Pedigree/papers question - Page 1

So im picking up my first American Bulldog on wednesday, now they tell me that its of Johnson bloodline and they have the papers/pedigree. Now me being an inexperianced dog owner i am un sure what having papers mean or how to trace the bloodline of my soon to be pup. On this site to look up your pups pedigree i need to type in his name..does that mean this dog i will be getting already have a name? what if i were to change his name, would i have to register him? I am in need of advice and information to help me. For some reason i dont believe this owner when he tells me that this pup is Johnson but im to uneducated in that field to truely know. Thanks

The puppy may be registered here but probably not. Do you have the name of the sire and dam?

No i do not. I was at work when i briefly spoke to the owner but my wife was the one who got most of the info. Today was the first day i spoke with the owners and we are going up there to see the pups on wednesday and i have one reserved so they wont sell off before i get a chance to look. Never dawned on me to ask the names of the parents of the pups.

Also, is their anything i should be looking for when i see these papers? Maybe any medical probelms or false info? Should i ask to see the papers of the parents as well ?

When you get the names you can search them here and see if they are registered here, if not it is easy to register a dog here. When the breeder says papers I would think those are American Kennel Club (AKC) papers.
 

i asked if they had pedigree papers and they said yes...not sure if you can get pedigree papers lol but if i was to register the dog here would the information i needed to register be on the AKC papers ?

i just found out that he was registered with CKC..not to sound dumb but what is CKC?  Sorry just trying to learn

The CKC could be the Canadian Kennel Club, a legit kennel club, or it could be the Continental Kennel Club. The Continental Kennel Club is little more than a dog registry, and they'll issue papers for just about anything. Many puppymills  have used the Continental CK for registering their puppies; and you'll see a lot of Continental CK registered dogs in pet stores. However, in recent years there has been a bit of a push to make the Continental CK more than just a registry, hosting shows and competition events. I don't work with the Continental CK, so I couldn't say more than that. 

Since American Bulldogs are not recognized by the AKC you won't find any with AKC papers, but there are other clubs and registries that do recognize them. In my opinion, they ought be recognized by the AKC; they breed true, and have an established standard. But then again, they'd probably loose their working abilitiy in lieu of conformation like so many other breeds have when added into the AKC. 

Since the americna Bulldog is not registered by the American Kennel Club or the Canadian Kennel Club. Chances are your pups papers are Continental Kennel Club, which makes them darn near useless. You will not see any champions, working titles or anything of use on those papers.
Things to ask about are
"Are the parents X-rayed for good hips by the OFA or Penn Hip?"
"Are the parents tested for NCL?" A serious nerve condition that slowly kills the dog.
"Are they DNA cleared for Itchoisis?" Itchiosis is a strange skin condition with no known course of treatment.
Are the parent from working, or show lines? Of are they just some back yard breeders accidents?

John Johnson is one of two founding kennels of Americna Bulldog. Johnson wanted a bigger yard dog. So he cross bred to St Beneards and English bulldogs. To produce what has almost become the "American Parti-colored bulldmastiff."
The other founding kennels was Alan Scott, and the Scott dogs are considered "Preformance" dogs mostly bred for hog hunting.
And there are a lot of dogs that are a blend fo the two origional types and they are considered "Hybrids" but they are still all bulldogs.

JC, those of us that are seriously interested in this breed never want to see them become AKC. It's the ruineation of the breed. Though i would ne be suprised to see the Johnsons one day become the AKC type of dogs. Like the American Pit Bull Terriers was split. AKC got the American Staffordshire Terrier, and UKC got the Pit Bulls. SAme dog two different clubs.
IF the OP would like to discuss the breed in detail please feel free to IM me.
Fry
 

A very good thing to do is to take note of any and all questions you'd like to ask the breeders...The above posts have a lot of good information for you to know and ask...

Write down these questions and ask the breeder...Among these questions is to ask to see the pedigree of the dogs (parents) of your to-be puppy...A Pedigree is a "Family Tree"...
*Parents...
*Grandparents...
*Great Grandparents...
...bloodlines of your particular puppy...

The breeder may not have a certified type pedigree but they should be able to supply you with maybe papers (pedigrees) of the parents...

What are your plans for this puppy?...Pet...Breeding...?

~Bob~