The number of clubs affiliated to the Kennel Union in July 1998 stood at 189. A continuous record of registration of dogs has been kept since the first entry in 1891. Initially these were handwritten into special ledgers. In 1944 the ledgers were superceded by bound books of typed copies of Registration Certificates. The advent of computerisation saw a change to the records, these now being kept in the computer data bank. Presently the Kennel Union is the internationally recognised representative of pure bred dogdom in South AfricNamibiBotswanLesotho and Swaziland. Reciprocal agreements are in force between the Union and many other similar bodies throughout the world.