AKC papers?!?!?!?!

Question
We got Rosie Mae(our English Bulldog) on Nov. 14th 2008. We were promised her papers the next Tuesday from the breeder and are still waiting for them. I have made many attempts to ask her about them and i seem to be getting the run around. She is either sick or just had a litter of pups or is busy with other things, so she tells me. I need some advice on what to do, who to call.

                                   Thanks,
                                    Tara

Answer
Hi Tara,

Your breeder needs to file an individual registration application for each puppy in the litter. It can take a month or longer for the the AKC to process papers, and get them sent out. That could be part of the delay.

You can contact the AKC at: 919-233-9767 (8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. ET) to see if your breeder has indeed filed the litter with them, and has requestioned papers. At the AKC web site, it says:

"Under AKC Rules, any person who sells dogs represented as AKC registrable, must maintain records that make it possible to give full identifying information with every dog delivered even though AKC "papers" are not yet available. Do not accept a promise of later identification.
The Rules and Regulations of the American Kennel Club stipulate that whenever someone sells or delivers a dog registrable with AKC, the dog must be identified by providing the buyer with a properly completed AKC Dog Registration Application for a dog not yet individually registered or a properly completed AKC Registration Certificate for a registered dog. If neither of these is available, the person delivering or shipping the dog must furnish the person acquiring the dog with a bill of sale or written statement, signed by the seller, giving all of the identifying information listed below. "

Read more here;
http://www.akc.org/reg/about.cfm

Aside from contacting the AKC to see where your breeder is in this process, if you've been communicating with the breeder over email or phone, you might get better results showing up in person to resolve this matter. Being "busy with other things" is not an excuse to not fulfill her responsibility to provide you with AKC papers.  
When you call the AKC, tell them your breeder is dragging her feet with the papers, and see if they have any suggestions for how to resolve this.

Do you have a written contract where it's stated that the breeder will provide AKC registration papers? I'm afraid without having it in writing, you would probably not have a legal recourse, but you'd have to speak to a lawyer to confirm that.

Best of luck,

Patti