Things to Know When Buying a Pedigree Dog

You have to watch your language when you are in the company of "dog" people. If you refer to a blue-blooded canine as a "thoroughbred" or a "pedigreed" dog, that marks you as an outsider. The term thoroughbred is applied to horses or cattle, never to dogs. The pedigree is a chart showing the family tree of a particular dog or litter of pups.

The aristocrats of the dog world are always described as "purebred". By definition, a purebred dog is one belonging to a breed with recognized characteristics that have been maintained through many generations of unmixed descent.

In actual practice, purebred dogs are those that are recognized by one or more of the established kennel clubs. The American Kennel Club now recognizes 116 different purebred dogs. Still other kinds of dogs are accepted by the United Kennel Club. To complicate the matter a bit, the Field Dog Stud Book maintains a registry of hunting (sporting) dogs of breeds which are also recognized by the A.K.C. Also, some breeds of dogs that are not considered purebred in America are registered by the kennel clubs of other countries.

The basic test of a purebred dog is that it must breed true to type. In other words, if you mate two specimens of any "pure" breed, the offspring will possess the characteristics of the parents and of the breed.

The dogs that have won recognition as purebred have gone through a lengthy process before becoming eligible for "registration" in the stud book of the A.K.C. Before any breed has been recognized, its sponsors have had to form a "specialty" club. The club's constitution, by-laws and membership lists have been submitted to the A.K.C. for approval, together with an acceptable "description and standard" which describes the traits of the breed in detail, and considerable supporting evidence that the dog in question is of a purebred type which reproduces its kind.

In making an investment in a purebred dog, you should be certain that you receive the dog's "papers". In the case of an older dog, he will probably have been registered with the appropriate kennel club and the owner provides you with the registration certificate. You sign it on the back, have the seller sign, and you send it to the kennel club with the required fee to record the change of ownership. This is necessary in the event that you plan to show the dog or to breed it and register the puppies.

If you are buying the dog from a kennel owner or breeder, he should be able to provide you with a copy of the pedigree which records the ancestors of the dog you are buying and also the designation "Ch." before the names of any champions in his ancestry. Where the dog is represented as a purebred, but no papers are available, the cost of the dog should be much less than for one that is documented.

The pedigree is not necessary for registration; it is merely for your information and to show the worth of the dog in terms of bloodlines. If you want an official pedigree of your dog, you can obtain it from the kennel club records by sending in an application form. The fee depends on how many generations back you want his ancestry traced.

When you buy a purebred puppy, he will probably not have been registered, though the litter is. The litter must be registered before any individual puppy can be. As the stud book maintains records from generation to generation, no dog may be registered unless both his parents are.

The seller of the puppy will give you an application for registration form.