How to Register a Litter With the American Kennel Club

The American Kennel Club is one of the most prevalent registration organizations for dog owners today. Thousands of dogs are registered with the AKC every year, many of them litters from registered parents. Registering your litter with the AKC is a great way for future owners to keep track of their dogs, compete in dog sports and take pride in owning an American Kennel Club registered dog.Litter registration is the first step to getting puppies registered with the American Kennel Club. Registering a litter of puppies is a fairly simple process, and it makes individual puppy registration much easier for the new owners once the puppies are re-homed.

Things You'll Need

  • Litter Registration Packet
  • Parent’s Registration Information
  • Individual Puppy Information
  • Appropriate Fees
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Instructions

    • 1

      Keep breeding records. You will need to have a detailed record of the breeding, including date and time the puppies were born, number of each gender of puppies, registration information for the sire and dam, and owner’s information. It is a good idea to keep detailed records of all of this important information for each dog that you own, as it will make any future registration needs much easier to deal with.

    • 2

      Contact the American Kennel Club for a litter registration packet upon conformation that your dam is pregnant. The packet will include the litter registration forms, paperwork for individual registration for each puppy in the litter and forms for keeping accurate records for registering the pups. The individual registration paperwork can be passed onto the new puppy owners when they are re-homed, so make sure that all of the information in your records is complete and accurate.

    • 3

      Keep informational records. Record keeping for your litter is vital to keep yourself in good standing with the American Kennel Club. Breeding your dogs is a huge responsibility and the AKC wants to assure that all dogs registered through it were registered legally and with correct information. Owners of any AKC registered dog must maintain accurate records of each individual dog, including breed, name, registration number, gender, name and registration information for sire and dam, name of breeder, name of the person the dog was acquired from and date the dog was purchased. Records for breeding and whelping of puppies must include date dogs were bred, names of any persons involved in the mating, names and information for owners of the dogs, date puppies were whelped, number and gender of pups, date pups were sold, given away, or died, name and address of persons puppies went to, and record of any paperwork given to the new owners. The AKC will occasionally check up on or otherwise audit breeders, so having all of this information on hand will keep you in good standing.

    • 4

      Filling out the litter registration form completely and accurately is vital to the registration process. The application will ask for a variety of information, including information on the breed of dog, owners of both the sire and dam, the sire and dam’s registration information, date of birth for the pups and number of males and females born. The forms must be signed by any and all owners and co-owners of the dogs, as well, to ensure the application is approved. Be sure to include the proper fees with your completed application to avoid any delays in processing your application.

    • 5

      Once your litter registration is approved, you will be sent paperwork verifying that the litter is in fact registered with the American Kennel Club. This paperwork will include a litter registration number that you will need for your new pups, so keep it handy. You can also record this litter number and your information on the individual registration application for our new puppy owners, to assure that it is done correctly. You can also track the registration status of your new litter by contacting the American Kennel Club by mail, telephone or via the website so that you can get the most up to date information on your new little bundles of joy.