Registration
Many novice “breeders” are not familiar with the procedure to be followed in order to register a litter of puppies with the Kennel Union of Southern Africa and this has in the past resulted in many an embarrassing or unpleasant situation. The following directives would hopefully serve to obviate conflict between sellers and buyers of puppies caused by confusion and ignorance regarding litter registrations. In order to register a litter of pure-bred puppies with the Kennel Union of Southern Africa, the person applying for registration must be:
  • the K.U.S.A. registered owner of the Dam
  • a member in good standing of the K.U.S.A.
  • the litter must have been sired by a K.U.S.A. registered dog, and the
    owner of the sire must also be a current paid-up member of K.U.S.A
Prior to mating a bitch, you must therefore check the following:
  • That you are the registered owner of the bitch and cited as such on the
    bitch’s CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION AND CERTIFIED PEDIGREE (an official K.U.S.A. document),
  • On the initial CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION AND CERTIFIED PEDIGREE which you would have received from the breeder of the bitch, the breeder will be cited as the registered owner. A subsequent transfer into your name must therefore have taken place and a fresh CERTIFICATE
    OF REGISTRATION AND CERTIFIED PEDIGREE issued by the K.U.S.A.
    The reverse of any registration document is, in fact, an APPLICATION
    TO TRANSFER.
  • That you are a fully paid-up member of the K.U.S.A.
  • That the stud dog is registered with the K.U.S.A. and that his owner is indeed his registered owner. (Always ask for a copy of the stud dog’s CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION AND CERTIFIED PEDIGREE to verify his breeding and ownership.) The owner of the sire must also be a current fully paid up member of KUSA, and his KUSA member number must be quoted on the Registration application form. The owner of the sire must also sign the registration application form.

Photo: Sonelle
If the answer to any of the above is negative, you would not be able to register progeny of the bitch with the K.U.S.A. Unless whatever has to be remedied can be done expeditiously, it would not be advisable to proceed with the mating. It would, in this event, be prudent to rather delay the mating till the bitch’s next season, thereby allowing yourself sufficient time to get the documentation in order if this is at all possible. The Club does not condone the breeding of unregistered litters and strongly advises against this.

Presuming that the registration documents of the bitch and the stud dog are in order and that you are a K.U.S.A. member in good standing, you may proceed with the mating of the bitch. From the date of birth of the puppies, you are allowed 12 weeks within which to register the puppies with the K.U.S.A. In order to do this, an APPLICATION TO REGISTER A COMPLETE LITTER (a K.U.S.A. form) must be completed by the registered owners of the Sire and the Dam and submitted to the K.U.S.A. with the appropriate registration fee per puppy. This fee changes periodically and should be verified with the K.U.S.A.

If you have an Affix (Kennel Name) registered with the K.U.S.A., the puppies will carry this Affix as a prefix to their common registered names, e.g. PALMGROVE MOONSHINE and PALMGROVE SUNSHINE. If you don’t have an Affix registered, the puppies will have to face life registered as MOONSHINE and SUNSHINE! It is important to note that once registration has taken place, the puppies’ names can no longer be prefixed. It is therefore not possible to have them re-registered, prefixed by a belatedly acquired Affix. The registration of an Affix takes about four months, but can take considerably longer. It is therefore not something that can be done at the last minute.

If you are in two minds about breeding a litter of puppies, don’t do it! If you really cannot resist the temptation, then at least try to seek some expert advice. Is your bitch an acceptable specimen with no genetic faults and worth breeding from? Is the stud dog you intend using suitable? Do you have the dedication, resources and time to raise a litter of puppies correctly and do you know what’s involved? Please don’t add to the dog population because of an indulgence. Not only would you be doing the breed disservice, but in the end only discredit yourself.