Kennel club

[3] Kennel clubs maintain breed standards, record pedigrees, and issue the rules for conformation dog shows and trials and accreditation of judges.

The original purpose of a kennel club, however, was the breeding and showing of conformation bench purebreds, and this remains the most widely accepted definition.

Kennel clubs were founded from the necessity to bring order out of chaos to the sport of public competitive dog exhibitions.

[citation needed] Recognizing the necessity for the establishment of a governing body with punitive powers, MP Sewallis Shirley, called a group of well-known fanciers together and The Kennel Club was formed.

In April 1873 a small group of people had a meeting in a three-roomed flat, which led later that year to the Kennel Club's first show at The Crystal Palace with 975 entrants.

In 1881, the French Société Centrale Canine was founded, followed by the Italian Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia Italiana (ENCI) in 1882, the American Kennel Club in 1884 and the Swedish Svenska Kennelklubben (SKK) in 1889.

The Fédération Cynologique Internationale was formed in 1911, under the auspices of the Austrian, Belgian, Dutch, French and German canine societies.

They successfully popularized the sport of dog showing and elevated it from venues such as bars and public houses to fashionable locations.

Worldwide, the majority of countries are members or have contract partners with the FCI, with only Africa and the Middle East poorly represented.