The Fédération cynologique internationale (FCI) (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

: International Canine Federation) is the largest international federation of national kennel clubs. It is based in

Thuin Thuin ( or ; wa, Twin) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Biercée, Biesme-sous-Thuin, Donstiennes, Gozée, Leers-et-Fosteau, Ragnies ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

History

The FCI was founded in 1911 under the auspices of the kennel clubs of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands, its objective was to bring global uniformity to the breeding, exhibiting and judging of pure-bred dogs. It was disbanded in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and recreated in 1921 by Belgium and France. Since its foundation the FCI's membership has grown to include kennel clubs from across Europe as well as Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania. The official purebred registries in North America that are not members or contract partners of FCI include the American Kennel Club (AKC), Canadian Kennel Club (CKC) and

United Kennel Club The United Kennel Club (UKC) is a kennel club founded in 1898 in the United States. In contrast with the American Kennel Club, which is non-profit and which only clubs can join, the United Kennel Club is a profit-making corporation, open to individ ...

(UKC), and in Europe, The Kennel Club (TKC). According to AKC's Denise Flaim, crafting a workable standard is a challenge, and the "FCI standards typically have a greater number of disqualifications, which are sometimes subjective, and their impact on a dog's career is not as dire."

Breeds

The FCI automatically recognises all registered breeds recognised by any of its member kennel clubs, therefore its list of recognised dog breeds includes breeds not known outside of their country of origin. The FCI divides the breeds it recognises into ten groups based on various discriminators such as appearance or role: #

Sheepdog A sheep dog or sheepdog is generally a dog or breed of dogs historically used in connection with the raising of sheep. These include livestock guardian dogs used to guard sheep and other livestock and herding dogs used to move, manage and c ...

s and cattle dogs (except 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

FCI members

The FCI has members, associates and partners in 98 countries.

FCI partners

References

External links