Breeding

Dogs SA Registered Breeders

The purpose of becoming a Dogs SA registered Breeder is to abide by and improve the standards of your chosen breed by striving to breed healthy sound dogs, both in temperament and construction, and to test breeding stock for any hereditary diseases which may affect the breed.

In some breeds, compulsory health testing is an ANKC requirement prior to registering a litter. The individual breed requirements are described on the ANKC website at www.dogsaustralia.org.au.

For breeds without compulsory health testing, it is advisable to gain knowledge from Breed Clubs or experienced Breeders of health requirements or hereditary diseases applicable to your breed, prior to considering breeding from your dog or bitch.

It is imperative registered Breeders ensure health testing is conducted to ensure any dogs bred do not suffer from any diseases which may have been prevented by simply testing breeding stock.

Becoming a Dog SA Registered Breeder

To become a registered Dogs SA Breeder, you must own an ANKC Main Registered bitch, transferred into your ownership as recorded on the Certified Pedigree Certificate.

If you own an ANKC Main Registered male (stud) dog, this does not entitle you to become a registered breeder.

The owner/s of the ANKC Main Register bitch must become financial Dogs SA member/s and make application for a Kennel Prefix.

Following approval of your Kennel Prefix by the National Office, the Prefix name becomes the first word of the pedigree name of any puppies bred by you.

When selecting a stud dog, ensure the stud dog is registered on the ANKC Main register, is transferred into the owner/s name and the owner/s are financial members of Dogs SA or other Interstate Controlling Office. Where health testing is compulsory or recommended ask to view the original testing results documents.

Further Information

Once you become a registered Dogs SA registered breeder, all puppies bred by you must be registered and the ownership transferred into the new owner/s names within 14 days of disposition. The Breeder has the choice of registering puppies bred on the Main or Limited Registers.

Main Register allows the puppy to be shown at Dog Shows, used for breeding, compete in Trials or be exported overseas.
There is the option of allowing the puppy to be exhibited at Dogs Shows or compete in Trials only by completing and signing the conditions section on the reverse of the pedigree certificate indicating ‘Not for Breeding’ or ‘Not for Export’.

Limited Register allows the puppy to compete in Trials only, with the option of transferring to the Main Register with both the breeder/s and new owner/s consent at a later date.

Dogs SA Breeders Responsibilities

Responsible Breeding

Dedicated, registered Dogs SA breeders must become experts in many areas of animal husbandry to produce sound, healthy dogs. Expert knowledge must include:

  • Feeding and nutrition from pregnancy, whelping and beyond.
  • Housing and kennel management.
  • Mating and whelping.
  • Basic genetics.
  • Disease control.
  • Understanding problems which may affect their breed.

What is breed soundness?

Maintaining healthy, beautiful dogs both sound in temperament and construction is the aim of all dedicated purebred pedigree dog breeders. Breed soundness of an individual dog is based on several factors:

  • Physical Soundness
    This relates to correct construction and health. The dog must cope with the demands of ordinary life as well as working in specialised areas. Soundness also refers to internal health, such as reproductive health, heart function or joint health.
  • Mental Soundness
    This refers to the temperament, ability and aptitude of the dog to participate in activities for which it was designed but conversely the dog must be able to remain calm and relaxed when required.
  • Genetic Soundness
    This refers to the health and physical attributes, in addition to the cellular and hormonal level which may be less obvious. Recent developments have resulted in many more conditions found to be genetic.
  • Breed Type
    Before considering breeding, you should assess whether your dog or bitch is typical of the breed and strive to improve the quality of breed within your kennel. Any dog or bitch used to produce a litter should be ‘above average’ in relation to the breed’s standard.

Why breed a litter?

Before you consider breeding a litter, you should consider if the dog or bitch you intent to breed are of sufficient quality and have the correct health tests to improve the standard of the breed.

A responsible breeder aims to produce a litter for better construction, temperament, health outcomes and an overall sounder dog.

A breeder should also gain a basic understanding of genetics to evaluate how different traits or characteristics are inherited as the greater knowledge a breeder has of all the factors affecting their breed will ensure only sound healthy dogs are produced.

This has benefits for all, but particularly the dogs. It also provides the pet owners and their breeders immense pride in the ownership of a sound, healthy and beautiful purebred dog.