The Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) is an international organisation that maintains breed standards, provides international protection of kennel names, and maintains lists of certified conformation judges and working trial and conformation results.

Name

The Fédération Cynologique Internationale is French and means the "International Canine Federation" or the "International Cynological Federation". 'Cynology' is the science of dogs or organised dog fancy.

History

The FCI was created on May 22, 1911, by dog fancy organisations in France, Belgium, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. When World War I broke out, the organisation ended, only to be re-established in 1921 by French and Belgian dog fancy organisations. They created the new bylaws and located the main office in Thuin, Belgium.

Member countries

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaidjan, Bahrain, Belgium, Bielorussia, Bolivia, Bosna-Hercegovina, Brazil, British Dependent Territory of Gibraltar, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong-Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Moldavia, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, New-Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Rep. Dominicana, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Yougoslavia.

Organisation

The FCI does not issue pedigrees, register dogs or train judges. It is up to each member country and contact partner to do this. They will however report back to the FCI, which makes sure dogs and judges are mutually recognised by all FCI members. Neither does the FCI rule over national titles - the international beauty or working champion titles, however, are regulated by the FCI.

The FCI recognises 337 breeds. Each breed is the "property" of a certain country -either the country of origin or a patron country. The country which owns a breed has the exclusive right of, together with the FCI, deciding on the breed standard which will be followed by all FCI members.

As a breeder in an FCI member organisation, your registered kennel name is protected internationally. Once your kennel name has been registered, no other breeder under an FCI member organisation can breed dogs using your kennel name.

International champion titles

The FCI sanctions international shows and trials, at which dogs can earn international championship titles.

To become an international beauty champion a dog must recieve 4 CACIB (Certificat d'Aptitude au Championnat International de Beauté), that is 4 certificates of suitability for international beauty championship. One of these must have been won in the dog's country of origin or the country in which the dog is registered, and in at least two other countries for at least three different judges. CACIBs are only awarded at certified international dog shows and are usually awarded in open, champion or working (if the breed has a working certificate requirement) class.

Similar certificates can be won by dogs in FCI working, agility, obedience and lure coursing trials.

FCI shows

FCI conformation shows differ from those by other organisations in that dogs are first viewed by a judge one on one, at which point the dog gets a personal quality rating and a written description of its flaws and virtues. Only dogs with a high rating go on to compete against other dogs in its class.

In the FCI championship titles are not dependent on the number of dogs entered in a class. To become a beauty champion, national or international, a dog must recieve a number (ranging from 2-4 depending on the country) of certificates of champion quality. Only the dogs with the highest quality rating are eligable, but they are eligable regardless of whether they are one of hundreds or the only dog in its class.