Introduction
Many are of the opinion that the Kennel Clubs "Accredited Breeder Scheme" is the wrong conception. It targets breeders and then expects them to honour its conditions, without any satisfactory GUARANTEE of full compliance.  It is also not mandatory, and as such can be and is routinely ignored by a large majority of breeders, thereby offering nothing more than a very small and limited influence on the real Health and Welfare of Pedigree Dogs. Although statutory measures for compulsory minimum health and welfare standards by breeders and their dogs, both pedigree and non pedigree, would have the maximum beneficial effects, the prospects of such statutory laws being introduced in the foreseeable future, are to say the least, very remote. It therefore places focus and responsibility on the Kennel Club to introduce Rules & Regulations, to raise the standards of Health and Welfare of Pedigree Dogs.  

It is now very clear that the Kennel Club place their perceived risk to their income stream well ahead of significantly improving the Health and Welfare of pedigree dogs. They have proved this by their consistent refusal to link health and welfare standards to KC registration, which offers some degree of compulsion, and even paying scant attention to a proposed Two Tier Registration System, which facilitates the current registration system, and then adds a level of registration for those dogs that meet agreed minimum health screening standards, and therefore minimises any risk to their registration income stream. Instead they continue to persist in promoting their Accredited Breeders Scheme, which continues to lose credit amongst breeders, and even by any cursory examination illustrates many flaws, some clearly fundamental which seriously undermine the integrity of the scheme. All of which is apparently ignored by the Kennel Club.

We are now left with few options for introducing a creditable scheme which will offer us the opportunity to set minimum health screening standards for GSD that are to be used for breeding. The GSD Breed Council already has a GSD Breed Survey Scheme, which is growing in popularity, especially since it has been linked with entry qualification for our British Sieger Event. The SV use their breed survey as the key component for the breeding qualification of their GSD. The Breed Council breed survey should look towards strengthening their breed survey with regard to it being a breeding qualification. This would certainly happen if this proposal is accepted and is introduced here in Great Britain. 

This proposal not only strengthens the influence on our breed of the GSD Breed Council, and its breed survey, it also offers significant opportunities to strengthen our GSD Breed Clubs and also to significantly improve the health and welfare of our breed. There are so many benefits to be gained, and opportunities to be grasped, this proposal could trigger a reversal of the doldrums we have experienced over the past decade or so. 

We are all well aware that even the most reputable breeders, from time to time, still breed from dogs of varied quality and health screening results. For this reason it makes much more sense to credit any measured breeding qualities, or minimum health screening standards to the dogs themselves, rather than offering it cart blanch to Breeders. With this in mind it is suggested the Breed Council formulate an Accredited GSD Scheme for the further development of the German Shepherd Dog that in conjunction with the Breed Council GSD Survey Scheme they be assessed as Fit for the Purpose of Breeding and that this be regulated by the GSD Breed Council. 

It should be noted we can do this WITHOUT having to breakaway from the Kennel Club. Litters will continue to be registered with the British Kennel Club in the same way as always. However, on top of KC registrations we can have our surveyed dogs “Accredited” by the GSD Breed Council. Sires and Dams “Accredited” through Health Screening and Accredited as Fit for Purpose of Breeding through the GSD Breed Council Survey and therefore have Breed Council Pedigree’s for pups born from “Accredited Parents”.

Proposals

1. That the scheme be known as The German Shepherd Dog Breed Council - Accredited GSD  Scheme - (The BCAGSDS). Available for dogs aged 18mths and over.

2.  Every dog acquiring a BC Survey graded pass ‘Fit for Breeding’ should be listed in ALPHABETICAL order on our Breed Council Website under the heading BC SURVEY CLASSIFICATION of GSD’s graded suitable for breeding (or Fit for Purpose of Breeding), and that this be a separate page, solely DEDICATED to this one purpose. 

3. a) In order for Import Dogs with foreign Körung qualifications to be included into the BCAGSDS a copy of the Pink Papers & Korschein along with the name, address and affix of his new UK owners needs to be sent to the Breed Council for submission onto the database along with an administration fee of (say £10 to be determined). This fee would include a printed copy of a BC Pedigree for pups from Accredited Parents. 

    b) Some funding will initially need to be found in order to add the names of ALL Foreign sires (residing outside of the UK) but which already have KC registered progeny. However in the future any breeder using a using a Foreign sire for the first time will need to send in a copy of his Pink Papers and Körung along with a small administration fee (of say £3 the price of a pedigree) to be determined.  

4. The BC Website Administrator should ensure this BC web page is kept high up in the Search Engines using key search words/sentences such as German Shepherd Fit for purpose of breeding, suitable for breeding, Accredited German Shepherd Dogs, Accredited for Breeding, Accredited Dams, Accredited Sires, and Litters from Accredited Parents etc (NB – an accredited litter is only when both parents are accredited). 

5. Encourage breeders of these Accredited Litters to obtain a BC Pedigree which would contain all relevant Survey and Health details of the sire and dam. For example the Survey Pass Grade, Grades given by SV judges, I.D chip / tattoo number, Health details Hip Score, Elbow, DNA etc as well as all relevant breeding recommendations given by the Surveyor. These Pedigree’s should be available for a cost of (say £3 each) to be determined. 

6. An Accredited Litter would be one where both parents have attained a BC Survey Pass (class 1 or 2) and/or foreign Körung. For the sum of £10 per year, Breeders with pups from Accredited Parents available should be able to advertise the litter they are expecting and / or already have available for sale. 

7. From now on grades given to dogs at the British Sieger Event and any future (Landsgruppen) Regional GSD Events including any overseas SV & WUSV event will be entered under the dogs name on the BC Database, the grade for any dog only superseded by a higher grade. Grades as follows G, SG, V, VA. If necessary an extra £1 per entry could be levied for this and in the case of including a grade given at an overseas event a copy of the grading card should be sent to the BC Sec along with a £2 administration fee. These show grades will then also form a part of the BC Pedigree and should also be available to the Breed Council Surveyor to aid in the quality assessment of the dog at the time of doing the survey. In future it may be decided that a minimum show grade will form an essential part of our breed survey, in a similar way that it does in the Körung.  

8. a) In order to submit a dog into a BC Survey to enable the dog eligible to be entered into the BCAGSDs, the owner must themselves be a member of a Breed Club which in turn is a Breed Council Member Club – For this purpose the Survey Forms will therefore need to be updated to contain a section for the owner to stipulate the GSD Breed Club they are a member of.  

    b)  Only Breed Council Member Clubs can run a Survey.  

9. Advertisements’ and Leaflets should be printed and published explaining the GSD Breed Councils New Initiative of Only Promoting Litters from Health Screened and Quality Assessed Stock attaining Breed Council Survey Pass as ‘Fit for Purpose, Fit for Breeding’.

10. Once all these suggestions are in place the BC should also contact The National Weekly Dog Press with a written document detailing this New Initiative and within it an AIM TO ENCOURAGING OTHER BREEDS to pick up the scheme, by doing something similar for their own breed. 

11. That this scheme has its own Financial Banking Account, separate from any other Breed Council Account. This is an absolute necessity to ensure the future existence of the scheme along with a compliance that all current and future pledges, donations and income generated by and / or on behalf of the scheme is solely for the benefit of the scheme to keep up with technical upgrades the scheme will require from time to time, along with a view to further develop the Breed Council Database and Website in such a way as to continue to advance both the Health, Welfare and Status of the GSD in the UK. 

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All above suggestions are relatively easily accomplished with almost immediate effect. Planning and work needed to be done will be mainly on the part of the BC Database Administrator and so to start with we may need to generate some funds for this. 

David Payne - Videx GSD & Sue Belfield - Kassieger GSD