FCI
(Federation Cynologique Internationale)
The Fédération Cynologique
Internationale is the World Canine Organization. The FCI was created
in 1911 with the aim to promote and protect cynology and purebred
dogs by any means it considers necessary. The founding nations
of the FCI are Germany, Austria, Belgium, France and the Netherlands.
It includes 84 members and contract partners (one member per country)
that each issue their own pedigrees and train their own judges.
The FCI makes sure that the pedigrees and judges are mutually
recognized by all the FCI members. The FCI recognizes 339 breeds,
each of them the "property" of a specific country. The
"owner" country writes the standard of the breed (description
of the ideal type of the breed), in co-operation with the Standards
and Scientific Commission of the FCI, and the translation and
updating are carried out by the FCI. The breed standards are updated
and translated into French, English, Spanish and German.