Quality Kennels, Litters, and Dogs
Only the best kennels strive to produce quality dogs through health clearances and performance testing.
Health clearances include checking for hip and elbow dysplasia, congential eye defects, congenial heart defects, blood disorders, and endocrine disorders such as thyroid disease. Checking each dog for these defects and diseases can be costly to the breeder but helps them produce healthy dogs to be purchased by you. When you see this seal, a breeder checks for at least one of these health issues on all of the dogs they breed. When a breeder tells you they have these clearances, always ask to view the original health clearance certificates.
Common health clearances you may see on this site:
Acronym | Registry Name | Phyiscal Areas Covered | Countries |
---|---|---|---|
OFA | Canine Orthopedic Registration Foundation | Hips, Elbows, Knees, Shoulders, Thyroid, Deafness, Heart | United States |
PennHip | The University of Pennsylvania Hip Improvement Program | Hips | United States |
CERF | Canine Eye Registration Foundation | Eyes | United States |
BVA/KC | British Veterinary Association Schemes | Hips, Elbows, and Eyes | United Kingdom |
HD-,HD+, HD-Frei, HD0, HD1, A1, A2...D2, etc | Various CHD rating systems | Hips | Europe |
Performance testing means a kennel or dog owner tests all of their breeding dogs for proper conformation, hunting ability, and/or obedience. When a dog has been given a title, this tells you and the breeder how proficient the dog is in a particular performance attribute. This also helps the breeder determine if the dog should be bred at all. Only titles from reputable kennel registries or hunt/trial clubs should be considered when researching potential kennels, litters, and started or finished dogs.
Common titles you may see on this site:
Title | Kennel Registry | Title/Award |
---|---|---|
Conformation | AKC, CKC, KC | CH |
German System | A, G, M, SG, U, V, VA, VH, ZB | |
Field | AKC | AFC, FC, NFC, NAFC |
CKC | CFC, CAFC, FD, FDJ, FDX | |
KC | FTCh, FTW (not offical), FTAW (not offical) | |
German System | D1-3,J1-3, IKP, KS, VJP, HZP, VGP, Btr.,Vbr., AH, SW | |
Hunt | AKC,CKC | JH, SH, MH |
KC | WGC | |
UKC | GRHRCH, HR, HRCH, SHR, UH | |
NAHRA | GMHR, SR, MHR, WR | |
NAVHDA | NA, UT, UTI, VC | |
Breed Clubs | JWD, SD, WD, WDX, WDQ, WDS, SWD, MWD, WC, WCX, WCI, WD, WDX, WRD | |
Obedience | AKC | CD, CDX, CGC, OTCH, UDT, UDTX, UDX, |
CKC | CD, CDX, OTCH, UD | |
KC | OB.CH | |
UKC | U-CD, U-CDX, U-UD | |
German System | CAC, CACIB, WS, BS, RS, ES, VDH Ch. |