Why it matters
Trust you can see, not just claims
Anyone can say their dog is KC-registered and health-tested. The problem for responsible breeders has always been proving it — and for buyers, knowing who to believe.
Breed Right closes that gap honestly. We store three things: what the breeder declares, the breeder’s own certificates, and our record that a named member of our team checked the declaration against the Royal Kennel Club’s public records on a stated date. If we can’t corroborate a claim, no badge is shown. Simple as that.
Two things we deliberately do not do: we don’t copy or store the Royal Kennel Club’s data — what we keep is our own dated record of the check — and we never treat a missing Royal Kennel Club record as a black mark. The Royal Kennel Club’s public records may not include all the screening a dog has had, so a dog with no Royal Kennel Club record showing is not necessarily untested.
Breed Right is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to The Royal Kennel Club.
At a glance
The fine print, up front
What “Verified” means — precisely
“Verified” means Breed Right checked it — not the Royal Kennel Club. For a dog: a named Breed Right admin searched the Royal Kennel Club’s public Health Test Results Finder on a stated date, and the dog it returned matched the registered name, breed, date of birth and sex the breeder declared, and the Royal Kennel Club showed it on the Breed Register. For a health result: it matched the Royal Kennel Club’s public record or the breeder’s certificate. It does not mean we hold Royal Kennel Club data, that the Royal Kennel Club endorses Breed Right, or that the Royal Kennel Club’s records are complete.
And what it does not mean
- It is not a Royal Kennel Club product, and the Royal Kennel Club has not endorsed the listing or Breed Right.
- It does not mean we hold Royal Kennel Club data — we record our own check, not their records.
- It is not a health guarantee or a recommendation to use a particular stud dog.
- It does not mean the Royal Kennel Club’s records are complete — the Royal Kennel Club itself notes its records may not include all screening a dog has had.
The process
Three steps behind every badge
Every dog goes through the same checks before a “Verified” badge appears. There is no automated shortcut — and that is deliberate.
1 · You declare it
Enter the registered name, registration number, breed, date of birth and sex exactly as they appear on the Royal Kennel Club registration certificate, and upload the certificate itself. The Royal Kennel Club never publishes registration numbers, so your certificate is the evidence for the number.
2 · A person checks it
We check every hip, elbow, eye and DNA result you give us against the Royal Kennel Club’s public records by hand, and we record who checked it and when. The check confirms the registered name, breed, date of birth and sex match — and that the Royal Kennel Club shows the dog on the Breed Register.
3 · The badge, with a date
When everything matches, the listing shows a “Verified” badge together with the date it was checked — never a bare badge. Edit any detail we verified and the badge comes off until the listing is re-checked.
Why isn’t it instant?
The Royal Kennel Club publishes no data feed and offers no lookup service to sites like ours, so there is nothing to automate. Instead a named member of our team consults the Royal Kennel Club’s free public Health Test Results Finder, as any member of the public may, and writes down in their own words what they saw and on what date. We keep our own note. We never keep a copy of the Royal Kennel Club’s records, and we have no access to any Royal Kennel Club database. Checks are completed as quickly as we can.
The rule that matters most
Breed Register only
Every stud dog on Breed Right is on the Royal Kennel Club Breed Register. The Royal Kennel Club also runs an Activity Register, which is open to any dog including crossbreeds — those dogs cannot be listed at stud here.
Eligible for stud listings
The pedigree register — both parents are themselves on the Breed Register. Only Breed Register dogs may be listed at stud on Breed Right.
A real KC number — but not a pedigree
Open to any dog, including crossbreeds, for activities such as agility and flyball. An Activity Register number is a genuine Royal Kennel Club number but is not a pedigree record.
Not eligible
This dog is not on a Royal Kennel Club register. Dogs without a Breed Register registration cannot be listed at stud on Breed Right.
That is why “has a KC number” is not enough on its own — part of every check is confirming the dog is on the Breed Register specifically.
Reading a profile
Every state, in the open
Checked and unchecked information look different on Breed Right — on every card, chip and table. Here is the vocabulary.
Verified
A named member of our team corroborated the declaration against the Royal Kennel Club’s public records on the date shown. The badge always carries that date.
In review
The breeder has submitted details and documents and the check is in our queue. The profile stays clearly marked until the check is complete.
Breeder-declared
Supplied by the owner and not yet independently checked. Declared information is honest by default — it just hasn’t been corroborated yet, and it never borrows the verified styling. A health test result is not shown to visitors at all until we have checked it; the owner sees it marked this way in their own dashboard.
And if a check fails?
No badge of shame. If we cannot corroborate a claim, nothing is shown publicly — the claim simply doesn’t appear — and the breeder sees what we found, and what is needed to put it right, in their own dashboard.
Health testing
The results we check
Which tests matter varies by breed — each breed page lists its own panel under The Royal Kennel Club Health Standard. These are the most common schemes.
Hip score
BVA/KC hip scoring: each hip is scored 0–53, giving a total of 0–106. Lower is better. Where we hold a sourced breed median we show it for context; where we don’t, we don’t invent one.
Elbow grade
BVA/KC elbow grading, 0–3 per elbow. Under the BVA rule the higher of the two elbows is the dog’s grade. 0 is the best result.
Eye examination
BVA/KC/ISDS eye scheme — a dated examination result. We record the result and the date, because currency matters as much as the outcome.
DNA tests
Breed-specific DNA results (for example prcd-PRA, CNM, EIC or SLEM) recorded as Clear, Hereditary Clear, Carrier or Affected — exactly as they appear on the laboratory certificate.
Checked and declared results look different — everywhere
The same result renders in one of two ways, so an unchecked claim can never dress up as a corroborated one. For example:
The first example has been checked and is what a visitor sees. The second is breeder-declared: it shows an info mark, never a tick, and only its owner sees it, in their dashboard, until we have checked it. A tick only ever appears next to verified information.
Results marked Verified were checked by us against the Royal Kennel Club’s public records on the date shown. Results we have not yet checked are not shown to visitors. The Royal Kennel Club’s public records may not include all screening a dog has had.
Being fair to breeders
“No record” never means “untested”
The Royal Kennel Club’s public records may not include all the screening a dog has had, so a dog with no Royal Kennel Club record showing is not necessarily untested. The Royal Kennel Club says so itself on its own profiles.
So where a test has no result on Breed Right, we say exactly that — “Not recorded on Breed Right” — in neutral styling. Never “failed”, never “missing”, never a red mark. Breeders can add results and certificates at any time, and our team will check them.
For breeders
Getting your dog verified
Add your dog
Enter the details exactly as they appear on the registration certificate, and upload the certificate and any health results.
We run the checks
A named member of our team checks your declaration against the Royal Kennel Club’s public records — as quickly as we can.
Go live, verified
Once confirmed, your “Verified” badge appears with the date of the check, and breeders can find and contact you.
Questions
Verification FAQ
Is verification free?
Yes — verification is included on every plan, including the free plan. You are never charged to prove your dog is registered and health-tested.
How long does it take?
Checks are done by a person, not a machine, and are completed as quickly as we can. You can see the status of every check from your dashboard.
What if the Royal Kennel Club’s records don’t show my results?
The Royal Kennel Club’s public records may not include all the screening a dog has had, so a dog with no Royal Kennel Club record showing is not necessarily untested. Upload your certificates — they stay on file with your listing, your results appear on it once we have checked them, labelled with how they were checked, and nothing about a missing public record is ever held against you.
Do you store Royal Kennel Club data?
No. We store what the breeder declares, the breeder’s own certificates, and our own record of who checked it, when, and what matched. We do not copy the Royal Kennel Club’s records, and we have no access to any Royal Kennel Club database.
Can a badge be removed?
Yes. If a verified detail is edited, the badge comes off until the listing is re-checked. If a concern is reported and upheld, the badge is removed until it is put right.
Breed with confidence
Browse stud dogs whose details have actually been checked — or list your own dog and earn a badge that means something.