The kennel club says a litter registration is wrong. What happens if I don’t answer?
- MATTER
- Kennel clubs
- JURISDICTION
- UK
- BASED ON
- Kennel club decision
- LAST REVIEWED
- November 2026
A letter from the kennel club: they have doubts about a litter you registered and want DNA samples. Maybe you made a mistake with the dam, maybe you’re not sure. It’s tempting to put the letter in a drawer. Don’t.
Based on a public kennel club decision. Names and identifying details removed.
The short answer
Answer quickly, cooperate fully and correct the mistake.[1]
A wrong registration can usually be fixed. Ignoring the club turns a mistake into a disciplinary case, and in one real case it cost the breeders eight years out of the dog world.
What to do now
What decides it
Breeders registered a litter with the wrong dam on the application. The kennel club noticed and began verifying the litter by DNA. Over the next eighteen months, the breeders kept delaying and never got the litter properly verified.
1. The mistake is one thing, ignoring the club is another
A real case: eight years out for a wrong dam and a long delay
The kennel club’s disciplinary committee upheld a complaint on two grounds:[1]
- The litter application was untrue, because the dam was wrong.
- The breeders didn’t cooperate with the DNA verification process, and were unresponsive for eighteen months.
The committee said the club relies on breeders’ honesty, and that a wrong registration undermines trust in the whole register.
The penalties, for eight years:
- a warning, a censure and a fine
- no exhibiting at, attending or taking part in any licensed event
- no membership of any canine club, and no committee or officer roles
- no judging and no managing events
- no registering any dogs or litters, including through someone else.
And afterwards: if they start registering again, every litter must be DNA verified first.
2. Other people pay for it too
Twenty registrations of related dogs were affected. They had to be marked as having an unconfirmed pedigree, a protocol under which a full pedigree is restored after three generations. The committee noted that those owners shouldn’t have had their registrations compromised. Your buyers trusted your papers.[1]
3. How a registration ends
The committee said a questioned registration must end in one of four ways: verified and confirmed, corrected, repaired with an annotation, or cancelled. Cooperating gives you the best chance of the first two.[1]
| If you cooperate | If you don’t |
|---|---|
| The registration can be verified or corrected | It may be annotated or cancelled |
| A one-off mistake stays a mistake | It can become a disciplinary case |
| Your buyers keep their trust in you | Their dogs’ papers are affected, and so is your name |
What the kennel clubs say
- Royal Kennel Club (UK): registration relies on the honesty and accuracy of what breeders supply. Where parentage is in doubt, the club can verify it by DNA, and breeders are expected to cooperate. Deliberate manipulation can lead to long disqualification or a requirement that all future litters are verified first.[1][2][3]
- Other clubs have their own rules. Read your own club’s registration rules and disciplinary procedures, and contact the club if anything is unclear.
Last updated: November 12, 2026
Step by step
- Answer the letter now, in writing, and keep a copy.
- Be honest. If you made a mistake, say so and explain how it happened.
- Book the DNA sampling for the parents and puppies the club names. Ask your vet to help if the club allows.
- Contact your buyers, explain calmly, and ask them to help with samples. Offer to cover the cost.
- Keep every deadline, and tell the club early if one is impossible and why.
- Ask for advice from your breed club or a breeder you trust if the process is unclear. If it becomes a disciplinary case, consider legal advice.
How to prevent it next time
- Keep a breeding diary: which female, which male, mating dates, whelping date, number of puppies.
- Check the application twice before you submit, especially if you have more than one female in season.
- Microchip and record each puppy before they leave, and keep your vet’s notes.
- If you’re ever unsure of parentage, DNA test before registering, not after.
- Open every letter from the club the day it arrives.
What we can’t tell you
We don’t know what your club has written to you, or what its rules say for your situation. Disciplinary procedures differ between clubs. Your club can explain the process, and a lawyer can advise you if it becomes a formal case.
The evidence · What the kennel club decided
A wrong dam on the application and eighteen months without cooperating led to an eight-year ban from registering, showing and judging.
The committee treated the lack of cooperation as a breach in its own right, next to the untrue application.
- The Royal Kennel Club, Kennel Club Disciplinary Case (Rule A11, decision of 29 November 2019). royalkennelclub.com
- The Royal Kennel Club, Registration Rules and Regulations (B Regulations). thekennelclub.org.uk
- The Royal Kennel Club, Terms and conditions (registration and parentage verification). thekennelclub.org.uk
Related
Breeder’s Library: Kennel record keeping → Breeder’s Library: Pedigree analysis →General information, not legal advice. Kennel club rules differ between clubs and change over time. Check your own club’s current rules.