The Utonagan Society

1. All TUS Breeders should accept full responsibility for their puppies for life. Taking back or arranging re-homing for any dog of their breeding. Due to the current RSPCA case, TUS will not endorse any breeder over-dogging themselves. If you are found to be over-dogged and unable to provide adequate diet, care, exercise and health needs, your accreditation will be removed and the relevant authorities contacted.

Any Member/Breeder found to be aiding and abetting the dispersal of stock in order to hinder any welfare investigation, will have their Membership permanently revoked.

2. Please note that MRD has been found in several related Utonagan; some of these dogs are currently being bred from independantly of TUS. With this adding to the, smaller number of, inherited cataract incidences we now have to insist that the BVA's suggestion to eye test every 12 months be compulsory for all Utonagan breeding stock. All TUS registered pups are also required to be litter-screened before leaving the breeder, for the same reason.

3. We ask that all Breeders approach the Commitee for advice on any planned matings before they occur. The Committee have experience and detailed information on all Utonagan lines and the health problems affecting these. We have accurate records detailing which lines do not mix well and the health problems evident, therefore are best placed to advise you on any proposed matings.

4. The Society’s minimum breeding age for a bitch is 20 months of age. However, the Utonagan is known to mature a lot slower than other breeds, and it is hoped that Breeders will carefully assess their bitch's level of maturity to ensure she is ready for the physical, and emotional, stress of pregnancy and whelping, before allowing a mating to occur. Some bitches may not be ready until 3 years of age. Another factor to consider is that Epilepsy, Addison's Disease and Anal Furunculosis have been known to occur as late as 3-4 years of age. If there is evidence of these conditions in your bitches line, it would be advisable to wait as long as possible before breeding from her.

• She should first be assessed for breeding suitability by the Committee, usually at 1 year of age.
• If deemed suitable, she will then need to achieve acceptable hip and eye test results. A legible, hard copy of the results must be forwarded to the Secretary, by post, for evaluation and inclusion on the society database.
• BVA eye certificates must now be renewed Annually. If you allow your dog's cert to expire, she will be removed from the brood page until an updated cert is supplied.
• At least 12 months must elapse between any one bitch’s litters. As well as allowing her time to recover, this is so that the Breeder and Society can assess her previous litter's health and type before the bitch is used again.

• The maximum age for a bitch to be used is 7. Her last litter must be born before her 8th birthday. The maximum number of litters from one bitch is four.

5. TUS, proposed, stud dogs should be assessed by the Committee at 1 year of age. If deemed suitable for breeding purposes (i.e. two fully descended testicles, plus no more than to cosmetic deviations from the Breed Standard) they should then be hip and eye tested.

• A hard copy of the Hip Score and BVA Eye certificate must be forwarded to the Secretary via post for evaluation and inclusion on TUS' database. If the results are deemed acceptable, he will be featured on the stud book.
• Please note his BVA Eye certificate must be renewed each year, if allowed to expire his details will be removed from the stud book.
• Unproven stud dogs should not be used again until their first litter has attained the age of 12 months, so that the Breeder and Society are sure that all pups are sound of health and true to type.

6. Any dog displaying cosmetic faults, i.e. soft ears, spitz tail, should only be mated to dogs with good ear and tail carriage and from lines strong in these areas. No dog in the breeding programme should display more than two cosmetic faults.