Fédération Cynologique Internationale facts for kids
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| Abbreviation | FCI |
|---|---|
| Formation | May 22, 1911 |
| Type | Federation of kennel clubs |
| Legal status | Active |
| Location | |
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Region served
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International |
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Official language
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French, English, German, Spanish |
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President
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Tamas Jakkel |
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Main organ
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FCI General Committee |
The Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI), also known as the International Canine Federation, is the biggest international group for kennel clubs and dog registries. Think of it as a worldwide club for dog clubs! The FCI is based in Thuin, Belgium. It has 98 members and partners from different countries around the world.
Contents
History of the FCI
The FCI was started in 1911 by kennel clubs from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Their main goal was to make sure that rules for breeding, showing, and judging purebred dogs were the same everywhere. The group stopped working during World War I but was restarted in 1921 by Belgium and France. Since then, many more countries have joined, including those from Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania.
What the FCI Does
The main job of the FCI is to make sure that dog pedigrees (which are like a dog's family tree showing its purebred background) and dog show judges are recognized by all its member countries. This means a pedigree from one FCI country is valid in another. However, the FCI itself doesn't give out pedigrees for individual dogs. That's the job of the national dog organizations in each country that are part of the FCI.
Dog Breeds and Standards
The FCI officially recognizes 356 different dog breeds. Each breed is seen as belonging to a specific country, usually where the breed first came from. These "owner" countries write the breed standard for their dogs. A breed standard is a detailed description of what the perfect dog of that breed should look like and act like. The FCI helps publish and keep these standards updated. They also translate them into four main languages: English, French, German, and Spanish.
These breed standards are super important!
- They help judges at dog shows decide which dogs are the best examples of their breed.
- They guide dog breeders who want to raise top-quality dogs that match the ideal type.
The FCI is the largest dog organization globally. Most countries are members, but some, like the United Kingdom, the USA, and Canada, have their own big kennel clubs that are not direct members. Even so, the FCI often works with these clubs, like the American Kennel Club (AKC) in the USA and The Kennel Club (TKC) in the UK, to recognize each other's pedigrees and judges.
Dog Health and Welfare
The FCI cares a lot about the health and well-being of dogs. They have taken strong steps against practices like ear cropping (cutting a dog's ears) and tail docking (cutting a dog's tail). They even forbid dogs with cropped ears or docked tails from being shown in dog shows in FCI member countries. This is different from some other kennel clubs that still allow these practices. The FCI also works to improve dog health, especially for breeds that might have health problems due to limited breeding options or breathing issues.
Dog Breed Groups
The FCI organizes the dog breeds it recognizes into ten different groups. These groups are based on things like what the dogs look like or what jobs they were originally bred to do.
- Sheepdogs and cattle dogs (but not Swiss cattle dogs)
- Pinschers and schnauzers - molossoid breeds - Swiss mountain and cattle dogs and other breeds
- Terriers
- Dachshunds
- Spitz and primitive types
- Scenthounds and related breeds
- Pointers and setters
- Retrievers - flushing dogs - water dogs
- Companion and toy dogs
- Sighthounds
See also
In Spanish: Federación Cinológica Internacional para niños
- Dogs portal
Images for kids
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Map showing FCI member states around the world.
