With ambition, pride, ability and devotion of the Dutch breeders of dogs, we introduce the Netherlands, a nation of livestock breeders, united in numerous clubs, each with their own organisation.

A country needs international cooperation and competition to maintain the quality and health of the different breeds.

The breeding of livestock and animals used for sports has reached a high standard and many of our show and jumping horses, cattle, dogs, cats, poultry and birds are world famous.

Board of the Dutch Kennel Club 2013

With the organisation of national and international shows the Dutch Kennel Club ‘Raad van Beheer’ promotes the necessary exchange of bloodlines and judging experience.

The European Union gives us the opportunity to travel efficiently with our animals without border regulations.

Responsible care, not only for the health but also for the welfare of the animals needs intense and suitable supervision.

In the year 1902 the Dutch Kennel Club ‘Raad van Beheer’ was founded.

After a period of thirty years, starting in 1872, the Dutch Society of Agriculture organised the first shows for dogs as well as poultry, followed by shows and field trials, organised by Nimrod, the hunters’ society, and Cynophilia, and later on by the “Kynologenvereniging Nederland” (Canine Society Netherlands), each society with its own registration system and pedigrees. To avoid confusion it was decided to set up a new administrative centre with the name ‘Raad van Beheer op Kynologisch Gebied in Nederland’. Each of the founding societies, Nimrod, Cynophilia and Kynologenvereniging Nederland, appointed two of its members in the Board of Directors of the new organisation. Their task was to make rules for a superb registration system and for the issuing of pedigrees of the registered dogs. This studbook was called the Nederlands Honden Stamboek (N.H.S.B.). Another goal was to set up rules for shows and field trials.

In the meantime, a number of breed clubs such as the Dutch Terrier Club, the Great Dane Club, the Setter Club, the Dutch Shepherd Club, the Dachshunds and Basset Club and local canine societies such as the Kynologenclub Amsterdam (Canine Club Amsterdam), applied for recognition and permission to promote special breed interests as well as the possibility to organise shows in their own district.

In 1906 the Kynologenclub Amsterdam was discontinued and the remaining official clubs appointed two new members in the Board of Directors of the Dutch Kennel Club ‘Raad van Beheer’.

In 1911, the Dutch Kennel Club ‘Raad van Beheer’ joined the Féderation Cynologique Internationale (FCI) during the first meeting in Paris when the FCI was established.

In 1929, Nimrod, the Royal Dutch Hunting Society – convinced that the registration of hunting breeds and the issuing of pedigrees and the registration of the results of the dogs in field trials was in good hands - ceased to exist and the two seats Nimrod occupied in the Board of Directors of the Dutch Kennel Club ‘Raad van Beheer’ were assigned to delegates of the recognised clubs.

At that same time it was decided to change the number of delegates on the Board of Directors to nine. Six of them were to be appointed by the recognised clubs and three by Cynophilia on the condition that the president, the secretary and the treasurer should always be delegated by Cynophilia.

At the end of the 20th century, democratic rules required a modern organisation and from the 1st of January 2000, The Dutch Kennel Club ‘Raad van Beheer’ gave up its position as a more or less independent society and changed into a union of which all the breed clubs and local clubs formed its members.

Nowadays there are 200 breed clubs, 70 local clubs and some 10 special clubs, such as the Dutch Judges Society, 12 Sighthound clubs for racing and coursing etc. Together they represent 150,000 private members.

Detail of Pedigree Raad van Beheer

Some important figures
Number of pure-bred puppies entered in the studbook (NHSB) in 2012: 42,000
Number of breeds registered annually: ca. 260
Number of dogs at Dog Shows, trials and sport activities: about 50,000

FCI Conferences in the Netherlands
Germany, Austria, Belgium, France and the Netherlands founded the FCI in 1911. In 1912, the first conference took place in Amsterdam. The following conferences were held in 1930, 1950, 1959 and 1985. We do not have much information about the conferences of 1912 and 1930 regarding the locations, the participating countries and the decisions taken.

According to the minutes of the conference of 1950, the Dutch Professor Hirschfeld led the conference in an excellent manner. This to great surprise and disappointment of the Secrétaire Général of the FCI, Baron Albert Houtart, who demanded the chairmanship of the conference such as in previous years. At this conference, it was the first time in the history of the FCI that a delegation of the English Kennel Club gave ‘acte de présence’. The participating delegations, not many in number, were excellently received.
Shortly after that very well led conference there were, after the death of Le Secrétaire Général, serious problems, caused by his successor, who was too much focused on the French segment of the FCI. This gave rise to the formation of two groups of countries, namely a Scandinavian-Germanic block versus a Roman block. The FCI was threatened to disintegrate by the individual actions of a few countries that rejected almost all proposals.

After this tumultuous period, the Netherlands was asked to organise a conference in 1959. The conference took once more place under the expert and strict chairmanship of the Dutch Professor Hirschfeld, who, in all languages recognised by the FCI, gave all the delegations reply, without intervention of interpreters. In this meeting, many proposals were made and accepted, namely the revision of breed standards and the cooperation between the Union Internationale des Clubs de Lévriers and the FCI. At that time, this cooperation was a hot issue.

In addition, a committee was formed under the chairmanship of Martin van de Weijer. This committee was given the task to design a reorganisation plan for a strong structure, which would continue to function for a longer period. The proposals of this committee - such as the terms of the Chairman, the forming of Commissions for Breed Standards, for Legal Affairs and for many other policy fields - were accepted and are in 2013 still relevant. In honour of the FCI World Congress in the Netherlands in 1985, a special Winner Show took place in Amsterdam. Besides this conference, an International Judges Conference was held, where people still talk positively about, nationally and internationally.

Dutch Breeds

The pride of Dutch Dog World
The national pride of the Dutch Dog World consists of nine very special breeds. Actually eleven, if we consider the three coat varieties of the Dutch Shepherd as independent breeds. Most Dutch breeds are very rare and you seldom see them outside their native country. Most of our breeds have been working in the fields with sheep and cattle or hunting deer, rabbit and even duck. When there was no longer daily work left for most of them, a few people tried to preserve these breeds, one of them was Mr P.M.C. Toepoel.
Our breeds are registered in five different FCI Groups. A very big variety for such a small country, telling us that the Dutch people wanted to have their own special dogs for special work.

Dutch Dog shows
The first dog show in the Netherlands was held on May 28th, 1872 in Rotterdam with an entry of 217 dogs. It was a combined show with chickens, birds and other fowl. The hunting society “Nimrod” and the “Cynophilia”, gave birth to the way shows were held in the Netherlands.
Dog shows are regularly held in the Netherlands since the Dutch Kennel Club ‘Raad van Beheer’ was founded in 1902. In shows earlier held in the last century, dogs had to visit shows on both days if a show was held on two days. This changed when more “one-day” shows were introduced and breed groups were judged on different days.

Every recognised breed club has the right to organise a club show where CAC points can be won. 40,000 dogs are entered at the club shows yearly. Each FCI breed group has the right to organise a CAC Specialty show.

15 CACIB shows per year are organised in the Netherlands by regional dog clubs. Entries on the Dutch CAC and CACIB shows are about 40,000 a year.
When the FCI world congress was held in the Netherlands in 1985, a special Winner Show was held in honour of it and brought 10,194 dogs. At the 2002 World Winner Show in Amsterdam some 14,500 dogs and 298 breeds entered the show. In 2011 The Dutch Kennel Club organised the FCI European Dog Show in Leeuwarden in combination with a CAC show. This event attracted 10,500 dogs. There were a lot of visitors from abroad and this event received very good critics for the well run organisation, the hospitality and the main ring programme. Music and flowers created a great atmosphere, the space was appreciated and an international judges panel from nearly all the FCI partners was invited.

The yearly Amsterdam Winner Show is the biggest show in the Netherlands in numbers: yearly between 4,500 – 5,000 dogs with an average of 270 breeds. Other shows have between 2,300 – 3,000 entries.
Dutch shows are well-known for their good organisation and for a good cooperation between them.

The Dutch Kennel Club’s office in Amsterdam

Sign at Office Raad van Beheer

Canine activities cover all aspects of the relationship between people and dogs. An important area is expertise regarding the breeding of dogs, and canine health and well being, along with all aspects of dog sports.
It is a considerable field of activity given that there are about 1.5 million dogs in the Netherlands. Approximately 500,000 of these dogs have an FCI pedigree and belong to one of the approximately three hundred and thirty breeds recognised in this country.
The Dutch Kennel Club activities, however, have expanded considerably as a result of the popularity of all aspects of new dog sports, health and welfare issues and the demands of dog owners, breeders, members and other groups.

Bureau Raad - Emmalaan

The Head Office of the Dutch Kennel Club 'Raad van Beheer' is located at Emmalaan in Amsterdam.
Nowadays, the Board of the Dutch Kennel Club has seven members. Board members are elected by the clubs/members of the Raad van Beheer. Candidates may be proposed by the Board or by the members of the Raad van Beheer. Each Committee member has specific responsibilities. Board Members Portfolios are: General Affairs; Legal Affairs; Staff and Organisation; Education; Behaviour, Health and Wellbeing, Breeding Policy and Registration, Judges, Shows, Marketing and Communication, Gundogs, Working dogs, Sight hound Racing and Dog Sports.
About 50 employees support the Board in representing the general interests of Dutch dog World. From March 2013, the board appointed 2 directors to monitor all canine aspects and they are responsible for the general management, contact with stakeholders and all public relations matters. This means maintaining relations with political and public authorities and many other organisations, which represent the interests of dogs in specific areas. Other tasks are to inform the public about all the aspects of dogs and activities, supporting member clubs and their members. Furthermore the directors monitor and enforce compliance with regulations.

More about the Dutch Kennel Club:
http://www.raadvanbeheer.nl/uploads/media/RvB-Organisation_Profile_def.pdf
http://www.raadvanbeheer.nl/en/raad-van-beheer/
http://www.raadvanbeheer.nl/en/raad-van-beheer/about-the-raad-van-beheer/history/
http://www.raadvanbeheer.nl/en/raad-van-beheer/board/ http://www.raadvanbeheer.nl/en/raad-van-beheer/head-office/