Tell her to F$#!@ off. You bought an AKC registered puppy and she failed to register the litter, for reasons unknown. It’s probably not too late, either.
I might call her up and tell her this anyway. F-you, and by the way I’m spaying my bitch.
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I wasn’t originally planning to spay her earlier, so there was no reason to discuss it with the breeder. I was planning to follow the contract even though the timing wasn’t my preference. The fact that she has now gone against her own contract has changed things.
For those interested, here is what the contract states:
“Purchaser agrees to neuter/spay the puppy between twenty (20) months and twenty-four (24) months of age. Purchaser agrees to supply Seller with a veterinarian’s letter by certified mail as proof of a neuter/spay. If Purchaser fails to neuter/spay this puppy and provide proof to the seller by twenty-eight (28) months of age, rights and ownership of the dog will automatically terminate and revert back to Seller who may immediately assume possession of the dog. Sellers responsible for all attorney’s fees associated to recovery if contract is breeched.”
Here is the part about the AKC papers. For obvious reasons, I have removed the kennel name and kennel owner’s name.
"The purchaser will notify the Seller of any changes of address and will maintain contact with the seller throughout the life of said puppy/dog.
The purchaser will register the puppy with the AKC within 30 days, with the prefix “kennel name” to appear first in the AKC kennel name. Even if said puppy is sold as “pet” on limited AKC registration, new owners shall register said puppy within 30 days of the date of this contract. This is mainly for record keeping.
No guarantees or warranties, expressed or implied, are given by kennel name or kennel owner, the Seller, except those stated herein. Any breach of this contract shall result in a $3,000.00 penalty."
So the only penalty is if you do not spay at all.
I’m guessing the breeder doesn’t want the pups neutered earlier than specified in her contracts because of research indicating that dogs neutered before maturity are often more at risk of suffering ACL tears and other musculoskeletal injuries or joint disorders, and also more at risk of cancer. I don’t know what breed you are referring to, but apparently the risk for musculoskeletal injuries is higher in larger dog breeds than in smaller breeds.
And although I am NAL, I would think that since the breeder herself didn’t fulfill her part of the contract, then she has breached it and you shouldn’t be obligated to fulfill your part of it. But to be on the safe side, I would contact AKC and ask for their advice.
I also agree the situation sounds fishy. Is it possible she has learned that either her stud dog or the dam of the litter carries a serious genetic disorder or that they both carry a very undesirable recessive gene?
It also could be (as others have suggested) that the sire of the pups is not who she thought it was and might have even been the bitch’s own father, brother, son, etc.
OTOH, she may just be being cheap and not wanting to spend the money to register a litter that will never be shown or bred - in which case, she has still breached her own contract.
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I just (re)checked the steps for registering a puppy. It appears that there should have been a ‘litter registration number’ that you would need to complete the OP’s personal registration of the puppy.
I would call the AKC, tell them that the ‘I (the OP) am required to register the new puppy within 30 days, but the breeder has not provided the Litter Registration Number.’ They MIGHT suggest the PAL—did the breeder say a FULL registration or will a PAL do?
If it were me, I would contact the breeder (nicely–think with a “blonde” tone) to tell them I was registering the puppy under PAL, but I would be SURE TO INCLUDE the breeder’s kennel name AS REQUIRED by the agreement. (I don’t think breeders like to have it out there that THEY don’t follow through with agreements. I.E., “Where did you get your (OP’s) puppy? Oh, it came from *** Kennel. Why did you register it as a PAL? Well, despite being promised and having asked the breeder, the breeder didn’t provide the Litter Registration Number as the breeder promised.”
Now, the OP may NEVER get asked the above, but the OP can SURE tell their story IF someone were to ask where the puppy came from.
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Okay, now I’m feeling REALLY snarky.
Since the breeder requires that the puppy be registered with their kennel name first, how about (and I am making up the kennel name) Snowshine’s Lost Identity?
But the dog can not be registered as a PAL until it is spayed.
The AKC even put it in red on the list of requirements.
Contact breeder and nicely say, “Yo my vet wants to spay pupster a little earlier than you have outlined in contract. Is that cool with you?” If the breeder gives you any pushback, “Ok but where’s my registration paperwork you committed to in the contract?”
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My question is if you intend to buy another puppy from another breeder in the same breed? If so, breeder might tell everyone they know that you violate contracts.
And then the OP can tell everyone that so does the breeder.
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As a breeder myself, I’d say this is not a reputable breeder. Pet puppies go on Limited registration, but are always still registered. Something smells with this situation for sure, whether its an unpaid stud fee, wrong sire, etc. You aren’t the one who violated the contract, the breeder has. You didn’t get what you paid for, and if it were me, I’d be fairly vocal about it until I got some answers. If you are OK with not having papers, do whatever you want with your puppy and cut off contact with the breeder. Again, this is not the behavior of a responsible, reputable breeder.
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Then how can she not provide registration papers?
Is she on the hook to every puppy purchaser for this fee? She in fact is breaking her contract unless I am stupid?
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Have you posted puppy pictures of your pup???
Because I feel like we need to see photos of this puppy, its like the first rule of CoTH and getting a puppy/kitten/foal/ insert any new cute animal here.
Baby pictures is one of the reasons I keep coming back to CoTH 
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In most jurisdictions a “penalty clause” is not enforceable - when the given amount is arbitrary/not related to actual anticipated damages. In this case I think most courts would find this is an unenforceable penalty no matter which party files - it was not reasonably anticipated that OP would suffer $3000 because the dog isn’t registered nor did she in fact (especially if the price of the dog was less than that), while the same can be said of Breeder if OP spays early.
(Yes I agree this is stupid and paternalistic - if both parties agreed then it should be enforced but that’s unfortunately not how it tends to work in the real world.)
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I agree with others that your breeder is not acting like a reputable breeder. I do not know why she is not registering the litter which would than allow you to register your puppy. The current fee for registering the litter is $25.00 plus $2.00 a puppy. Not a huge amount in the big scheme of things so very fishy!
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You’re right, I knew that. Duh!
This. Did your breeder talk to you about why they wanted you to wait until 20-24 months? The other thing that can happen if you spay too early is incontinence. Our mastiff mutt (75lbs) was spayed at 3 months at our vet’s suggestion and has it. So does our neighbour’s Doberman (50lbs) who was spayed at 3 months.
When we got our english mastiff pup, our vet said we should neuter him early. We declined both because of the research DownYonder mentioned as well as our breeder contract. Now our vet is much more open to waiting.
The registration thing is a whole other issue though. It’s sketchy at best. Maybe there was something wrong with one of the pups so they wanted to avoid registering that one?? I wouldn’t be buying from them again.
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Compare that to the many thousands of critters who get juvenile spays (even before 3 months) at shelters all over the country who do not have any incontinence issues…
I think the when to spay discussion is between the OP and the vet that they trust.
The research about when to spay appears to be all over the place and if nothing else is very breed specific on some of the findings, so to me it seems like something for the OP and their vet to decide. I know many good breeders but they do not always know the latest and best research.
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