Draft:List of working dog associations

A working dog association is an organised body, usually a club, national organisation or federation, formed to represent, promote and preserve breeds or types of dogs that are bred and trained for specific work or functional purposes. They exist to maintain standards, protect working ability and support the people using or breeding working dogs. They differ from kennel clubs primarily due to their difference in perspective on preserving and handling working dogs, and are usually run by trainers, farmers and handlers, rather than show exhibitors and pet breeders.^[1]

List

Country	Working dog association	Information	Sources
United States	American Herding Breed Association (AHBA)	The AHBA was founded in 1986 to facilitate herding trials in a variety of herding breeds.	[2]
United States	American Dog Breeders Association (ADBA)	The ADBA was founded in 1909 and is one of the oldest registries for the American Pit Bull Terrier.[3] While primarily a breed registry, it promotes the preservation of the breed’s working traits and hosts conformation, obedience, and weight-pulling events to demonstrate functional ability.	[4]
Australia	Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association (APDHA)	The APDHA was founded in 2005 and represents responsible and ethical hunters using well-trained dogs for feral pig control across Australia. The association advocates for legal hunting practices and collaborates with researchers to gather data on wildlife management, notable research collaborations the organisation has been involved in include the 10,000 Ears Project[5] and The Plains Wanderer Project.[6]	[7]
Australia	Australian Sheepdog Workers' Association (ASWA)	The ASWA was established in 1988 as a union of sheepdog workers in Australia. Roles include liaising with state representatives and corporate sponsors, as well as hosting herding trials.	[8]
United States	Australian Shepherd Club of America, Inc (ASCA)	The ASCA was founded in 1957, initially solely as the parent club for the Australian Shepherd breed in the United States. Over time, the ASCA has additionally began hosting performance events such as Agility, Conformation, Dock Jumping, Obedience, Rally, Scent Search, Stockdog, and Tracking. They are the largest single-breed registry in North America.	[9]
Australia	Australian Working Border Collie Registry (AWBCR)	The AWBCR was founded in 1996, as the only national single-breed registry for the purebred working-line Border Collie in Australia. At the time of its founding, the only registries available for working dogs were the State Sheep Dog Associations, and the Working Kelpie Council. The AWBCR maintains working-line Border Collie studbooks in the country.	[10]
United Kingdom	German Shepherd Dog League of Great Britian (GSDLGB)	The GSDLGB was established in 1919, and is the oldest German Shepherd Dog club registered with the Kennel Club. The club is one of 85 members of the Weltunion der Vereine für Deutsche Schäferhunde (WUSV) and hosts a variety of events such as schutzhund.	[11]
Australia	Murray River Retriever Association Incorporated (MRRA)	The MRRA is the sponsoring breed club for the Murray River Retriever, a breed which has existed reportedly since the 1800s[12], but was not incorporated into any major kennel club until the 1st of January, 2022 when it was accepted into the Dogs Australia registry.	[13]
Australia	New South Wales Yard Dog Association Inc (NSWYDA)	The NSWYDA is the regional yard and utility trial association for New South Wales.	[14]
New Zealand	New Zealand Sheep Dog Trial Association (Inc) (NZSDTA)	The NZSDTA consists 157 Sheep Dog Trial Clubs spread throughout New Zealand. It oversees national herding trials for working sheep dogs.	[15]
Australia	State Sheep Dog Worker's Associations	This entry is for each Australian state's individual sheepdog workers association. These groups are not connected, and are as follows: NSW Sheepdog Workers, Inc The West Australian Working Sheepdog Association Tasmanian Working Sheepdog Association Inc South Australian Working Sheepdog Association Incorporated Queensland Working Sheep Dog Association Inc (Dissolved)	[16]
Australia	Queensland Cattle Dog Trial Association (QCDTA)	The QCDTA was established in 1970 as the state's premier cattle herding trial association.	[17]
Australia	Queensland Yard & Utility Trial Association (QYUTA)	The QYUTA was established in 2022 and took over the role of the, now defunct, Queensland Working Sheep Dog Association Inc (QWSDAI). QYUTA is the yard & utility trial body for Queensland, Australia.	[18]
Australia	The Working Kelpie Council of Australia Inc. (WKC)	The WKC was formed in 1965 due to growing concerns from the various State Sheep Dog Worker's Associations, as well as the greater pastoral industry, regarding the conformation of show-line Kelpies in Australia. It was considered that these show-line Australian Kelpies were lacking in working ability[19], and that a club be made that focuses solely on the working-line Australian Kelpie. They manage the working-line Australian Kelpie studbooks, as well as host herding trials.	[20]
United States	United States Border Collie Handler's Association (USBCHA)	The stated goal of the USBCHA is collecting and preserving the history of working border collies, providing information about breeding and training stock dogs, promoting dog trials, exhibitions, and publicity for border collies, and offering annual Finals championship trials for both sheepdogs and cattledogs.	[21]
International	Weltunion der Vereine für Deutsche Schäferhunde (WUSV)	The WUSV acts as the world union for German Shepherd Dog clubs. It was formed to bring together national clubs devoted to the German Shepherd Dog under one international umbrella, aiming for a uniform breed standard, consistent breeding & training practices, and international cooperation. They maintain an international studbook and oversee the standard for the German Shepherd Dog breed worldwide. They organise international championships in working/training, obedience, and other performance events for German Shepherds, such as schutzhund. Additionally, the club supports scientific research in genetics, health and training methods; monitors breeding, keeping and training practices, and publishes guidelines/regulations for its member organisations.	[22]
Australia	Working Dog Federation of Australia (WDFA)	The WDFA (formerly known as Schutzhund Australia Inc.) was formed in 2005 to bring together Australian handlers and trainers for the dog sport of schutzhund/IGP, under FCI-rules. The club acts as an authoritative body, with numerous state-and-territory based schutzhund clubs operating within the WDFA.	[23]
Australia	Working Koolie Association of Australia Inc (WKAA)	The WKAA was established in 2002, and acts as the primary breed club for the Australian Koolie, a breed currently undergoing formal standardisation. The WKAA maintains studbooks, trials and competitions for the breed.	[24]

1. "About – International Working Dog Association". Retrieved 2025-10-26.
2. "Home". American Herding Breed Association. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
3. Coile, D. Caroline (2001-03-28). Pit Bulls For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-7645-5291-5.
4. "American Pit Bull Terrier Registry". American Dog Breeders Association. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
5. "Wanted: 10,000 feral pig ears to help control 'one of Australia's worst pest animals'". ABC News. 2024-07-08. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
6. Services, Local Land (2025-07-03). "Plains wanderer conservation | NSW Government". www.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
7. "APDHA". www.apdha.org.au. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
8. "ASDWA | Australian Sheep Dog Workers' Association". ASDWA | Australian Sheep Dog Workers' Association. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
9. "ASCA - Australian Shepherd Club of America". ASCA. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
10. "Home". awbcr.com.au. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
11. "GSDL Working Dog Group of Great Britain". 2025-10-14. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
12. Day®, National Purebred Dog (2022-04-02). "Meet the Murray". National Purebred Dog Day®. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
13. "Murray River Retriever Association inc". www.mrr.org.au. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
14. "New South Wales Yard Dog Association". New South Wales Yard Dog Association Inc. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
15. "HOME". NZSDTA. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
16. "Welcome to New South Wales Sheepdog Workers Inc". NSWSDWI | New South Wales Sheepdog Workers Inc. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
17. "QWCDTAI - Queensland Working Cattle Dog Trial Association Inc". qwcdtai.com.au. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
18. "Home". QYUTA | Queensland Yard Utility Trial Association. 2025-11-15. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
19. Staff, A. G. (2016-07-26). "Kelpie, king of the mob". Australian Geographic. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
20. "The Working Kelpie Council". www.wkc.org.au. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
21. "United States Border Collie Association | USBCHA web site". Retrieved 2025-10-26.
22. "Home". Weltunion der Vereine für Deutsche Schäferhunde WUSV. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
23. "Working Dog Federation of Australia". WDFA - Working Dog Federation of Australia. 2021-09-23. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
24. "WORKING KOOLIE ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INC". WORKING KOOLIE ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INC. Retrieved 2025-10-26.