Swedish Kennel Club
The goal of our work is to promote the positive sides of dogs, to point out how useful dogs are, the benefits humans can get and how much good dogs can do in our community. We support research in dogs and we run campaigns. Above all we protect the dog by making sure the existing traits in the dog breeds of today are preserved. Svenska Kennelklubben is an organisation with many branches. We are a union of non-profit clubs all over Sweden, consisting of regional/provincial clubs, breed clubs, activity clubs and our youth organisation Sveriges Hundungdom. By being a memberof one of these clubs you automatically are part of Svenska Kennelklubben.
- The affiliated clubs strive towards having all puppies born healthy and continuing to lead fulfilled and happy lives, but also for enabling the dog owner to take part in fun and exciting activities together with their dog.
- By being a member you too can have an influence on the situation for dogs and dog owners in Sweden. You are part of a large fellowship of almost 300 000 members!
- Your membership entitles you to participate at dog shows, working tests, trials, competitions, training classes, courses, take part of certain benefits and much more.
Regulations about breeding are published by the Swedish Board of Agriculture. They are intended to clarify the animal welfare act and describe in detail how one keeps and takes care of dogs. Members of the Swedish Kennel Club are bound by a Code of Ethics. (From the SKC website).
Breed Specific Breeding Strategy (RAS)
Each breed club in Sweden is responsible for establishing and updating the breeding strategy at regular intervals. The link is to the special club for the Bearded Collie’s (SBC) RAS document, google translated from Swedish. It describes both problems and strengths that may exist within the breed and contains the breeding recommendations agreed upon by SBC members. Every five years, SBC’s board and breeding council must initiate a thorough follow-up and, if necessary, start a revision process of RAS. It is then the responsibility of each breeder to make the right decisions taking into account genetic variation, health, mentality and conformation. The overall breeding goals are to maintain:
- Genetic variation, maintain a low inbreeding rate and increase the available breeding base
- The breed’s good health, which enables a long life without health disorders
- A racial mentality
- Functional exterior and counteract extremes
- A good reproductive capacity (genitalia, mating, pregnancy, puppyhood, and caring of puppies)
The RAS outlines the breed history in Sweden and has graphs showing the gradual decline in population starting in 1995 and becoming more marked in 2012, similar to that seen in the USA and UK though a slightly different time frame.
- To preserve hereditary variation, it is necessary to consider the number of male dogs in breeding and how they are used. Recommended number of puppies per male dog is 2% of a generation (5 years). 5% is a maximum limit that should not be exceeded. A desirable maximum level for the number of grandchildren for both male and female is approximately twice that number. In 2018, the recommended number of puppies per male is 17 with a maximum number of 43. Males with a high degree of relatedness should have fewer puppies than that.
- Statistical analysis in 2018 on the percentage relatedness (high, medium, low) of dogs over time. The trend has been towards higher relatedness (red line) and to fewer rarer lineages (green line) which contribute to the breed’s genetic variation.
