About those papers... - Page 1

So, I'll try to keep this short but basically I've had my pup for almost 3 months now and still haven't received her AKC paperwork. She's a beautiful pup, wouldn't trade her for the world but having paid a hefty amount for her I feel that I am entitled to receiving her papers that she was supposed to come with. The breeder (I won't name for now because I'm not trying to bad mouth here) told me she would send the papers in the mail because she didn't want to attach them to her crate because they might get lost or separated that way. That was fine by me, first time having a puppy shipped to me so I thought she would know better than me.

Well, fast forward a few months and never got the paperwork. When I asked her for a tracking number she said she never got one because, "I sent it regular mail because I've never had any problems and I never got any mail sent back." After going back and forth on emails for a while I finally called her and asked what should happen next.

She said that the only thing we could do now was request a duplicate certificate and said that from what she could remember was about $30 (but said she'd double check on the price for me). Then she said after getting the duplicate she could register the puppy under her name first so that she'll be registered right away and she can then transfer the ownership to me. My question is, does that seem right?

And it also seems like she wants me to pay the fees associated with requesting the duplicate. Is it typically the buyer or seller that pays that fee? I can understand that if I had received the papers but lost it somehow or destroyed it then I would definitely pay the fee. But the fact is I've never gotten them so am I held responsible for that? $30 is not a big deal compared to what I had to pay for her, but I'm bigger on the principle of things here.

Suggestions or insight would be appreciated.

All your questions can be easily and quickly answered by
contacting the AKC directly 919-233-9767 or email info@akc.org

http://www.akc.org/contact/answer_center/faq_paperwork.cfm
http://www.akc.org/pdfs/masterform.cfm

A replacement certificate is only $15.00
http://www.akc.org/pdfs/ADD201.pdf

Since the breeder was negligent in sending the registration 
papers in a traceable and secure manner, they should readily
pick up the tab for you as a courtesy. Not sure why the breeder 
would have to register the puppy to herself first before you?
Should be a simple duplicate certificate, unless she had not
bothered to invidvually register the puppy. In which case,
it sounds like she wants you to pay for both the individual
registration and the transfer of ownership.
Pretty cheap if you ask me. She should pay for the replacement
papers and have them sent via delivery confirmation.

Thanks for the reply, Workingdogz. I had called AKC and the lady I spoke to recommended that I send all documentation (and proof that the breeder owes me paperwork) to their registration office and start an "investigation" of some sort. I suppose I could have gone that route but it did seem a little bit of making a mountain out of a molehill and I didn't want to start any bad blood or anything.

Thank you for your insight though, I too thought that she should be the one to pay the fees so we'll see where it goes from there.

And yeah, she didn't outright say she wanted me to pay her right now, but she kept saying, "I think it's about $30 but I'll check on the price and let you know." To me, that sounded like she was expecting me to foot the costs.

The breeder can request the paperwork be sent to you via
delivery confirmation. In my opinion, this should all be done 
on her dime, not yours. You already paid for the pup, she 
should have known better and sent the paperwork by some 
means of traceable delivery. She should have also included
a copy of the actual AKC paperwork on the crate with the puppy.
The fact that she suggests you allow her to register the dog in
her name first indicates to me she hasn't registered them at all yet.
Did you confirm with the  AKC that a litter from Dog A & Dog B
whelped on _________ has in fact been registered with them?
You might get a surprise if you call them back and ask them.
She just may not have done the paperwork yet and is stalling,
who knows.  I'd send the AKC links to all the needed forms
to the breeder.  But I think I'd also make a quick call back
to the AKC to confirm that the litter has even been registered
before I emailed the breeder again.

Its the bit about her having to register the puppy to herself 1st as
its breeder  (that's presumably the first $15 of the 30 !) that makes
me wonder, did she actually register your dog in the first instance ?

If she didn't bother / saved herself the registration fee because she
believed you were another one of the many pet owners who don't
really care, in practice, about the paperwork, maybe that's why there
were no papers with the pup on delivery ?  Just a thought.

Well, I received an email from the breeder asking me to pay her (more money) first before she does anything. And she also said that she "knew what she was doing" and was going to register the dog to her first even though I had specifically told her it wasn't necessary - I just needed a duplicate certificate.

I called AKC and my pup's litter is registered, but she herself has not been registered. The lady I spoke with at AKC was not very helpful at all. She told me that since "most puppy buyers have no clue what they are doing" that most breeders will register the dog for them and transfer ownership. I didn't think it would be that hard, my friend registered her rottie online on the AKC website with no issues at all and she's not some computer whiz either.

Also, AKC said that breeders generally pass this "fee" onto the buyer and that most breeders send papers in "regular mail" so there is no way to track it. Whether the breeder decides to charge me or not, the AKC lady said verbatim, "That's between you and her (the breeder). We don't care."

Well, I guess that's that. Just cough up more money to get things we were supposed to have in the first place. Oh well.