The Atlas/Breeding/Assured Breeder Scheme
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Assured Breeder Scheme
Assured Breeder Scheme · The Kennel Club
The Kennel Club’s standard for responsible dog breeding, now under review and closed to new applicants while its assessment model is reworked.
01 What It Is
The Assured Breeder Scheme is the Kennel Club’s standard for responsible dog breeding in the United Kingdom (the body is now styled the Royal Kennel Club). It sets requirements covering health testing, record-keeping and the rearing of puppies, and breeders are assessed against them. For years it was a rare example of a breeder certification carried under national accreditation; that arrangement has since changed and the scheme is currently being reviewed.
02 What It Covers
The scheme’s requirements address the things a careful buyer cannot easily check for themselves: that the health tests appropriate to a breed have been done, that breeding is recorded and limited responsibly, and that puppies are reared and socialised before going to new homes. Meeting them is what is meant to set an assured breeder apart from one who simply advertises healthy puppies.
03 How It Is Checked
Until May 2024 the scheme was accredited by UKAS, the United Kingdom’s national accreditation body, which is the strongest form of external oversight a certification can carry. The Kennel Club then ended that accreditation to move to its own model, a risk-based mix of virtual and on-site checks built around the ISO/IEC 17065 certification standard. New applications are currently frozen while the scheme and the wider registration model are reviewed.
04 Why It Matters
Dog breeding in the UK has a statutory floor through local-authority licensing, but the Assured Breeder Scheme aimed higher, at a recognized mark of good practice a buyer could look for. Its move out of national accreditation, and the pause on new entrants, leave its standing in transition, which is worth knowing for anyone weighing what the mark currently signals.
Common Questions
Is it mandatory?
No. It is the Kennel Club’s voluntary standard for responsible dog breeding, aimed above the statutory floor that local-authority licensing already sets.
Who runs it?
The Kennel Club, now styled the Royal Kennel Club.
What does it cover?
Requirements a careful buyer cannot easily check: that breed-appropriate health tests have been done, that breeding is recorded and limited responsibly, and that puppies are reared and socialised before going to new homes.
Can I still join it?
New applications are currently frozen while the scheme and the wider registration model are reviewed.
Is it still nationally accredited?
No. Until May 2024 it was accredited by UKAS, the UK’s national accreditation body. The Kennel Club then ended that accreditation to move to its own model built around ISO/IEC 17065.
What does the mark signal now?
Its standing is in transition. With the move out of national accreditation and the pause on new entrants, it is worth knowing that what the mark currently signals has changed.
Primary sources
- Assured Breeder Scheme and registrations review, the Kennel Club (2024)royalkennelclub.com
- Breeding, the Kennel Clubroyalkennelclub.com