On behalf of friend, I know nothing about it so apologies if I sound like a novice!! Can a bitch who competes in Field Trials only have one registered litter of pups under KC rules in her lifetime?
Any bitch can only have one litter, or none at all! As long as the bitch is registered and the sire of course.
So if the bitch has had more than one litter it isn't legit? The following question is from me not my friend why do they allow showing dogs to have more than one litter?
Any bitch registered with the KC can have up to 6 litters registered up to the age of 8 doesn't matter whether the dog is on the full register(as is required to compete in Field trials)or the Activities register. I have no idea where your friend has got the idea that a field trial bitch is any different, she isn't.
They're buying a springer pup and the breeder won't register the pups telling them that they can only breed one registered litter from the bitch under KC rules as the bitch competes in field trials, I asked are you sure he didn't mean, one per year upto a max of 6 and they said no, he said one per bitches lifetime so they weren't registering this litter as the bitch will become a field trial champion and then the pups will be worth several thousand - as I say, I, personally know nothing about the sport so apologies if I'm not making much sense. Advise them to steer clear??
Tell them to use a bargepole to distance themselves away from this guy. Are they wanting the puppy as a pet ? if so I wouldn't advise a working springer as a pet-if they are going to do some sort of activity like agility/obedience etc yet, but otherwise big no no way too active to be content as a pet From the KC site<---- Code of ethics link
They wanted to have a go at field trials and agility. Something I picked up on was that the guy had said to them when they said they'd like to have a go at field trials with the pup, that he wouldn't want them to have a registered pup because then they can compete against him and possibly beat him, rather odd attitude in my opinion, surely as a breeder you'd be chuffed to bits to get beaten by what you'd bred. They have a lab now and her brother has two working springers so I think that's why they were keen to get one and have some fun with it.
I would advise them to go to a breeder who does register all their puppies, un popular as the KC ABS is with some people, if the puppy is from health tested parents & the breeder competes in KC Field Trials then the puppies will at least have a known background-possibly go through one of the breed clubs like this one scroll down to find a link to the Field Trial secretary(complete with phone number)
Just as a bit of a note, slightly off topic. It's perhaps not a great idea to use the same dog to compete in agility as well as field trials. A working gundog is all about steadiness, agility is the total opposite and may ruin a potentially good dog for trialling.
Friend now thinks the same as the person who told her about it has a pup from them about 8 months old so certainly a possibility. Shame aswell as she said the bitch was thin and the place wasn't exactly clean. Thanks for the comments re agility and field trials, will pass them on!
