ESSFTA BERP Application

ESSFTA BERP Application Breeder Education and Referral Program
ALL APPLICANTS MUST SIGN AND RETURN THIS FORM IN ORDER TO BE ACCEPTED INTO THE ESSFTA BREEDER EDUCATION AND REFERRAL PROGRAM. THIS APPLICATION IS FOR ESSFTA MEMBERS ONLY, AND SUPERSEDES ANY PREVIOUS APPLICATION TO THE BREEDER EDUCATION AND REFERRAL PROGRAM. THERE IS A THREE YEAR WAITING PERIOD BETWEEN INCEPTION OF MEMBERSHIP IN THE ESSFTA AND ELIGIBILITY FOR THE BREEDER EDUCATION AND REFERRAL PROGRAM.
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Contact Information:
Name:
Email:
Website:
Phone:
Street:
City:
State:
Zip:
Kennel name:
PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF:
Are you a returning BERP Member?	Yes No
Are you a new BERP Applicant?	Yes No
How many litters have you bred or co-bred in the last three years?	Please indicate number of litters:
Do you participate in Cerf?	Yes No Please provide numbers and/or info here on individual dogs you breed and/or intend to breed:
Do you OFA and/or Penn Hip?	Yes No Please provide numbers and/or info here on individual dogs you breed and/or intend to breed:
Do you have your dogs' PRA status?	Yes No Please provide numbers and/or info here on individual dogs you breed and/or intend to breed:
Do you have your dogs' PFK status?	Yes No Please provide numbers and/or info here on individual dogs you breed and/or intend to breed:
Are these results made available to your "puppy buyers"?	Yes No
Are you involved in conformation?	Yes No
Are you involved in obedience?	Yes No
Are you involved in field trials?	Yes No
Are you involved in rescue?	Yes No
Are you involved in agility?	Yes No
Are you involved in rally?	Yes No
Are you involved in tracking?	Yes No
Are you involved in hunting?	Yes No
Please tell us why you would like to become a member of BERP. Please tell us about yourself and your dogs. If for any reason you have not met one of the guidelines listed below, please explain, and provide any necessary documentation either by mail, fax, or email. (See contact information below.)

Please provide information about the litters you have bred or co-bred in the last three years. Please provide Registered Names and certificate numbers of status in the areas provided (attach additional paper if needed) Provide any necessary documentation by mail, fax, or email. (See contact information below.) If you have not bred any litters in the last three years, please just type in NONE.

Stud dog owners are held to the same guidelines as breeders and co-breeders. Please list any stud service you have provided in the past three years including AKC Registered and registration numbers of sire and dam, dates of birth of sire and dam, and whelp date of litter. Provide any necessary health screening documentation by mail, fax, or email. (See contact information below.) If you have not bred any litters in the last three years, please just type in NONE.

The Guidelines, which I promise to follow to the best of my ability, read as follows: Responsible breeders: 1. Strive in each and every breeding to achieve the highest quality possible relative to the breed standard for conformation; excellence in hunting for field; trainability for obedience, tracking, and the field; and temperament to maintain our breed's characteristics. 2. Use only physically sound, mature dogs of stable temperament for breeding. These characteristics are rarely, if ever, determined before the age of two years for either males or females. A minimum breeding age of three years is strongly recommended for breeders to determine with greater certainty that the parents are of good health and sound temperament. 3. Continue to educate themselves about genetic diseases pertinent to the breed, including, but not limited, to hip and elbow dysplasia, eye diseases, seizure disorders, allergies, heart disorders, and PFK, and information about their modes of inheritance. Use genetic tests as suggested by the needs of their individual dog(s) and close relatives thereof. Documentation of hip, elbow and eye screening should be available to prospective puppy buyers. A letter of evaluation from a board-certified veterinary radiologist is acceptable documentation for results of radiographic evaluations of hips and elbows; however, to provide a database for the breed, breeders are encouraged to radiograph hips and elbows and use the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) or PennHip evaluations for screening. Eyes should be evaluated by a board-certified diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (ACVO), and reporting of results to the Canine Eye Registration Foundation (CERF) is recommended. 4. Apply the same high standards to bitches accepted for breeding to their stud dogs as they apply to their own breeding stock. 5. Match each puppy's personality as carefully as possible with a compatible buyer/family. Temperament testing of a litter before puppies are offered for sale is encouraged. 6. Have each puppy examined by a veterinarian for general health and examined by a veterinary ophthalmologist for congenital or genetic eye disease before placement. Each puppy should be vaccinated and wormed by or in consultation with a veterinarian. Proper documentation indicating normal health and eyes for the age of the puppy, or specifying any health or eye problems found at examination, should be furnished to puppy buyers. 7. Encourage buyers of companion puppies to spay/neuter. Methods should include written spay/neuter contracts, limited registration, and/or spay/neuter rebates. 8. Endeavor to gain personal knowledge of the temperament and health of every dog they breed, or to which they breed to gather information about which to base future breeding decisions. They share this information fully and honestly with other breeders and with prospective buyers. 9. Sell breeding prospects to knowledgeable, ethical, and experienced persons or are willing to help educate and guide novices. They should at any time accept the return of any dog/bitch their breeding program produces, and they should always help when relocation is needed. 10. Do not engage in misleading or untrue advertising, and do not use ESSFTA membership as a marketing tool. 11. Do not sell, supply, donate, or surrender any dog for which they are responsible to a pet shop, raffle, catalog house, wholesale dealer or laboratory. They should have reasonable assurance that each person receiving a dog will provide a home with appropriate shelter, restraint, control, and responsible dietary and veterinary care. 12. Unless the Springer is otherwise being trained for a specific discipline they should encourage owners to take their puppies to puppy and obedience classes. The achievement of an AKC STAR Puppy Certificate and/or a Canine Good Citizen Certificate is encouraged. 13. Participate and/or cooperate in research studies into heritable defects affecting the English Springer Spaniel. I have read and agree to follow the above guidelines. (Please type your name below, this will be considered your electronic signature) I, hereby request that my name be listed in the Breeder Education and Referral Program. I understand that the ESSFTA has published, and actively promotes Guidelines for Responsible Breeders. As a member of the ESSFTA and a breeder of the English Springer Spaniel, I promise to follow these Guidelines to the best of my ability. I also understand that this program is first and foremost, an education program and that, as a participant, I may be contacted by potential English Springer Spaniel owners for information about the breed even if I do not have puppies available at the time. The Breeder Education and Referral Program includes a complaint response procedure, and my electronic signature on this form indicates acknowledgment of my receipt of a copy of that procedure. In submitting this BERP application the Applicant agrees to indemnify and hold harmless all members of the BERP Committee and the ESSFTA from any claims or actions, including attorney's fees, to defend any claim or action arising from the Applicant's application to or participation in BERP.

Supporting documentation may be emailed to BERP@essfta.org , faxed to 207-846-9305, or sent by mail to: Nanci LaMarque ESSFTA Breeder Education and Referral Program BERP Committee Secretary PO Box 256 Yarmouth, ME 04096
Revised 4/27/2011