Registering your dog with the Kennel Club of India

The Kennel Club of India (KCI) is responsible for maintaining the Dog Breed Standards in India. The process of getting your baby registered with the authority is as simple as it gets. Once you get the registration process done, you will get complete peace of mind.

With proper registration papers in hand, you can proudly declare your puppy is a pure-bred one. It means that they are worth all the patience, energy, and effort that you have invested in the same. You also need the KCI registration to participate in conformation shows and the KCI obedience shows.

This particular registration could also prove to be handy for you later on when you decide that you wish to breed them in the future. There are two types of registration that KCI allows for the dogs bred in India – litter registration and single dog registration.

The process of the litter registration

As the name would suggest, this particular process is applicable for puppies who have been born to dogs already registered with KCI. Both the Dam and the Sire need to have been registered and fitted with microchips approved by the KCI.

You can get the litter registration form online. Once you have completed the application form, you have to submit it along with the registration fee applicable for the puppy. The fee depends on how old the pup is.

The litter registration form has to reach KCI within four months or 90 days from the date when the puppies were born. If you are unable to do this, they would get registered under unknown parentage. In this case, you have to issue the demand draft in favor of the KCI.

The process of single dog registration

This category is for dogs whose parentage is not registered with KCI. You have to get an authorized person to certify the dog. Following the inspection, the individual will provide you with the Certificate of Opinion. The dogs registered would be shown as having unknown parentage.

You may be aware of the actual parentage of the dog. But you would not be allowed to reflect it in the certificate. As we have said already, this happens when the breeder is unable to get the pup registered under the previous process.

What is the Certificate of Opinion?

Apart from the standard form used for registering single dogs, KCI has provided all judges and other such people the authority to determine if a particular dog is capable of being registered as a specimen of a specific breed or not.

This process is referred to as the Certificate of Opinion. There are some essential things you need to keep in mind. For example, your dog must be older than a year at the time of inspection.

What is the transfer of ownership?

It is to complete the process of registering your pup. It is a form that you need to fill up. The breeder would offer you the initial documents when the litter got registered. You would then need to transfer the ownership of the puppy to your name.

If you want to take part in shows, make sure your dog is pure-bred. It is one step that you absolutely cannot do without. This particular form is available online as well.

KCI paper fraud 

Even a few years back paper fraud was a critical issue plaguing the organization. There are many stories about how breeders duped buyers and promised them documents that never came. Some criminals also issued fake papers to the owners without carrying out the registration process.

KCI has made the process of microchipping mandatory for all dogs when you apply for registration. You can get your baby microchipped at the local veterinary doctor’s clinic or the nearest registered branch of KCI. The microchip number would be updated with your dog’s details. 

The guidelines to remember to avoid such fraud 

There are a few steps that you can take to make sure that you are not duped while you are buying what you think is a pure-bred dog. Always ask your breeder for their Indian Kennel Gazette subscription number. Ask them to provide the registration papers of the Dam and the Sire.

Visit the dogs physically, including the parents and the litter. Always ask the breeder to provide scanned copies of the actual registration papers and the registration application. Always maintain records of the conversation you have with the breeder or the kennel so that you can use them later on if you are not getting the papers.

What to do in case the breeder does not comply?

The breeder may not provide you with the necessary papers and keep delaying the issue. It means that the breeder is likely a criminal who has supposedly duped you and is also making false promises.

As bad as it sounds, there is no direct process to redress your grievances in this regard. The main reason for this is that these contracts are verbal, and you cannot use them for legal proceedings.  

Costs incurred in this process 

The money you pay depends on the particular process that you have undertaken. If you wish to register an imported dog, you pay 1124 rupees. If you want to register a dog under the unknown pedigree rule, you pay 450 rupees.

If you want to register a litter of imported pups within 60 days of birth, you would pay 712 rupees for each pup, as per Whelp Import rules. Please remember that these costs are not absolute figures. They are merely supposed to provide you with an idea only. KCI has the right to change these fees when it sees fit.