Code of Conduct

1. All breeding should be aimed at the improvement of the breed.
2. Owners should consider carefully before breeding from non-Kennel Club registered Border Terriers.
3. Accurate breeding records and registration papers must be kept.
4. Stud services and sales arrangements should be mutually agreed - preferably in writing.
5. It is not in the best interests of the bitch to be mated before her second season and she should not be bred from more than once a year. No bitch should be required to have an excessive number of litters. It should be borne in mind that it is not necessarily beneficial to a bitch to have a litter and that breeding from her will not cure a tendency to false pregnancies.
6. Dogs offered at stud should be in good physical health, of sound temperament and free from disease and obvious faults, as should the bitch about to be mated. Owners of dogs offered at stud should consider carefully before allowing their dogs to be mated with unregistered bitches. It is also the responsibility of owners of dogs offered at stud to satisfy themselves to the best of their ability that bitches brought to them for mating have had a previous breeding history which complies with the Code of Conduct of the Club and complies with the Kennel Club regulations concerning over-breeding.
7. It is essential that both dog and bitch be fully inoculated and regularly wormed as advised by a veterinary surgeon.
8. No one should breed a litter unless they have the time and facilities to devote proper care and attention to rearing the puppies and the well-being of the dam and no member should provide stud service unless he is satisfied that the owner of the bitch has such time and facilities.
9. Prospective buyers should be screened for suitability and advised of the characteristics of the Border Terrier as a breed with the need for grooming, exercise and socialising.
10. Puppies should not be transferred to new homes under the age of eight weeks.
11. No Border Terrier should be sold to pet shops or dealers or to a home where they will be left alone all day.
12. The quality of the stock should be honestly evaluated and accurately advertised.
13. No Border Terrier which has obvious physical defects should be sold without the buyer being made fully aware of the faults and the Kennel Club registration papers withheld or endorsed.
14. At the time of sale each new owner should be given the Kennel Club registration certificate, a completed pedigree form, diet sheet and information about training, worming and inoculations.
15. It should be impressed upon buyers that they should contact the breeder in the event of any problem concerning their Border Terrier. Breeders should make every effort to be of assistance in these circumstances.
16. Members are expected to abide by the Code of Conduct and any member found to be in breach of its provisions will be disciplined under Club Rules (Rule 11) and may be expelled from the Club.

The above Code of Conduct should be read in line with the Kennel Club's regulations concerning over-breeding.