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I was in the post office one day, where a man was mailing photos of his dogs and cats to an organization that helps find new homes for pets. He gestured proudly at one of the photos, of a golden retriever, and said, "This dog's registered, he has papers."

I remembered a time when a woman earnestly informed me that she had bred her two dogs together because they had "papers," and thus were valuable. I said to her, "Do you have a birth certificate?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Well, then," I said, "You have papers, too."

The American Kennel Club itself says they are not in the business of evaluating, rating, preserving, training, caring for, or certifying dogs (Don't believe it? Read their own article Papers and Registration). They are in the business of selling pieces of paper. Any dog whose parents are the same breed and whose parents were registered with the AKC can, with the payment of a fee, have papers. Those papers announce to the world that the parents of the dog were the same breed.... something you most likely can tell just by looking at the dog. That is all they tell you.

In some instances, they don't even tell you that much. A woman who took an obedience class with me walked in proudly with a cute little mixed breed dog who she informed the class was a purebred dog from AKC lines. She bought him at a pet store. She paid $850 for him, about two-thirds more than a puppy of his supposed breed would have cost from a breeder and about $800 more than the puppy mill that produced him most likely charged for him. It was apparent to every knowledgeable person in that class that the dog was not purebred, but no one said anything to his owner.

In this dog's case, his papers were worthless because they were inaccurate. He was an unregisterable mixed-breed dog, which had no effect on his value and worth as a companion but certainly precluded him from being registered with the American Kennel Club. Each year, the AKC cancels the registrations of hundreds of litters of puppies for record-keeping errors, but that represents only the tip of the iceberg. Many rescue workers have reported seeing dogs and puppies sold at livestock auctions, the papers bundled together with the bill of sale and no way to tell which dog is which. What is the value of papers like that?

But to me, the most profound problem is not so much, are a dog's papers accurate, but do even the accurate ones have any worth?

If you are a serious breeder, involved in producing dogs carefully bred for the show ring, field trials, obedience, herding, or other work, then the papers are a record of the dog's ancestry. They are the documentation of the dog's pedigree, although that is all they are: documentation. The pedigree itself is the record of the actual parents and grandparents and great-grandparents of the dog. The pedigree tells a knowledgeable breeder what genetic influences might be at play in a dog they are producing. It might suggest certain traits such as good, well-built hindquarters, longevity, calmness on the job, herding ability. It might suggest faults, too, such as infertility or hip dysplasia.

Does a mixed-breed dog have a pedigree? You bet. It's just probably not written down. Every living creature with parents has a "pedigree," which is just a list of ancestors. A pedigree is only of worth when the person reading it has an idea of who the ancestors were. Just so, a dog's papers are only of worth when you can have faith that the dog's parents were who they were supposed to be, and that this fact means something to you. Otherwise, AKC papers are not much more than income for the AKC.

Some might object that you do indeed need AKC papers. Yes, you do, if you plan on showing your dog or breeding your dog and registering the puppies. If your interest is in competing in obedience, lure coursing, hunting tests and trials, or numerous other performance events, any dog who looks purebred can receive what is called an "Indefinite Listing Privilege," or ILP, number. This number will enable your dog to do everything a dog with "papers" can do, except show in conformation (the "beauty show" part of dogdom) or have its puppies registered.

Dogs who are not purebred or who do not resemble a specific breed can compete in obedience with the American Mixed Breed Obedience Registry. The United Kennel Club also allows mixed breed dogs to compete in its obedience trials.

So what is the difference between a dog with papers and a dog without papers? Dogs without papers are just as lovable, loving, and wonderful as dogs with papers. They are as likely to be healthy and obedient, long-lived and intelligent, cute and friendly. The truth is, almost without exception, that difference is nothing but money in the pocket of the AKC.

Copyright 2003 by Christie Keith. All rights reserved. Used with permission.