The Kennel Club had,
from its outset,
encouraged working skills
in Gundogs; to do the same
for service dogs was no more than a natural progression, particularly after their successful use during the First World War. In 1924 the newly formed ‘Associated Sheep, Police and Army Dog Society’ introduced its ‘Trials’ as a method of testing and promoting the working ability of dogs other than in the field. Kennel Club recognition arrived with the Alsatian League and Club of Great Britain’s Championship Working Trial held at Castle Bromwich in May 1927. Divided into three sections covering Control, Agility and Nosework, working trials are designed to test an animal’s suitability for guard or police work, and are popular with members of the armed, or police forces, as well as security company employees and the Prison Service, but throughout their history there has always been a dedicated, if small, following from within Collie ranks.
The Kennel Club were not slow to realise the ramifications of its 1917 decision, particularly as having failed to deter breeders any young stock could still be registered from unregistered parents. After urgent discussions regarding the damage this practise inflicted on the continuity of pedigrees, to say nothing of the Kennel Club’s finances, a system of parental registration was introduced, which allowed the offspring of unlicensed litters born between 1917 and 1920 to be registered for breeding, but not exhibition purposes.
