Practices and Policies of AJC Kennels
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Here we would like to explain the practices and policies of our kennel. We
have developed these based on research, by consulting with
veterinarians, breeders and judges, and through our own personal
beliefs. While we do not believe that everyone must follow these same
practices, we feel this is right for our kennel and we do not compromise
our standards.
have developed these based on research, by consulting with
veterinarians, breeders and judges, and through our own personal
beliefs. While we do not believe that everyone must follow these same
practices, we feel this is right for our kennel and we do not compromise
our standards.
Our goal is to produce healthy, well tempered puppies
with correct conformation that perform well in all
avenues, whether that be in the ring or as a family pet.
1.) All breeding stock will have earned or be working on a
title before breeding. This will allow us to produce
puppies more likely to adhere to breed standards and to
affect the breed in a positive manner.
2.) All breeding stock will have been micro chipped for
identity and protection purposes.
3.) No animal will be bred before two years of age to
ensure they are physically, mentally, and emotionally
ready to breed.
4.) Breeding stock will be vigorously health tested before
breeding, no exceptions.
5.) Our animals will have at least a five generational
pedigree on site for potential puppy buyers to review.
6.) Any dog not meeting our standards will be spayed or
neutered, permanently removing the animal from the
breeding population.
Health Testing Requirements
Specific tests and the results that will be needed for
consideration for our breeding program is as follows:
- Hip Dysplasia test from Orthopedic Foundation for
Animals (OFA) - Results must be normal (Excellent, Good
or Fair), no lower grade will be accepted.
-Hip Dysplasia test from Penn Hip - Results will be
reviewed by a knowledgeable veterinarian and
recommendations will be followed
-Elbow Dysplasia test from OFA - Results must be normal
and a Grade I will be considered with veterinarian
consultation
-Cardiac test from OFA - Results must be normal and a
Grade 1 will be considered with veterinarian consultation
-Thyroid test from OFA - Results will be reviewed by a
knowledgeable veterinarian and recommendations will be
followed
-Eyes will be certified by the Canine Eye Registration
Foundation (CERF) which only allows animals free from
heritable eye diseases to obtain certification.
-Patellar Luxation test from OFA - Results must be a
Normal and a Grade 1 may be accepted will veterinarian
recommendation.
-OFA BAER testing for deafness - Results must be
normal. We feel that a deaf dog not only presents a
danger to itself and the public in any breed but also
passes along bad genes to future generations. No dogs
with any form of deafness will be breed at AJC Kennels.
-Cerebellar Ataxia will be done on all breeding or show
stock. After many months of careful thought and
research, we have decided how we are to breed our dogs:
Clear to Clear
Clear to Carrier
Clear to Affected
We feel that this is best for the breed and assures that no
affected pup will ever be produced by us. Please visit our
Ataxia Page to find out more about this disease and how
our decision came about.
DNA testing will be done on all breeding stock before
they are bred. This is to ensure that there can be no
confusion on dogs or parentage and for further
protection purposes.
Temperament
We will take great caution to breed only dogs with sound
stable temperaments. At this time, we are not aware of an
Italian test for temperament and the American
Temperament Testing Society (ATTS) and the AKC
Canine Good Citizen (CGC) tests are not available to us.
We will however test all breeding stock on our own
before breeding using comparable methods as the ATTS
and CGC and will obtain temperament titles/certificates
when available.
We take measures above and beyond the norm in order
to ensure that our animals are healthy, of good
temperament, and of sound conformation.
