United Kennel Club

The United Kennel Club (UKC) is a kennel club founded in 1898 in the United States. In contrast with the American Kennel Club, which is non-profit and which only clubs can join, the United Kennel Club is a profit-making corporation, open to individuals.

The UKC is not recognised by the International Canine Federation.

History

thumb|150px|Chauncey Z. Bennett

UKC was founded by Chauncey Z. Bennett, on February 10, 1898, after feeling that other dog registries in existence at the time catered too much to Conformation-only show dog owners or wealthy hobbyists, whom he called "the big city idle rich".

The first dog registered with UKC was an American Pit Bull Terrier, Bennett's own dog, named Bennett's Ring. This also made UKC the first registry to recognize the breed.

UKC continues to operate out of Kalamazoo, licensing more than 16,000 events every year across the United States. The registry currently recognizes over 370 breeds of dogs. In September 2021, the company announced that it had come to an agreement to acquire American Field Publishing Company, including its Field Dog Stud Book, specializing in upland field trials for pointing dogs and field trial breeding records.

Presidents

Chauncey Z. Bennett (founder, and president from 1898 to 1936) initiated the system of numbering the registered dogs. The first dog registered, UKC Number 1, was Bennett's American Pit Bull Terrier, Bennett's Ring.
Frances Bennett Fuhrman (president from 1936 to 1944),

'Total Dog' Philosophy

UKC stresses the value of what they call the "Total Dog". It refers to a dog which displays "equal parts function, temperament, and structure," and is used to showcase dogs that look as their breed should in Conformation shows, but also are able to excel at performance sports that utilize skills for which they were bred.

UKC awards a Total Dog Award to dogs at All-Breed Sports events which earn a win in Conformation as well as an eligible Performance Sport on the same day, demonstrating both form and function.

A section of the company website remains devoted to dog law, with tips to get involved, and links to contact lawmakers.

Programs

United Kennel Club's two main programs are called Hunting Operations and All-Breed Sports. Hunting Operations runs six separate types of competitive hunt, generally based on the breed of dog, while All-Breed Sports runs ten different performance sports, that are open to—as the name suggests—all breeds.

Hunting Programs

Coonhounds

Hunting

The first organized Coonhound field trial was held in Marion, Ohio, in 1924.

Bench Show

A Bench Show is essentially a Conformation show for Coonhounds. The dogs are placed on a two-foot high platform to assist the judge in their examination of the dog for adherence to breed standards. and a World Bench Show Champion at the yearly Coonhound World Championship event. Both events feature a Hunt and Bench Show portion.

In 2021, UKC paired with the Beagle Gundog Alliance to develop a new format, the Beagle Gundog program. This format held its first national event that same year.

Hunting Retrievers

In the early 1980s, UKC held a series of meetings with several prominent voices in the Hunting Retriever field, about an arrangement to create a new format of field trial for retrievers. This became the Hunting Retriever Club, which was quickly affiliated with UKC. The Cur and Feist breeds are smaller dogs, most often used to hunt squirrel and other small game. Over the two decades of the program's existence, UKC has developed World Championships for both Cur Squirrel Dog and Feist Squirrel Dog, and holds licensed bench shows.

Upland Hunting

The first UKC-licensed pointing dog trial was held in April 2004, by the French Brittany Gundog Club (which would later become Club de l’Epagneul Breton of the United States or CEB-US). The event was held in Armour, South Dakota and consisted of a conformation show and two distinct field trials. In 2021, UKC announced that it had acquired American Field Publishing Company, including the Field Dog Stud Book, the oldest purebred dog registry in the United States. The first UKC Elite Shed Dog National event was held in April 2020 in Whittington, Illinois.

All-Breed Sports Programs

The UKC All-Breed Sports Department operates ten performance sports, as well as the SPOT (Socialized Pet Obedience Test) program.

Agility

In Agility, a dog and handler race to complete a specially designed obstacle course involving tunnels, bridges, and jumps. The event is timed to measure speed of completion, and accuracy is also taken into consideration.

The first UKC-licensed Agility trial was held in July 1995, after the National Club for Dog Agility transferred the program to United Kennel Club.

UKC announced Dock Jumping as a licensed event in 2007.

UKC began to license Drag Racing in 2004, at the time called Terrier Racing.

UKC announced the addition of Lure Coursing in May 2010.

UKC began to officially license Nosework events in 2015.

The UKC Obedience Program began in 1977.

UKC announced the launch of Precision Coursing in May 2020.

Rally Obedience

Similar to Obedience, Rally Obedience also tests a dog's ability to perform basic obedience exercises, but in Rally, the pace is quicker as the sequence of exercises is indicated by a series of instructional and directional signs placed throughout the course.

UKC announced the addition of Rally Obedience in 2008. The SPOT test consists of 10 separate stations. At each station the dog must perform a basic exercise. These exercises are used to demonstrate that the dog is capable of exhibiting desired behaviors that the general public would expect to see in a well-behaved dog. The weight to be pulled is variable based on the weight of the dog itself.

UKC added Weight Pull to its list of events in 2002, with the first event being held in Montana in February 2002. In UKC, a dog must receive 100 points with at least three competition wins under three different judges. A competition win is when a dog wins best male, best female, or best of winners over a least one other dog and receives points accordingly. A UKC Grand Champion (GRCh) title is earned by winning in competition over 2 other Champions and/or Grand Champions of the breed in at least five shows under at least three different judges. In Jan 2019, UKC added 4 Grand Champion levels — Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire and Diamond.