I bought, or traded for, a dog but I didn't get the papers!
This is a hard situation, and one that too many people find themselves involved in. Me? Yes, me too! I have done it 3 times now, twice with puppy purchases and once with a trade. So, let’s talk about what might happen if your papers are not given to you at the same time as the dog is bought or traded to you.
There are probably lots of situations, but here are a couple I know about:
I bought a puppy and the papers are not back from AKC (or other registry) yet. Well, on the breeder’s end of things, this is a problem of carelessness on their part much too often. When we breed our dogs, we only breed registered dogs for which we own the papers and those are in our files. If we use an outside stud dog, as can happen from time to time, we know the name and registration number of the dog and the stud owner’s contact information by the time we pay our stud fee. (Or, if the stud owner is taking a puppy in trade for the fee, we will get that information on file before the due date for the puppies comes around.)
Once the litter is born, we wait until we have taken the pups for the surgery to have tails docked and dewclaws removed at as close to 3 days of age as we can. After that, within the week, we make an online litter application and pay the required AKC fees for registering a litter. The puppy papers will show up in the mail a week to 10 days later, if the USPS and AKC are on time and efficient about their work. We have never had papers delayed on any puppies through time to go to new owners when we do it this way because we have built in plenty of time to deal with problems or delays for any reason. If the stud owner, when we do not own the father of the litter, is slow to agree that his/her dog sired our litter, and causes a delay, we are on the phone in a friendly manner to correct that problem in plenty of time to complete the deal and get the puppy papers in a timely manner. If a stud owner causes us the very real problem of not getting their job done so we can accomplish our goal of papers before any puppy leaves our place, then it would not matter how good the dog, we would no longer use that stud dog, and the price of our puppies would have to reflect the lack of papers or new owners would receive, in writing, notice of when papers would be obtained. The choice would be with the new owner.
Remember, the registration papers are an important part of your new puppy’s heritage, and an important part of its value if you should ever find yourself needing to sell or rehome your dog. Our recommendation is that you NEVER take the word of a breeder or former owner who does not supply papers at the time of purchase if you are purchasing a registered animal.
At times, the reasoning behind puppy papers not being available at the time of delivery is that the breeder may want the puppies sold before they register the litter. That is not a good reason because registration is not difficult or expensive. This is a step that we take at the earliest stages of a puppy’s life, just after having the tails docked and dewclaws removed. In this way, a reputable breeder can be sure that all the puppies are healthy and registered when they are ready to go home with their new families.
I bought, or traded for, an older puppy or dog and was promised papers, but they have not arrived. This problem can be a little more complicated. Did you trade with the person(s) who own the papers, or with another party? If you traded with someone who owns the papers, they should be obtained when the deal is consummated. At that point you can be comfortable that the dog is fully registered, or that you are obtaining puppy papers, which will make it more expensive to have a fully registered dog, if the dogs is older than 6 months of age. It is, of course, up to the recipient to accept puppy papers or not. Check out the costs of obtaining complete registration before completing the deal. Also, be sure if your deal includes full, or limited, registration.
If you do not obtain papers at the time of the purchase or trade, then you may have a problem serious enough that you may never obtain them. Get something in writing, stating what paperwork is coming, and when, before you accept such a dog.
If you are dealing with the owner of the papers, then you can go directly to them if there is an unforeseen problem. But, if you are dealing with a third party, it gets even more complicated. If there is a problem with the papers, then who do you deal with in negotiating the completion? Who is legally responsible? In this case, you definitely need a written agreement of some kind with the names and contact information for all parties on the agreement. It would be best to speak with the owner of the papers before your deal is completed, so that you know if he/she is going to send them to you, or if there is going to be a problem, or cost that you are not expecting.
Misunderstandings can be avoided with thorough owners and careful buyers. Another common problem is not knowing if you are getting full or limited registration. Be sure, before money or dog changes hands, that you have discussed registration options and that you know what you are getting before you consummate your deal. Any ethical breeder will spend the time to explain what they expect of you, and what you can expect of them, before money changes hands or trades are agreed upon.
There are probably lots of situations, but here are a couple I know about:
I bought a puppy and the papers are not back from AKC (or other registry) yet. Well, on the breeder’s end of things, this is a problem of carelessness on their part much too often. When we breed our dogs, we only breed registered dogs for which we own the papers and those are in our files. If we use an outside stud dog, as can happen from time to time, we know the name and registration number of the dog and the stud owner’s contact information by the time we pay our stud fee. (Or, if the stud owner is taking a puppy in trade for the fee, we will get that information on file before the due date for the puppies comes around.)
Once the litter is born, we wait until we have taken the pups for the surgery to have tails docked and dewclaws removed at as close to 3 days of age as we can. After that, within the week, we make an online litter application and pay the required AKC fees for registering a litter. The puppy papers will show up in the mail a week to 10 days later, if the USPS and AKC are on time and efficient about their work. We have never had papers delayed on any puppies through time to go to new owners when we do it this way because we have built in plenty of time to deal with problems or delays for any reason. If the stud owner, when we do not own the father of the litter, is slow to agree that his/her dog sired our litter, and causes a delay, we are on the phone in a friendly manner to correct that problem in plenty of time to complete the deal and get the puppy papers in a timely manner. If a stud owner causes us the very real problem of not getting their job done so we can accomplish our goal of papers before any puppy leaves our place, then it would not matter how good the dog, we would no longer use that stud dog, and the price of our puppies would have to reflect the lack of papers or new owners would receive, in writing, notice of when papers would be obtained. The choice would be with the new owner.
Remember, the registration papers are an important part of your new puppy’s heritage, and an important part of its value if you should ever find yourself needing to sell or rehome your dog. Our recommendation is that you NEVER take the word of a breeder or former owner who does not supply papers at the time of purchase if you are purchasing a registered animal.
At times, the reasoning behind puppy papers not being available at the time of delivery is that the breeder may want the puppies sold before they register the litter. That is not a good reason because registration is not difficult or expensive. This is a step that we take at the earliest stages of a puppy’s life, just after having the tails docked and dewclaws removed. In this way, a reputable breeder can be sure that all the puppies are healthy and registered when they are ready to go home with their new families.
I bought, or traded for, an older puppy or dog and was promised papers, but they have not arrived. This problem can be a little more complicated. Did you trade with the person(s) who own the papers, or with another party? If you traded with someone who owns the papers, they should be obtained when the deal is consummated. At that point you can be comfortable that the dog is fully registered, or that you are obtaining puppy papers, which will make it more expensive to have a fully registered dog, if the dogs is older than 6 months of age. It is, of course, up to the recipient to accept puppy papers or not. Check out the costs of obtaining complete registration before completing the deal. Also, be sure if your deal includes full, or limited, registration.
If you do not obtain papers at the time of the purchase or trade, then you may have a problem serious enough that you may never obtain them. Get something in writing, stating what paperwork is coming, and when, before you accept such a dog.
If you are dealing with the owner of the papers, then you can go directly to them if there is an unforeseen problem. But, if you are dealing with a third party, it gets even more complicated. If there is a problem with the papers, then who do you deal with in negotiating the completion? Who is legally responsible? In this case, you definitely need a written agreement of some kind with the names and contact information for all parties on the agreement. It would be best to speak with the owner of the papers before your deal is completed, so that you know if he/she is going to send them to you, or if there is going to be a problem, or cost that you are not expecting.
Misunderstandings can be avoided with thorough owners and careful buyers. Another common problem is not knowing if you are getting full or limited registration. Be sure, before money or dog changes hands, that you have discussed registration options and that you know what you are getting before you consummate your deal. Any ethical breeder will spend the time to explain what they expect of you, and what you can expect of them, before money changes hands or trades are agreed upon.