What is the right age to bring a puppy home?

Handover age must respect applicable law, the puppy’s development and its health. Discuss suitable timing with the breeder and veterinarian; travel may impose additional requirements.

How many litters per year is ethical for a dam?

The number and timing of litters must reflect the dam’s health, age and recovery, veterinary advice and applicable law. A universal litter limit or fixed interval should not be stated without specific rules.

Is it normal for a breeder to refuse my family?

Yes, and it is an excellent sign. An ethical breeder puts the puppy's welfare before the sale: if your environment, lifestyle or expectations don't fit the breed, they say no.

What are the main red flags of an unethical kennel?

Warning signs include pressure to decide quickly, unclear ancestry, refusal to explain rearing conditions or missing required records. Price or the number of breeds alone is not proof of wrongdoing, and DNA tests are not universally required.

How do we ensure mental, not just physical, welfare?

Dogs need early socialisation, environmental enrichment, stable relationships, predictability and respect for their language. Mental health is an inseparable part of welfare.

What happens if I can no longer keep the dog?

After taking a dog home, contact the breeder about rearing questions and a veterinarian about health concerns. Further assistance depends on the specific agreement, not automatically on KAS registration.

Canine association & pedigree certification · Slovakia

Kennel Association Slovensko

Official KAS/WDF pedigrees, canine health and responsible breeding in Slovakia

Official KAS/WDF pedigrees within the international WDF association network, canine health and responsible breeding in Slovakia. Health guides every breeding decision. K.A.S. rigorously reviews the clinical veterinary screening required for breeding dogs in affiliated families, following protocols tailored to each breed. After carefully assessing breeding suitability, it records the results in its registers and, where required, includes them in genealogical certificates, pedigree parchments and official attestations within the K.A.S./WDF system.

Discover Breeds Contact Us

Legally registered association in Slovakia · Legal personality · IČO 50662732 · Official WDF member

— K.A.S. —

Our Pillars

Reviewed reproductive health, documented ancestry and responsible selection: the values behind our canine system.

Official K.A.S./WDF pedigrees

We issue official KAS/WDF pedigrees in Slovakia as a legally registered association with legal personality. They support recognition and genealogical traceability within the international network of WDF affiliates under the relevant rules.

Rigorous breed-specific health screening

K.A.S. requires reports of clinical veterinary breeding suitability examinations specified for each breed and its known hereditary risks. Veterinarians or qualified facilities perform the examinations; the association verifies the documentation and assesses results under the relevant protocol.

Documented breeding suitability

Verified health results entered in K.A.S. registers and, where required, in genealogical certificates, pedigree parchments and official K.A.S./WDF attestations.

Genetics and the WDF health project

Where a programme provides for it, molecular DNA testing complements assessment of hereditary risks, identity and parentage. An international commitment to healthier, more responsible dog breeding.

— K.A.S. · IČO 50662732 —
"Health before breeding. Selection before the pedigree. The future of dog breeding begins with responsibility."

Official WDF member · Slovakia

K.A.S. and WDF – an international commitment to genetic health and responsible cynology

K.A.S. is among the founding members of the WDF project, as personally confirmed by World Dog Federation president Ciro Boiano, according to the KAS owner’s direct account. The association takes particular pride in participating from the origins of this international initiative dedicated to canine health, responsible breeding and genealogical traceability.

The WDF article dated 26 June 2021 documents KAS joining the WDF system after many years of cooperation with the Italian ICBD club and support for its health project. The WDF member list identifies KAS as an Official Member in Slovakia: documented official membership and a historical partnership.

The WDF Global Project for Canine Genetic Health, Traceability and Responsible Breeding connects breed-specific screening, genealogy, genetic diversity, temperament and statistics. KAS supports these aims within the scope of the applicable association programmes.

Being part of this international cooperation is an honour and a commitment for KAS: supporting canine health and a culture of responsible breeding.

Official WDF sources

World Canine Health Project · KAS × WDF

Reproductive health, genetics and international responsibility

Health guides every breeding decision. K.A.S. rigorously reviews the clinical veterinary screening required for breeding dogs in affiliated families, following protocols tailored to each breed. After carefully assessing breeding suitability, it records the results in its registers and, where required, includes them in genealogical certificates, pedigree parchments and official attestations within the K.A.S./WDF system.

Health guides every decision

Protocols tailored to each breed and its risks put health, function and welfare at the heart of selection, ahead of aesthetic preferences.

The K.A.S./WDF health and breeding pathway

Rigorous breed-specific clinical veterinary screening

Careful review of documentation and recording of results

Breeding approval after assessment under the applicable rules

Morphology and temperament assessment under programme rules

Responsible selection and education for breeding families

Targeted DNA testing where appropriate or required

Understand inherited risks to make informed breeding choices

Prevention brings together family history, clinical examinations and targeted tests. Molecular results are interpreted in light of the variant, inheritance pattern and breed-specific validation to support informed breeding decisions.

Examples of monogenic diseases

•Eye diseases (retinal atrophy)
•Experimental breeding follows the specific programme’s rules and available professional evidence.
•Kidney diseases (cystinuria, familial nephropathy)

Targeted DNA testing alongside veterinary assessment

Original reports are kept by the respective breeders and professionals, veterinarians or laboratories. K.A.S. reviews their content for breeding selection without operating a central document repository. It does not systematically retain complete copies of reports and is not a DNA bank or sample archive. Access and disclosure respect confidentiality and the safeguards applicable to breeders’ data.

From documentation to a breeding decision

1 · Targeted genetics

Molecular DNA tests are distinct from clinical veterinary examinations and complement them where appropriate or required by applicable protocols: specific hereditary risks, identity, parentage and programmes for champions or high-profile breeding dogs. They are not universally required for every puppy. Results concern the variants or markers analysed and are interpreted in the context of the individual dog and programme.

2 · Assessment and breeding suitability

After reviewing the breed-specific clinical veterinary reports and assessing the results, K.A.S. decides on breeding suitability under its procedures and records the decision.

▸K.A.S. requires reports of clinical veterinary breeding suitability examinations specified for each breed and its known hereditary risks. Veterinarians or qualified facilities perform the examinations; the association verifies the documentation and assesses results under the relevant protocol.
▸Verified health results entered in K.A.S. registers and, where required, in genealogical certificates, pedigree parchments and official K.A.S./WDF attestations.
▸Suitability and mating conditions determined under the applicable rules.

3 · Certified ancestry within KAS/WDF

"Health before breeding. Selection before the pedigree. The future of dog breeding begins with responsibility."
KAS × WDF

World Dog Federation

KAS · Official WDF member in Slovakia

WDF & Standards

Responsible

The New Standard of Responsible Breeding

The new generation of responsible canine selection.

Reproductive health is the foundation of the K.A.S. model: breed-specific veterinary protocols, careful review of documentation, recording of results and specialist programmes for healthy, informed breeding.

We believe cynology is not a market but a cultural responsibility. Every puppy is a life entrusted to us, never a product in a catalogue. That is why our system places the animal at the centre — its dignity, its health, its future.

We do not believe in random reproduction.
We believe in protocols, controls, responsibility and quality of life.

Calm adult dog in a quiet, well-kept environment, symbol of responsible breeding

— Ethical breeding —

Every dog is a life entrusted to us, not a product.

— Standards required of affiliated breeders —

Breeders' health

We supervise the clinical veterinary examinations required for each breed, carefully reviewing reports and results under association protocols for prevention and breeding selection.

Temperament balance

Morphology and temperament assessment under programme rules

Welfare of the dams

Respect for cycles, nutrition and natural timing.

Puppy development

Stimulating environments, hygiene and daily monitoring.

Early socialisation

Imprinting protocols and habituation to stimuli.

Documentary transparency

Veterinarians carry out clinical examinations and laboratories perform analyses; breeding families keep original reports. K.A.S. carefully reviews the documentation, records results in association registers and assesses breeding suitability.

— Our ethical pillars —

Four principles that guide every KAS decision.

PRINCIPLE 01

Protection

We defend the dog as a sentient being, never as a product.

PRINCIPLE 02

Respect

Respect for biological timing, never forced reproduction.

PRINCIPLE 03

Transparency

PRINCIPLE 04

Responsibility

Breeding families and future owners agree information, responsibilities and support in writing, helping every family make an informed decision.

Our philosophy is not limited to genealogical registration.

Our goal is to protect the future of responsible cynology.

— Ethics · Science · Transparency · Welfare —

— Downloadable document —

KAS Responsible Cynology Manifesto

Philosophy · ethical values · breeding standards · required controls · future vision.

SKSlovenčina ENEnglish DEDeutsch ITItaliano

Ethics

— Why ethical breeding matters today —

Every birth is a promise. Ethical breeding means never betraying it.

What right do we have to bring dogs into the world if we are not fully prepared to take responsibility for their entire lives?

In a world where dogs are ever more present in families, social media and people's desires, the birth of a puppy can never be a careless act. Every puppy is the result of a human choice — and precisely for this reason it must be guided by knowledge, respect and responsibility.

Breeding is not simply mating two dogs and finding a home for the litter. It means deciding, long before conception, what contribution you want to make to a breed, what future to build, which risks to prevent and which responsibilities to accept.

Ethical breeder gently holding a puppy with a thoughtful, mindful expression

— Responsibility —

A pedigree dog is not a product: it is a life entrusted to us.

A contemporary contradiction.

Never before has there been so much talk about animal welfare, genetics and prevention. Yet the puppy market is still dominated by trends, improvisation and profit. Some breeds are pushed by passing popularity, others modified until they lose function and health. Beauty is confused with excess, selection with appearance, success with the number of puppies sold.

Calm mother dog with newborn puppies in a clean, well-lit nursery environment

— Care begins before birth —

Good selection starts long before conception.

— The ethical breeder's questions —

Not only: can I? But above all: is it right?

"Is it right to breed from this dog?"
"Does this mating truly improve something?"
"Am I protecting the health of the mother?"
"Am I respecting the breed as a whole?"
"Am I choosing families that are truly suitable?"
"Do I have the courage to say no when needed?"

— Five principles that guide every choice —

Ethics is not an ornament. It is a daily practice.

Competence

Continuous study and dialogue with vets, geneticists, trainers, judges and serious peers.

Respect

Respect for biological rhythms, the well-being of the dam and the dignity of every dog.

Transparency

Share relevant results and explain their limits. Protect human personal data, but do not use GDPR as a blanket reason to withhold animal reports.

Prudence

Selection that seeks harmony between morphology, health, temperament and living environment.

Responsibility

Supporting the dog throughout its entire life, far beyond delivery day.

— The ethical breeder knows when to step back —

The ability to renounce is the highest form of responsibility.

In a society that rewards quantity, visibility and speed, choosing to stop is an act of courage.

01Give up a litter when the right conditions are not in place.
02Decline to use a beautiful but problematic specimen.
03Refuse to sell to an unsuitable family.
04Refuse to follow a profitable trend.
05Forgo an immediate result to protect a greater good.

Hands carefully writing in a pedigree book next to veterinary documents

— Custodians, not producers —

Preserving a breed means safeguarding a balance, not repeating a form.

The future of the pedigree dog will depend on the quality of the choices we make today. Every mating can improve or harm a breed. Every litter can be an act of care or an act of carelessness. Every breeder can choose whether to feed the market or to nurture the culture.

To breed ethically is to understand that every birth carries a promise:
to do everything possible so each dog can live a healthy, balanced and respected life.

— Ethics · Knowledge · Respect · Responsibility —

Working shepherd dog with flock in a mountain landscape at dawn

— Original function —

Every breed is an answer to a human question, sculpted by time.

— Purebred dog: origin, function, identity —

A purebred dog is not a fixed image. It is a living memory.

To speak of a purebred dog is to speak of history — the long relationship between people, environment, work and dog.

Every breed was born from a need, a context, a selection shaped over time. Guarding flocks, herding livestock, hunting, protecting, keeping company: each breed carries within itself an answer to a human question and an adaptation to precise conditions.

For this reason a purebred dog cannot be understood by sight alone. It must be interpreted. When its memory is respected, the breed retains meaning. When it is forgotten, the breed risks being reduced to shape, fashion or brand.

— The meaning of breed —

A breed is a framework of knowledge, not a commercial label.

A breed is a relatively stable set of physical and behavioural traits transmitted through selection. It allows us to predict, within limits, the appearance, aptitudes and temperament of the offspring. Choosing a purebred dog should not be a matter of aesthetics, but of seeking a companion compatible with one's life.

When a breed becomes only status, fashion or a market tool, it loses its cultural function. The ethical breeder must oppose this reduction: a breed is not a brand to sell, but a heritage to protect.

— Breed and function —

The original function is an interpretive key, not a detail of the past.

It explains why a dog has a certain build, certain energies, certain motivations — and why it may or may not suit a particular family context.

Herding dogs

Attention, reactivity, sensitivity to stimuli and a constant need for mental activity.

Guardian dogs

Autonomy, wariness of strangers, deep bond with territory, slow maturation.

Hunting dogs

Predatory drive, physical endurance, desire to explore and to move.

Companion dogs

Social proximity, adaptability, a profound desire for human relationship.

— The breed as balance —

A healthy breed is a balance between five dimensions.

When one dimension is pushed to the detriment of the others, the breed is impoverished. The ethical breeder's task is not to chase a single trait, but to protect the whole.

01
Morphology
Proportions, structure, movement, coat, visual typicity.
02
Function
What the body allows the dog to do, today as historically.
03
Character
How the dog relates to people, environment, novelty and frustration.
04
Health
Physical soundness, prevention of hereditary disease, longevity.
05
Genetics
Variability, management of inbreeding, preservation of distinct lines.

Three dogs of different breeds standing together, showing the diversity of typicity

— Diversity and typicity —

Every breed is a different memory, each to be protected as a whole.

Hands showing a pedigree certificate next to a purebred puppy

— Traceability —

Every name in a pedigree tells the story of earlier choices.

— Pedigree: document or responsibility? —

A pedigree is not the goal. It is a working foundation.

Without genealogy there is no real breed selection. Yet the document does not replace the competence of the breeder, the health of the parents, transparency and respect for the dog.

"What is this pedigree worth?"

"What does this pedigree tell me, and what responsibilities does it place on me?"

— Typicity —

What makes a dog recognisable as a representative of its breed.

Without typicity — proportions, expression, movement, coat, temperament — a breed loses identity. Preserving it is a cultural duty.

— Individuality —

Every dog has its own character, sensitivity and story.

A good breeder does not hand over 'an available male' or 'an available female'. They hand over that puppy, with that temperament, those potentialities and those needs.

— Aesthetic drift —

When form compromises life, we are no longer looking at typicity — we are looking at failure.

A head too heavy, a muzzle too short, an extreme angulation, an unmanageable coat: what was once characteristic can become caricature. Canine beauty should never be separated from health.

The right question is not whether a trait makes the dog more striking, but whether it improves or worsens the dog's life.

— Breed and market —

The more a breed is in demand, the more necessary it becomes to protect it.

When a breed is fashionable, the serious breeder must become even more selective. Inform, explain, discourage those who are not ready. Protect dogs even from those who desire them without understanding them.

The market asks for

Availability

Ethics asks for

Responsibility

Breeder attentively observing a single puppy among the litter

— Breed and individual —

Not an available specimen: that puppy, with its own story.

— The purebred dog as a promise —

The difference is not made by the pedigree alone. It is made by the ethics of whoever selects.

For the ethical breeder a breed is not a product to replicate, but an identity to protect. Not a trend to exploit, but a heritage to hand down to the future in better — or at least no worse — condition than how it was received.

Understanding the purebred dog means going beyond appearance:
reading in its body the story of a function, a culture, a responsibility.

— Origin · Function · Identity · Responsibility —

Standard · Morphology · Interpretation

The standard as a compass, not a chain

Every recognised breed has a standard. It is not an aesthetic catalogue nor a frozen photograph: it is the living description of a breed's functional, morphological and temperamental identity.

At KAS we read the standard as an instrument of responsibility. It tells how a dog should be built to express typicity, balance and coherence with its history — always in the light of health and well-being.

Long before it is written, the standard should live in the balanced body and serene life of the dog.

Balance

A typical dog expresses the breed in the most harmonious way — never in the most extreme.

Typicity vs Exaggeration

The difference between what is typical and what is excessive

Typicity is what makes a dog recognisable as belonging to its breed, always within a harmonious whole. Exaggeration appears when a single trait is isolated and pushed beyond measure, eventually compromising health, movement or quality of life.

A breed is not improved by making its distinctive traits ever more extreme: it is improved by preserving proportion, balance and function. The ethical breeder always distrusts caricature.

The six reading principles

How we read the standard — with competence and humility

Six principles guide every morphological evaluation and every breeding decision we make.

Proportion

Every detail is subordinate to overall harmony. The dog is a whole organism, never a sum of parts.

Function

Morphology only makes sense if it allows the dog to breathe, move, work and live without limitation.

Interpretation

The standard is understood in depth, not applied mechanically or bent to personal taste.

Health first

No typicity justifies suffering. When an interpretation produces problems, the interpretation must be corrected.

Integrated temperament

Beauty and stable character are inseparable. We select dogs that are serene, balanced and fit for real life.

Hierarchy of faults

A minor aesthetic fault does not weigh the same as a structural fragility or a serious functional issue.

Dog moving freely and in balance across an open field

Movement

Correct movement is not theatrical: it is efficient, fluid, economical.

Movement as the truth of the body

What standing still hides, movement reveals

A dog may look correct in a static pose, but it is in movement that the structure shows its real efficiency: footfall, drive, coordination, topline, weight distribution.

Movement reveals aspects of physical function, but assessment does not replace diagnosis. Lameness, pain or restricted movement require veterinary attention.

Judges, shows, responsibility

A rosette can confirm good work. It cannot replace it.

Dog shows are useful tools when set inside a mature cynological culture. They become dangerous when they turn into an absolute goal that rewards excess instead of balance.

A judge assesses a dog within an event’s rules. That assessment is not a veterinary diagnosis, genetic guarantee or general breeding authorisation.

Cynology judge carefully evaluating the structure of a dog

Technical evaluation

A judgement is one point of view at one moment. Selection requires a much wider vision.

Calm dog looking up trustingly at its human companion

Our promise

A healthy, balanced dog, able to live serenely in its own body and in its family.

KAS commitment to every family

Not the most striking dog. The most right dog.

Assessing structure and movement can help identify functional limitations. It does not replace a veterinary examination or guarantee every dog’s health or breeding suitability.

The standard is a compass, never a chain.
Ethical selection always unites beauty and health, typicity and function, form and life.

— Standard · Health · Function · Responsibility —

Ethics · Breeding · Responsibility

Breeding is not production

A puppy is not a product available to satisfy a desire: it is a life born because someone, responsibly, chose to bring it into the world.

Breeding and producing may sound similar. Both lead to puppies, dams, sires, families, paperwork. Behind the surface, however, lie two opposite visions of the dog.

Producing answers a demand. Breeding accepts a responsibility. The difference is not only technical — it is ethical.

Mother dog resting peacefully with her newborn puppies

A life, not a commodity

Every litter is born from the deliberate choice of those who place the dog before personal interest.

Two visions of the dog

Producing answers the market. Breeding answers the dog.

Those who produce

—See the puppy as the end result of a process.
—Measure success in quantity, speed and sales.
—Follow the buyer's wishes — even when they harm the dog.
—Present every puppy as suitable, fearing to lose a sale.
—Simplify: every puppy healthy, beautiful, perfect, available.
—End the relationship at delivery and payment.

Those who breed ethically

✦See the puppy as the beginning of an entire life.
✦Measure success in health, balance and quality of choices.
✦Educate the future owner toward true knowledge of the breed.
✦Will also explain why a dog may not be suitable, fearing the wrong family.
✦Practise transparency: limits, risks and breed concerns stated honestly.
✦Continue the relationship — for years after.

Experienced breeder attentively observing the behaviour of her puppies

Selection, not haste

To study, observe, wait: quality always requires slowness.

Time as an ethical criterion

Haste is the enemy of selection

Ethical breeding takes time: time to study bloodlines, to wait for a dam to mature, to choose the right sire, to raise and observe puppies, to truly know the families.

When someone wants a puppy "right now", we pause. A dog will live for many years: waiting for the right litter, the right individual, the right moment is not a loss. It is part of the responsibility.

The mother

The female is not a puppy machine

Dogs live with affiliated breeding families responsible for daily care, veterinary arrangements and keeping their original documents. KAS performs association-level checks and reviews outcomes. Association suitability does not replace public authorisations or breeders’ statutory duties. KAS is not a puppy retailer.

A good mother must not be exploited because she is good. A precious female must not be consumed because she is precious.

The father

The male is not just a stud

A sire transmits not just image but genetic heritage. Using a fashionable male only because his name sells can narrow the breed's diversity and amplify hidden problems.

The choice of a sire is a cynological decision, not an advertising one. Coherence with the project matters more than the fame of a name.

Knowing how to say no

Ethics is measured in the noes

Saying no is hard: it may mean losing money, disappointing expectations, appearing rigid. But those who always say yes are not selecting — they are merely complying.

01No to a mating that is not convincing.
02No to a litter spaced too closely.
03No to the use of a problematic individual.
04No to a request based only on colour or trend.
05No to a family that is not suited to that breed.
06No to anyone who wants a dog immediately, without listening.

The right family

We do not look for clients. We choose families.

The ethical breeder does not merely match puppies and families: they assess whether the match is right. They educate before delivery, support the wait, offer real tools for the years to come.

The seller concludes. The breeder accompanies. A sale may be lost, but a dog is protected — and protecting a dog is worth more than any sale.

Family meeting a puppy at the kennel, with the breeder present

Relationship, not transaction

Every family meets the puppy guided by those who raised it.

Calm senior dog beside its long-time owner at sunset

A promise for life

The dog's entire existence — not only the day of delivery.

The KAS commitment

We measure value by the life a puppy will be able to live

An ethical breeder does not measure their worth by the number of puppies born, but by the quality of the lives they have helped exist. This is where dog culture finds its highest meaning.

Breeding is not production,
because a dog is not a product.

Responsibility · Transparency · Selection · Relationship

Healthy dog running freely across an open meadow at sunset

A full life

A dog is truly well when body, mind, environment and relationship are in harmony.

Welfare · Ethics · Responsibility

The dog's welfare as guiding principle

If there is one principle capable of orienting every choice in ethical breeding, it is the welfare of the dog. Everything starts here — before beauty, pedigree, titles or market.

The dog's welfare is not an accessory chapter: it is the moral measure of all breeding work. Every decision should be submitted to one simple, radical question.

Does this choice improve, protect or compromise the dog's life? If it compromises it, no tradition, no fashion, no show result can justify it.

The six dimensions of welfare

Welfare is not the absence of illness. It is the fullness of life.

Six interdependent dimensions make up the real welfare of every dog in our care.

Functional health

Breathing, moving, eating, resting, reproducing without conformation turning every act into a pathology.

Mental balance

Emotional stability, stress management, prevention of behavioural fragility from puppyhood onwards.

Natural behaviours

Sniffing, exploring, playing, communicating, resting undisturbed: every dog must be allowed to be a dog.

Adequate environment

Space, light, air, hygiene, safety and stimulation proportionate to the dogs we can truly follow.

Individual observation

Each dog is observed as an individual — never as an indistinct part of the litter.

Relationship with humans

Human interactions are a source of security and predictability — never of pressure or fear.

Body · Pain · Normalisation

A frequent problem does not become a normal one

If many dogs of a breed breathe poorly, it does not mean that breathing poorly is normal. If many females can only give birth through complex intervention, it is not an inevitable destiny. Frequency does not turn a problem into something acceptable.

Dogs do not speak our language. They show distress in subtle signals: reduced movement, compensatory postures, fatigue, irritability, apathy. The ethical breeder learns to read them — and never treats them as inevitable.

Beauty should never ask the dog to pay a physical price.

Gentle hands of a caregiver carefully examining the paw of a relaxed dog

Respectful care

Handling, care and check-ups are carried out with calm, consistency and attention to the dog's signals.

Puppies curiously exploring different materials and surfaces in an enriched environment

Progressive development

Age-appropriate stimuli, variety, gradualness: socialisation is respectful, never chaotic.

Mind · Experience · Development

A dog must be allowed to be a dog

The first weeks of life are decisive. Puppies need security, progressive stimulation, positive experiences, respectful handling, environments that are clean but not sterile: sounds, surfaces, objects, calibrated human presence.

A good breeder does not prepare puppies to impress visitors. They prepare them for life — able to meet the new with confidence, not to passively endure it.

Truth · Limits · Responsibility

Protecting a dog takes the courage to tell the truth

A breeder who hides difficulties may sell more easily. But the dog risks paying the price. Truth reduces superficial interest — and protects those who really choose.

01This breed has health predispositions to monitor.
02This breed does not tolerate long solitude well.
03This breed requires constant mental activity.
04This puppy is more sensitive and needs gradual experiences.
05This individual is not suited to an inexperienced family.
06I know my own limits — space, time, resources and energy.

On the dog's side

A dam does not lose her value when she stops breeding

Welfare depends on daily care, a suitable environment and timely veterinary attention. A pedigree or association membership alone does not guarantee it.

When human interest and the dog's welfare conflict,
we stand with the dog. Always.

Body · Mind · Environment · Relationship · Time

Download the welfare checklist (PDF)A practical guide for breeders and future owners · 5 pages · A4

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dogWelfare.img4Caption

Welfare frequently asked questions

Dog welfare: what to do and what to avoid.

Clear answers grounded in ethics and the daily practice of breeders and families. Every question comes with concrete do and don't guidance you can act on today.

A responsible breeder explains rearing conditions, provides available health records and asks about the dog’s future home. Agree handover and support terms in writing; automatic lifelong guarantees should not be assumed.

Meet the breeder, ask about rearing conditions and request available records for the parents and puppy.

"Welfare is not an opinion: it is a responsibility that must be verifiable."
KAS · Ethics · Transparency · Verification

Health Before Pedigree

Health comes first.

True quality cannot be measured by a dog's aesthetics alone. For KAS, health is the first criterion of selection — ethical, scientific, non-negotiable.

Veterinarian examining a healthy dog with a stethoscope in a modern clinic

— Clinical verification —

Clinical findings and internal assessment

A science born of respect.

— The five KAS controls —

Genetic tests

Orthopaedic screenings

HD, ED, breed-specific dysplasias

Veterinary monitoring

Periodic clinical examinations

Balanced selection

Breed-specific prevention, risk assessment and informed selection guide each breeding pathway.

Documented protocols

Verified health results entered in K.A.S. registers and, where required, in genealogical certificates, pedigree parchments and official K.A.S./WDF attestations.

— Our ethical commitments —

Health is a duty, not a marketing promise.

COMMITMENT 01

Never force nature

We refuse early, close-kin or aesthetic matings. The female is a subject, not a resource.

COMMITMENT 02

Prevent before treating

COMMITMENT 03

Transparency with families

Breeding families and future owners agree information, responsibilities and support in writing, helping every family make an informed decision.

COMMITMENT 04

Independent verification

We believe that serious breeding must prevent, control and select responsibly. Not for fashion, not for profit, but as an ethical duty toward every single dog and every family welcoming one.

Health before breeding.
Selection before the pedigree. The future of dog breeding begins with responsibility.

K.A.S. × World Dog Federation