Buying a Purebred Dog "With Papers"
Know What Documents Should be Included When You Purchase a Puppy
Mar 25, 2009
Your new dog should come with a health record and proof of vaccinations, no matter where you buy him.
Any purebred dog should come with his registration certificate. In North America, the dog should be registered with the Canadian Kennel Club (CKC), American Kennel Club (AKC) or the United Kennel Club (UKC). All three are more than a century old and recognized around the world. Beware of unrecognized clubs using the same initials. Two examples are the Universal Kennel Club and the Continental Kennel Club, neither of which is recognized by any other national registry.
If a dog is registered with another approved breed or hunting dog registry, it may be eligible for CKC, AKC or UKC registration as well. The National Greyhound Association, The Field Dog Stud Book and Master of Foxhounds Association are three examples.
Registration Certificates For Purebred Dogs
A registration certificate will include the registered name and registration numbers of the puppy and its parents, the names of the breeder and owner, the puppy’s sex and date of birth and the name and logo of the registry. Generally there is a section to fill out to transfer ownership from the current owner to the new owner.
Some puppies may not be registered individually until sold. In that case, there should be an application for individual registration. The breeder puts your name on it and sends it to the registry, which sends you the individual registration certificate for your new puppy.
In Canada, someone who sells a purebred dog cannot charge extra for registering the dog, except the actual cost charged by the CKC for registration or transfer of ownership. If the dog is advertised as purebred, registration must be included. Even if the dog is given away, legally the new owner is entitled to the dog’s certificate and ownership must be transferred.
The one exception is if some special “lending” arrangement is made with a breeder. For example, the breeder may want to retain showing and/or breeding rights on a promising puppy while letting you have the dog as a family pet the rest of the time. In that case, the breeder may retain legal ownership, and you will not have the right to neuter the dog. A neutered dog cannot be shown or bred, so this is a very serious issue for breeders!
You may think the certificate isn’t important. But if you get interested in obedience or field tests, or your child wants to enter dog shows as a Junior Handler, you’ll need it, since only registered dogs can compete in some organized dog sports.
Non-Breeding Contracts For Puppies
Many pet puppies are sold as non-breeding stock by responsible breeders. If your dog is purchased with an official Non-Breeding Agreement, but you go ahead and breed the dog anyway, its offspring cannot be registered and will not be considered legally purebred.
The Non-Breeding Agreement has a big advantage: it can be used as a short-term alternative to neutering. The Non-Breeding Agreement can be canceled by the breeder at a later date if the puppy turns out exceptionally good and the owner wants to show it, or if the breeder faces unexpected circumstances where he needs to restore that bloodline.
Pedigree is a Family Tree For Dogs
Sometimes potential buyers are shown a pedigree and think that is what “papers” means. A pedigree is simply a family tree. You can create a pedigree of a mongrel if you know the names of its parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.
The pedigree of a registered purebred puppy could be anything from a hand-written document to an official pedigree. That’s why the registration certificate is important. Once you have that, you can always obtain an official pedigree from the registry later. At the very least, a pedigree the buyer receives should include the registered name of every dog in the puppy’s first three generations.
Beware of Pet Shop Puppies
“Purebred” puppies sold in pet shops come with papers, too. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they are registered. The lineage in the pedigree of a pet shop puppy may be false. A fancy document that looks very nice may not be worth anything.
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