AKC Registered Puppies:
Are "AKC Papers" Important?

At some point, if you're talking to an unknowledgeable breeder or a proud new (unknowledgeable) owner, you might hear something like this: "This puppy even comes with AKC papers and a pedigree!!"

They expect you to respond with an awed whistle.

Here's a better response: "O yay."

"But I thought AKC registration papers--"

You thought AKC registration meant good quality. Nope.

The truth is...

• The AKC will register any puppy whose parents are already registered.
• The AKC registered those parents because their parents were already registered.
• And the AKC registered their parents because...
• You get the idea.

Registration is a mechanical process, a chain of numbers.

1. You send the AKC money.

2. If the owners of your puppy's parents and grandparents were all good doobies who kept the chain intact by sending in their own money, the AKC will insert your puppy's name into their database, too.

3. They will send you a piece of paper with a number on it. Voila...she's registered.

"But what about a pedigree? Doesn't that mean something?"

Send more money, and the AKC will access their database again. It will spit out the names of your puppy's parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, as many generations as you're willing to pay for. Voila -- her pedigree.

That's all a pedigree is -- a list of names.

Registration papers and pedigrees don't tell you a single thing about a dog other than its place in the chain of names.

To get registration papers or a pedigree, a dog doesn't have to meet any qualifications of health, temperament, behavior, or sound structure.

None whatsoever. A dog can be purple, sickly, aggressive, obese, ears pointing every which way -- and the AKC will give them the same kind of registration number they give to the Best of Breed winner at the Westminster Kennel Club show.

"Good grief! And here I thought AKC registered meant good!"

Don't be fooled. Registration papers don't suggest quality in a dog any more than they suggest quality in a car. Does buying a "registered" car mean it won't be a clunker? Of course not!

In fact, registration papers suggest quality in cars more than in dogs, because in most states a car can only be registered if it has passed a smog check or a mechanical safety check. The AKC registers dogs with no health or safety checks at all.

Every year, thousands of AKC registered litters are produced. The majority of them are of poor quality -- because good quality would require the breeder to have some knowledge of genetics and to spend money on genetic health testing -- and most people who have litters know nothing about this and wouldn't be bothered doing it even if they did know.

Hopefully you will never again
make the mistake of thinking that the
existence of AKC papers or a pedigree
has anything whatsoever to do
with a dog's quality.

"But papers at least guarantee that a dog is purebred, right?"

Boy, I'm really beginning to feel like the bearer of bad news!

Being purebred has nothing to do with registration papers. Being purebred simply means that a puppy and all of his ancestors going back many generations have the same set of fixed genes.

Fixed genes can be counted on to reproduce traits such as size, coat, color, etc. Having fixed genes is what makes a dog purebred. The presence or absence of registration papers has no effect whatsoever on genes.

In fact, if a dog DOESN'T have those fixed genes, he isn't purebred -- even he HAS registration papers!

What???

It's true. A puppy can have registration papers that are false. Most registries, such as the AKC, operate on the honor system. They simply take the breeder's word for it that "King" and "Queen" were really the parents of "Solomon."

But scams happen all the time. Let's say someone has a purebred female Boxer and a purebred male Boxer. Both have registration papers. Unfortunately, the female is accidentally bred by the mixed breed male down the street. When the litter arrives, a dishonest person could fill out the litter registration paperwork -- claiming that his BOXER was the father. The AKC will dutifully send him a bunch of individual registration papers for each puppy, which he will happily pass along to the new owners of each puppy. No one will be the wiser until the puppies grow up and start to look suspiciously non-Boxerish.

Fortunately, the AKC has a new DNA testing program where participating breeders submit DNA samples of parents and puppies, which conclusively proves parentage. If you want to be sure of who your puppy's parents really are, look for breeders who participate in this program.

Always remember that GENES make a dog purebred. The presence or absence of registration papers doesn't change the genes inside a dog. He can be purebred without having papers -- and sadly, he can have papers without really being purebred.

"So are papers and pedigrees worth anything at all?"

In the hands of responsible, knowledgeable breeders, oh, yes.

It is extremely important for breeders to check pedigrees to be sure they're not breeding together closely-related dogs. And before they breed two dogs together, responsible breeders check out the temperament, health, and physical build of as many ancestors on the pedigree as they can track down. This information is crucial in deciding how to match up breeding partners.

"Should I buy a purebred puppy without a pedigree?"

I wouldn't. How will you find out whether your puppy's parents and grandparents were too closely related? Show breeders who have not kept up on canine genetics are still not aware of how unwise it is to breed together closely-related dogs. You'll see a lot of inbred and "linebred" puppies offered by show breeders.

And people who just stuck their male and female together without doing any research on their background may have unwittingly bred together closely-related dogs.

When there are good breeders who care enough to do research before breeding, why reward a lazy person who decides it's not important because "they're just pets?"

You have as much right to a well-bred, genetically healthy puppy as anyone else. Rewarding an ignorant breeder with money only encourages him to do the same thing again.

So you want papers and a pedigree with a purebred puppy --
not because their presence indicates a high-quality dog,
but because their ABSENCE indicates an unknowledgable breeder.