The Royal Kennel Club Reviews 

1,896
TrustScore 4.5 out of 5

4.6

While we don't verify specific claims because reviewers' opinions are their own, we may label reviews as "Verified" when we can confirm a business interaction took place. Read more

To protect platform integrity, every review on our platform—verified or not—is screened by our 24/7 automated software. This technology is designed to identify and remove content that breaches our guidelines, including reviews that are not based on a genuine experience. We recognise we may not catch everything, and you can flag anything you think we may have missed. Read more

Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Looking at 149 reviews, reviewers overwhelmingly had a great experience with this company. Customers frequently praise the staff for being knowledgeable, professional, and highly patient when assisting with various matters. Reviewers find the service provided to be first-class and excellent, with many people noting how helpful and thorough team members are in resolving their concerns. However, some people mentioned issues related to contact difficulty, noting instances of long hold times or messages going unanswered. A small group of consumers also felt negative experiences, such as being treated rudely or encountering unforeseen problems, despite the positive help received from some agents.

What people talk about most

Staff

Reviewers highlight positive aspects of staff, praising their patience, kindness, and extensive knowledge... See more

Customer service

People report positive experiences with customer service, praising staff for being exceptionally patient,... See more

Service

Users describe ambiguous interactions with service, reflecting a wide range of differing experiences. Some... See more

Response time

Reviewers express mixed feelings regarding response_time and communication. Some consumers note that hold... See more

User experience

Customers consistently note positive experiences with user experience, finding the process seamless and... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

The registration form (form 8) would not work on line. Telephone answered in about 8 minutes by Olivia. She was pleasant, calm, patient, understanding and very professional. There was a history of is... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic experience Ella was very patient and helpful. Guided me through the the change of ownership online as I was having problems with and made clear with her instructions. So big thank you from... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

We had issues with your system when registering our litter. We called in and fortunately spoke to Gloria who was extremly helpful and patient. She was able to correct the error and process our payme... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Maria was lovely and so easy to talk too. So helpful and knowledgeable and helped me in so many more ways than I had called up for initially. She guided me to different areas of how the kennel club c... See more

Company replied


Company details

  1. Animal Protection Organization

Written by the company

We are the largest organisation in the UK devoted to dog health, welfare and training. Our objective is to make a positive difference to dogs and their owners. We run the UK's largest registration database for pedigree dogs and an activity register for crossbreed dogs.


Contact info

4.6

Excellent

TrustScore 4.5 out of 5

2K reviews

5-star
4-star
3-star
2-star
1-star

No recent history of asking for reviews

This company hasn't invited customers recently, so reviews may not be representative

Replied to 77% of negative reviews

Typically replies within 2 weeks

How this company uses Trustpilot

See how their reviews and ratings are sourced, scored, and moderated.

4.6

All reviews

(1,896)

148 reviews in the last 12 months

Write a review
Companies on Trustpilot aren't allowed to offer incentives or pay to hide reviews. Reviews are the opinions of individual users and not of Trustpilot. Read more

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Lovely lady talking me through my…

Lovely lady talking me through my queries. Very professional and knowledgeable, well done Gloria

January 23, 2026
Unprompted review
The Royal Kennel Club logo

Reply from The Royal Kennel Club

Thank you so much for your review. We appreciate the time taken.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Marie - asset to the RKC

Marie was helpful, knowledgeable, answered my questions and is an asset to the RKC!

January 23, 2026
Unprompted review
The Royal Kennel Club logo

Reply from The Royal Kennel Club

Thank you so much for your review. We appreciate the time taken.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Exceeding Expectations

Marie was polite, professional and highly efficient. She took ownership of our issues and delivered a highly satisfactory resolution in a timely manner.

January 22, 2026
Unprompted review
The Royal Kennel Club logo

Reply from The Royal Kennel Club

Thank you so much for your review. We appreciate the time taken.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Helpful and Efficient

Loren was extremely helpful, patient and kind she got my problems sorted and gave some helpful advice too.

January 20, 2026
Unprompted review
The Royal Kennel Club logo

Reply from The Royal Kennel Club

Thank you so much for your review. We appreciate the time taken.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

We had issues with yRegistering our litterour system when…

We had issues with your system when registering our litter.
We called in and fortunately spoke to Gloria who was extremly helpful and patient. She was able to correct the error and process our payment.
Thank you Gloria - we wish all agents were as helpful!

January 15, 2026
Unprompted review
The Royal Kennel Club logo

Reply from The Royal Kennel Club

Thank you for your valuable feedback.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Kindness

Very, very helpful, so polite and friendly, new exactly what to do.

January 14, 2026
Unprompted review
The Royal Kennel Club logo

Reply from The Royal Kennel Club

Thank you for your review.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Gloria was a great help in assisting us…

Gloria was a great help in assisting us with our Kennel Name application issues. She worked with me on the telephone until our problems were resolved. First class service from this lady!

January 7, 2026
Unprompted review
The Royal Kennel Club logo

Reply from The Royal Kennel Club

Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review, we really appreciate it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Marie was super helpful …

Marie was super helpful in trying to sort my query.
It was great to chat with a fellow Bristolian.
Update: By the time I got home my query was sorted. Thank you so much Marie 😊

January 8, 2026
Unprompted review
The Royal Kennel Club logo

Reply from The Royal Kennel Club

Thank you for leaving us a review, we're glad we could help and resolve your query.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Lady

The lady was very nice and explain me a lot of things

January 6, 2026
Unprompted review
The Royal Kennel Club logo

Reply from The Royal Kennel Club

Thank you for your review.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

More excuses for ineptitude from the KC

Why, in spite of closing the brilliant KCAB scheme so that it's now incredibly difficult for buyers to source responsible breeders, and putting up the cost of registration to an astronomical £26 per puppy plus an extra fee for sending paper copies of the registrations, do the KC still take so long to send the documents? I've just received a dismissive email saying that they are inundated with work so we have to be patient with their delays in completing the registrations. I'm so fed up with the KC. Why don't they just get enough staff to deal with big registration demand. If they had any competition, they would have to improve things fast; but they haven't, so they don't.

January 3, 2026
Unprompted review
The Royal Kennel Club logo

Reply from The Royal Kennel Club

Thanks you for your review and your valuable feedback which is appreciated. We have looked at your recent litter application which was submitted during the Christmas period when your puppies were over 13 weeks old. As there have been only 4 working days since your submission this is not a case of a lack of resource but a lack of working days for processing. We understand the point you make regarding the auto messaging you receive when you submit your application and we will pass your comments on to the team. Thank you once again; we will be in touch if we require anything further from you in regards to your application.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Gloria was wonderful, helpful & knowledgeable

Spoke with Gloria today and she was very kind incredibly helpful I have had many bad experiences with KC and today was the very first one Iv had with someone who was helpful, kind and so knowledgeable. I will always be asking to speak to her in the future and today’s experience has given me a slight glimmer of hope about KC again

December 16, 2025
Unprompted review
The Royal Kennel Club logo

Reply from The Royal Kennel Club

Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review, we really appreciate it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Olivia and Natalie couldn't do enough…

Olivia and Natalie couldn't do enough to help me when registering a litter.
I last used the (R)KC 9 years ago. They were elitist, rude and unhelpful.
What a change now!
Absolutely fantastic service

December 8, 2025
Unprompted review
The Royal Kennel Club logo

Reply from The Royal Kennel Club

Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a wonderful review.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Gloria was excellent

Gloria was excellent - dealing with my concerns very smoothly, thoughtfully and effectively.

November 26, 2025
Unprompted review
The Royal Kennel Club logo

Reply from The Royal Kennel Club

Thank you for your valuable feedback and review.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

I bought 2 puppies from a registered…

Update 05/12/2025 thank you to the KC for the response sadly this does not address the ethical discord with regards them being happy to register and advertise puppies on their website but take no responsibility for the environment they are breed in. I am not disappointed with my dogs at all, i feel sad for their start in life. I am disappointed in the system that permits and supports puppy farming under another guise. But it’s got Royal approval so that’s ok then.

I bought 2 puppies from a registered breeder, one became very unwell within the 1st 6 months. A roller coaster of OOH vet visits, medication and food changes, then emergency surgery. Hopefully now resolved but both on a special diet now likely for life. Lots of warning signs on buying these puppies but as the seller was a registered kennel club breeder and us grieving over the death of one of our first dogs this didn’t really click. This was basically a private puppy farm endorsed by the kennel club who take no responsibility for the health or welfare of the puppies sold via their website. I’ve looked on the website to try and raise concerns and there is no way of doing this. There were 4 plus litters across 2 whelping pens all toileting on newspaper and no attempts to train. Another litter was due to arrive when we visited.

Just posting as a warning to other buyers please do not be as naive as me as assume this is ok because it’s kennel club approved.

We did try to adopt a rescue before buying but all the rescue companies we tried, despite meeting all the requirements, could not find us a small to medium dog or one even offered us a dog then postponed the offer pending medical treatment for the dog and stopped responding to our emails.

Definitely would not use this pathway to owing a dog in the future. It’s a minefield.

November 30, 2024
Unprompted review
The Royal Kennel Club logo

Reply from The Royal Kennel Club

Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review about your situation.
We appreciate how distressing it can be when the purchase of a puppy does not meet expectations and we are sorry you have had cause to notify us of your experience in May 2024.

The Royal Kennel Club does not register any breeders, only dogs. Our Find A Puppy pages do also include a disclaimer:

"The Royal Kennel Club makes no warranty as to the quality or fitness of any puppies offered for sale. We cannot accept responsibility for any transaction between puppy buyer and the breeder arising from publication of the listing.
The Royal Kennel Club cannot facilitate the vetting of breeders advertising on Find a Puppy on behalf of a puppy buyer nor can we guarantee the accuracy of any statement made by any breeder advertising on Find a Puppy.
The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 provides that licensed breeders must provide a recognisable photograph. A puppy buyer is advised to ensure that you meet both the breeder and see the dam of the litter and the puppy itself before committing to a purchase of the dog."

You should be aware that if a breeder licence is required, which depend on the number of litters bred per year, then this is issued by the local authority who should carry out an inspection of the premises as part of the licensing process. Your breeder will have had a breeder licence at the time of your puppy purchase.

We do advise that new owners should thoroughly research their chosen breed to ensure that any appropriate or necessary health checks have been carried out before purchasing a puppy. We do not wish to appear to sound dismissive of what is obviously a serious and upsetting situation, but to explain that in such cases, it is a matter for individual breeders to decide how best to carry on their breeding programme, and owners to research the breed, using the knowledge and information that is available.

What is important to note is that the Royal Kennel Club cannot intervene in an individual’s private breeding programme ; we simply do not have the authority to do so.

The sale of a dog may be covered under any relevant sales law and therefore if you believe that you have either been misled over the sale of this dog or to find out whether you are able to obtain any recompense, we would suggest that contact your local Consumer Advice Bureau who should be able to offer you guidance on this – they can be contacted via their website https://www.gov.uk/citizens-advice-consumer-service.

Whilst the KC is not able to directly intervene, where an enforcement body, for example - the RSPCA, Police, Consumer Advice or Environmental Health department is contemplating proceedings and seeks information from us then we will always try to assist - upon receipt of a direct Data Protection Act request.

We are sorry that your experience was not as you would have hoped and we wish you and your dogs well.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

They are an absolute joke and a bunch…

They are an absolute joke and a bunch of scammers. Registered my dog then told me they couldn't do it because i hadn't registered my pup with another kennel 1st. Both parents are registered, with affiliated clubs. They registered my 1st pup under the same circumstances. Why would i register it with 2 kennel clubs. Still waiting for my refund. No point in them existing.
Thanks for the reply but you know full well who I am and hey presto the link you provide is under maintenance. Just a dodgy link you always use, as you are a con. Refund me now

November 4, 2025
Unprompted review
The Royal Kennel Club logo

Reply from The Royal Kennel Club

We are very sorry that your experience is not what you would expect from The Kennel Club. Please can you contact us via our Help Centre https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/forms/registrations-complaints/ so that we can look into your issue and expedite your refund.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Maria was fantastic

Maria was fantastic. Walked me through everything I needed to do. Brilliant brand ambassador for the Kennel Club.

November 18, 2025
Unprompted review
The Royal Kennel Club logo

Reply from The Royal Kennel Club

Thank you for your review. We really appreciate your feedback.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Very helpful and informative once I…

Very helpful and informative once I found my way through all the numbered options, was quite relieved to actually speak to someone!

November 5, 2025
Unprompted review
The Royal Kennel Club logo

Reply from The Royal Kennel Club

Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. Your feedback is very valuable to us.

The Trustpilot Experience

Anyone can write a Trustpilot review. People who write reviews have ownership to edit or delete them at any time, and they’ll be displayed as long as an account is active.

We use dedicated people and clever technology to safeguard our platform. Find out how we combat fake reviews.

Learn about Trustpilot’s review process.

Here are 8 tips for writing great reviews.

Verification can help ensure real people are writing the reviews you read on Trustpilot.

Offering incentives for reviews or asking for them selectively can bias the TrustScore, which goes against our guidelines.

Take a closer look