained assessors before they are accepted on to our scheme and at least once every three years after that. Our assessment visits check information about the breeder, their facilities, how their dogs are cared for, how records are kept and their paperwork, such as puppy packs and contracts
• Registering a litter – Each time one of our assured breeders registers a litter, we automatically check that both the sire and dam of the litter are microchipped and have met all of the breed-specific health tests and screening that we ask for
• Puppy buyer feedback – Whenever one of our Assured Breeders sells a puppy, they must give the new owner a feedback form. The forms are returned to us so that we can check that our Assured Breeders are complying with the scheme. We also compare the feedback we receive to the number of puppies each Assured Breeder registers, to ensure that we receive an appropriate number of feedback forms

To reward and assist our Assured Breeders, we offer the following benefits:  

• Access to templates to help create a puppy pack 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 the breeder's 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
• Access to Assured Breeder advice

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

You can gain certain Assured Breeder accolades, depending on experience, actions and accomplishments, that appear in our list of Assured Breeders and within your advertisements on Find a Puppy.

These accolades are assigned by us according to the information we have on file, although we do rely on you to update any relevant information as necessary.

There are currently four accolades that you may qualify for:

• Breeding experience accolade: assigned to breeders who have bred at least five litters
• Breed club accolade: assigned to breeders who are current members of one or more breed clubs (for each breed bred)
• Stud book accolade: assigned to breeders who have bred three or more dogs listed in The Kennel Club Stud Book
• Accolade of excellence: nominations will normally come from breed clubs. Before nominations will be considered, breeders will normally need to have bred five British titleholders (from any of the disciplines) and have had a successful visit from a regional breeder assessor

Our appeals procedure gives you the opportunity to appeal against action taken which affects your membership of the scheme.

Where a complaint has been made and is upheld, the Assured Breeder (“the appellant”) may appeal to the Assured Breeders scheme sub-group. Any notice of appeal must be received by us no later than 14 days after the date on which the written notice of the managers’ decision was served on the appellant.

A notice of appeal should:

• State the name and address of the person making the appeal
• Identify clearly the decision that is disputed and specify whether the appeal is in respect of the whole or in respect of any specified part of such decision
• Set out the grounds of the appeal
• Include any additional evidence upon which the appellant relies, and set out the reasons why it was not presented to the committee

The legitimate points upon which an appeal may be considered are as follows:

• The decision was based on a finding of fact that was perverse or irrational
• There was no evidence to support a particular finding of fact
• The decision was made by reference to irrelevant factors
• The decision was made without reference to relevant factors
• New evidence to that considered at the original hearing has come to light
• The decision was made for an improper purpose
• The decision was made in a procedurally unfair manner
• The decision was made in a matter which breached any governing legislation or regulations

An appeal will be heard and determined on the basis of written submissions to the dog health group Assured Breeders scheme sub-group at the next available meeting and a decision made.

The result of the appeal will be communicated to the appellant. This decision will be final and no further appeals will be accepted.

At any time during the investigation of a complaint, a breeder may be suspended from using or operating under the scheme pending the conclusion of such an investigation. During such suspension, puppies must not be sold under the scheme.

Apply to register your litter online.

Download a paper litter application form.

Assured Breeders receive discounted registration fees, saving £2 per puppy. When you submit your litter registration application online, your discount will be applied at the review page before you make payment. If you’re new to the scheme, your discount may need to be given to you in the form or a refund when you register your first litter.

More information on each point of our Assured Breeders scheme standard can be found in our guidance for Assured Breeders.

Read the scheme guidance.

To help you provide a breed-specific puppy information pack with each puppy sold, we have produced a puppy pack template that is available for you to use if you wish. Please note, the puppy pack template must be edited and personalised with your own information before it will meet the requirements of the scheme. Full instructions are included at the front of the pack.

Our puppy pack template includes:

• An advice sheet template for puppy buyers
• Scheme contract form (for the seller)

You can find out what to include in your puppy pack and you can download a puppy pack template.

We have produced a guide to a stud dog contract for Assured Breeders who use their dogs at stud to visiting bitches. This document must be edited and personalised with your own information before it will meet the requirements of the scheme.

Download a copy of our guide to a stud dog contract.

To ensure that the scheme delivers what it sets out to achieve, we are accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) to certify breeders on the scheme, meaning it is a robust and impartial assessor ensuring that its high standards are maintained.

Find out more about how we are accredited by UKAS.