| Limited Registration means that the dog is registered
but no litters produced by that dog are eligible for registration. The
dog can compete in every AKC event, including obedience, tracking,
field trials, hunt tests, and agility, except for breed competition,
at a licensed or member event.
Why would a breeder specify limited registration for a puppy?
In our case it is to
protect the puppy and to try to prevent genetic problems in our breed.
Puppy mills will
often buy puppies with the intent of breeding them as soon as
possible. Some owners of puppy mills will even hire young couples to
pose as puppy buyers in order to get past screening by breeders, then
the puppy is transferred to the puppy mill. In order to keep their
costs down, a puppy mill will breed a dog early and often. They
won’t test for genetic problems. They don’t screen their buyers
(except to make sure the buyer has sufficient cash available). They
take few (if any) precautions to prevent disease in their dogs.
We sell our
puppies on a limited registration to make them less appealing to puppy
mills – a puppy whose
offspring can’t be registered isn’t as valuable to them.
Limited registration also helps to prevent
genetic problems by preventing the breeding of dogs who haven’t been
checked for these problems. Well, it doesn’t actually prevent the
breeding, just the registration of any offspring. Few owners will go
to the expense of breeding their registered dog, if the offspring
can’t be registered.
What if the puppy turns out to be a great dog and the owners want
to breed him or her?
That’s the beauty
of limited registration – it’s reversible! If the puppy grows up
to be a great dog, the breeder can submit a form to the American
Kennel Club to have the limitation reversed.
We believe a dog can
be “great” in many ways, so we will reverse the limitation on
puppies we’ve sold under the following conditions:
- The puppy’s eyes are cleared of genetic problems by a board-certified
veterinary ophthalmologist
AND
We also recommend the eye evaluation be submitted to the Canine Eye
Registration Foundation (CERF) for registration because it helps
support research to eliminate genetic eye problems.
A dog that doesn’t pass these two basic health checks should not be bred! If an unscrupulous
person breeds a dog with genetic problems, only limited registration
will prevent his or her offspring from adding to the problems already
occurring in our breed.
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Chapter 3, Section 4A
of the AKC's Rules Applying to Registration & Discipline states
the following: "Limited Registration may be requested for a dog
when application for individual registration of the dog is submitted,
provided the application, together with a request for such limitation,
is filed by the owner(s) of the litter at birth.
No offspring of a dog
for which Limited Registration has been granted is eligible for
registration. Each registration certificate for such dog shall carry
notice of the limitation, and the limitation shall continue,
regardless of any change of ownership, unless and until the owner(s)
of the litter at birth shall apply to AKC for removal of the
limitation."
More information on limited registration can be
obtained from the American Kennel Club at www.akc.org.
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