purchasing pedigree dogs

[pinkbabytots]

I purchased two pedigree dogs back in January 2008. However, I have not been given any kind of documentation. What kind of documentation should I have been given. Also, is it complusory that I register them with the kc club?

Thanks in advance

[lankeela]

Only the breeder can register them with the Kennel Club. What you should receive is the registration certificate, which you can then transfer into your own name if you so wish and which you would have to do if you wanted to show them or register any puppies you bred from them.

It depends on how they were advertised and what sort of receipt/contract you were given. It also depends on how much you paid, some breeders let dogs go without 'papers' for a much cheaper price, for instance if they are mismarked, or have a fault which would prevent them from being shown or bred from.

What breed are they, and did the breeder have a kennel name? If you know their pedigree names or their parents I can find out for you if they were ever registered.

[Ladybelle]

You can buy pedigree dogs without any king of registration - pedigree just means that the dog is pure bred. It is not compulsory to register with the Kennel Club, although if you bought for breeding or showing your dog would need to be registered with them. There are a lot of places owners can register their pets, just to get papers with their pedigree (family tree) on.

[lankeela]

Anybody can write out a pedigree - it is just a list of names of ancestors.

Problem is, if the parents are not registered with the Kennel Club you have no way of knowing if they are even purebred.
There is a thing called the Dog Lovers Registration Club that you can pay your money and register anything from any parentage - no-one checks and people have been fooled into thinking they are buying a 'registered' pedigree dog.

Often breeders give a pedigree with a dog, but not the registration, although I have sold several where the new owners have never transferred the registration to their names, so as far as the KC are concerned they still belong to me.

I would advise anyone to go to a reputable breeder found through the breed club, make sure they are pedigree and registered with the KC and transfer them to their own name. I hate it when people say I am not bothered about papers I only want it for a pet. This gives the puppy farmers an excuse to sell substandard dogs to people who think they are getting something on the cheap often with no health checks done on the parents.

A dog could be with you for up to 15 or more years, so make sure you get one that is bred and reared properly and will live a long and healthy life as far as it is possible to predict.

[pinkbabytots]

Thank you Lankeela for your advice. I will find out their parents name and get back to you. The dogs were purchased on the understanding that we could show them and breed them if we wanted too. Not that we were going to but you'd think they were properly registered etc. Five months after purchasing them we discovered that one of them had an enlarged heart. He's fine now but needs permanent medication to keep his heart going which as you can imagine costs a fortune. But we don't mind as we love him to bits. We also discovered recently that the other dog has also health issues and therefore we could never breed him even if we wanted too. If it turns out that the parents are not properly registered, do we have a claim against the breeders?

Thanks again

[lankeela]

It depends on how you acquired them. If you got them via an advert and can provide proof that they were advertised as KC registered, or suitable for showing, then you would have a case under the Trade Descriptions Act, otherwise it is your word against theirs. In any case it would be a good idea to contact the breed club and the Kennel Club to report any wrongdoing on their part.