The Kennel Club

Well, the good news is that we cannot apply again for recognition of the Barbet in the UK by the Kennel Club until 2014.
I am being very positive as this extension of time will allow the Kennel Club to realise the error of their ways and start to see sense and perhaps have a greater understanding of rare breeds.
Rare breeds do not make money for Kennel Clubs, as there are not normally many breeders and therefore not normally many puppies and the consequence of that situation means not many registrations and registrations of litters means ££££££.
Sounds rather harsh doesn't it?
But I do know of one breed that was recognised by the Kennel Club, they took the advice over recognition and imported dogs from overseas, and so fulfiled the desired amount of dogs that made the breed viable in the UK, and yes the Kennel Club was thrilled and granted that breed recognition. Did the Kennel Club do their homework though as several of the dogs which had been imported were already dead, some didn't pass health checks, some had a bad charactor and the worse thing I heard is that the British lost all respect from those good breeders overseas as suddenly the dogs in the UK were not so healthy and had bad charactors. So the dog world is a fickle place to be, if you start producing bad dogs then it becomes harder to import the better quality dogs from overseas. I am looking at the future for the Barbet, and I may be wrong but I firmly believe at this stage it is quality not quantity. The Barbet is a healthy dog and can have a very healthy future but that will only be down to breeders taking the time to combine the right lines together. If our numbers worldwide are only approx 1600 then the showring has to be about promotion rather than beauty. We have produced some beautiful Barbets in the UK, Novaforesta Eton is one example and his background is 0% COI over 5 generations, almost an impossibility in a rare breed but it can be done and should be done whenever possible. So we have produced some beautiful dogs, but that has never been my intention so I have been lucky. In a rare breed, sometimes you make choices, and for all those people out there who want a Barbet in their lives I hope you will understand the work done by some of the breeders in the UK, it is worth doing your research and looking at the GB barbet Club website at the results of the dogs produced in the UK.
So going back to our Kennel Club, and our rejection of recognition for the Barbet.
My recent communication with them has resulted in them admitting an error over dates of FCI recognition of breed, they thought it was 2006!!! they have overlooked the second reason which was the high incidence of hip dysplasia ( totally and utterly incorrect as we have outstanding hip results in the UK) and have replaced it with health concerns over the small genepool. So if you read the above again, what do you think? The Kennel Club are proud to promote themselves as a Club which looks after the welfare and well being of dogs in the UK.......but not the Barbet.....grump! If the Kennel Club have concerns over health with a small genepool, why don't they help us and tell us what their concerns are, instead they slam the door shut...grump.
Don't get me wrong, we do need Barbets imported but with careful consideration so that we improve the breed rather than just increase numbers, and once we have a solid foundation of dogs then we might be ready for a barbet explosion.