IMPORT PROCEDURE FOR GS WORKING DOGS - Page 1

If I (Mr. Buyer) paid the importer (Mr. Importer) the US dollar equavilent of 8,000 Euros (by bank wire from my bank to his bank) on January 3, 2006 to import a high caliber German Shepherd working dog from Germany, is the normal procedure in the dog world for the dog to come into the USA in the name of the importer, or should the dog have come into the USA in my name (the buyer who paid the money)? If it is proper dog world procedure for the dog to be in the name of the importer, how many months should it take for the importer to put the dog in my name? During those months of waiting time to get the dog in my name, is it true that the importer has the legal right to do whatever he wants with my dog?

I imported many dogs and have had the buyers name put on the papers. My name only showed up on the Airway bill when I picked the dog up from the airport.

I have seen it go both ways with whose name is on it. It may have something to do with who picks up the dog. One of mine had his port of entry into the USA in another city,the importer picked him up took him to another plane and sent him to me. He sent the airway bill in my name but the papers were in his. I had to send the papers back overseas to get the export pedigree and waited months. As far as legal rights,I am not a lawyer but I would think if you have paid receipts for the purchase of this dog you would be able to prove ownership even if the papers were in the importers name. I can see a legal arguement for both sides though. I hope he isn't claiming anything. Who has possession of the dog? IMO, the buyer's name should be the one on the papers.

Well, I can tell you this much...I just purchased a 14 month old GSD from Slovakia and I paid for him via pay pal. Within a week he was shipped to me but I have not received the paperwork yet. The dog came shipped in my name through customs but the importer would be sending the papers once they were completed transferring ownership in my name. Now I paid an additional $100 to have the Slovakian papers transferred to the US to be registered with the AKC. This procedure can take up to 6 months but if you did not request or arrange to have the documents transferred to the AKC then documents can be sent right away with the European papers on the dog. As far as the importer being able to do whatever they want with the dog until the paperwork is transferred well that would be a legality really. I mean legally on paper you don't have verification that you "own" or bought the dog but a receipt would verify that you do. Providing that there were no contracts signed between you and the importer at the time of the transaction then technically no they can't do whatever they want with the dog. Not to mention it'd be pretty hard for them to do anything with it since you have possession here in the US and they are in Europe. I can only expect that you had an idea of whom you purchased the dog from?? However if you have not received any papers yet and it's been since Jan. of 2006 then I'd start asking questions cause you should have gotten something by now. Hope this helped. I'm new to purchasing imports and this was my first time but I had someone to help me with the process so I didn't get ripped off. Good Luck!

Well, I can tell you this much...I just purchased a 14 month old GSD from Slovakia and I paid for him via pay pal. Within a week he was shipped to me but I have not received the paperwork yet. The dog came shipped in my name through customs but the importer would be sending the papers once they were completed transferring ownership in my name. Now I paid an additional $100 to have the Slovakian papers transferred to the US to be registered with the AKC. This procedure can take up to 6 months but if you did not request or arrange to have the documents transferred to the AKC then documents can be sent right away with the European papers on the dog. As far as the importer being able to do whatever they want with the dog until the paperwork is transferred well that would be a legality really. I mean legally on paper you don't have verification that you "own" or bought the dog but a receipt would verify that you do. Providing that there were no contracts signed between you and the importer at the time of the transaction then technically no they can't do whatever they want with the dog. Not to mention it'd be pretty hard for them to do anything with it since you have possession here in the US and they are in Europe. I can only expect that you had an idea of whom you purchased the dog from?? However if you have not received any papers yet and it's been since Jan. of 2006 then I'd start asking questions cause you should have gotten something by now. Hope this helped. I'm new to purchasing imports and this was my first time but I had someone to help me with the process so I didn't get ripped off. Good Luck!

Well, I can tell you this much...I just purchased a 14 month old GSD from Slovakia and I paid for him via pay pal. Within a week he was shipped to me but I have not received the paperwork yet. The dog came shipped in my name through customs but the importer would be sending the papers once they were completed transferring ownership in my name. Now I paid an additional $100 to have the Slovakian papers transferred to the US to be registered with the AKC. This procedure can take up to 6 months but if you did not request or arrange to have the documents transferred to the AKC then documents can be sent right away with the European papers on the dog. As far as the importer being able to do whatever they want with the dog until the paperwork is transferred well that would be a legality really. I mean legally on paper you don't have verification that you "own" or bought the dog but a receipt would verify that you do. Providing that there were no contracts signed between you and the importer at the time of the transaction then technically no they can't do whatever they want with the dog. Not to mention it'd be pretty hard for them to do anything with it since you have possession here in the US and they are in Europe. I can only expect that you had an idea of whom you purchased the dog from?? However if you have not received any papers yet and it's been since Jan. of 2006 then I'd start asking questions cause you should have gotten something by now. Hope this helped. I'm new to purchasing imports and this was my first time but I had someone to help me with the process so I didn't get ripped off. Good Luck!

After the dog has been paid in full and shipped the ownership has to be transferred, if here are no other strings attached to the sale, ie breeding rights, co-ownership. The previous owner should have signed the back of the pedigree and entered your name as the new owner. However, the SV will not have any record of this until they are notified of the sale. Two options: send the signed papers to the SV (also sign as the buyer) or a notarized copy (recommended), or have the previous owner sign and send a transfer of ownership form to the SV. The transfer form can be faxed, does not have to be sent by mail. The transfer then takes a few days. Ideally. The SV can misplace paperwork and then things take longer... We had the SV misplace a transfer of one dog 3 times in the last year. The last one was sent by registered mail so we knew for sure they had it and after that was politely but firmly pointed out things proceeded rather quickly. Delays can happen, you just need a bit of patience and persistence then. If all conditions of sale have been met and the dog has been paid in full and no other stipulations are attached you have the right to full ownership and the previous owner has no say in what you do with the dog. That would be like you buying a car and the prev owner saying you cannot drive it in the rain. The previous owner has an obligation to sign over ownership to you. You can contact the SV for assistance if you are not getting anywhere. If you have a contract of sale and proof of payment, you can get the dog transferred without the previous owners signature. Sometimes a previous transfer before yours has not been recorded with the SV, who will then contact that person to fill in any gaps in the transfer chain. Contact Sabine Leib for assistance at akc@schaeferhunde.de. She is fluent in English. Allow several days for her reply.

I now wish I had an importer who used your import practices.

Be very careful as many people get burned on importing!

Study and ask questions of others who have bought from who you are dealing with. Do your homework and the chances of it being a good transaction is increased. Also, this is one reason people who do import then sell dogs may seem to charge more then what you expect to pay. They too at times get a bad deal and need to cover costs spread out over many dogs.