My Dogs and Litters FAQs

Breeder Records


What is a mated pair? Answer: A mated pair is a sire and dam combination that has been mated and/or produced a litter. You may have created this mated pair yourself by creating a Mating or Birth Record using a sire and dam that you own(ed)/lease(ed) in your dog list. Or, the mated pair may have been created for you by the system if a sire or dam in your dog list was involved in a registered AKC litter.

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How do I view or enter information about the mated pair? Answer: From the breeder records list, find the pair you wish to view or edit and click on either the sire or the dam. The system will populate information about the pair in the grid below. You can select the Mating Record, Birth Record, AKC Litter Record, or Registered Puppies tab to view or enter more information about this pair. From the Litter Record and Birth Record tabs, you also have the option to Manage Puppies, which allows you to enter and view information about each puppy in the litter.

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What is the Watch Group? Answer: A watch group is a set of mated pairs that you want to keep track of and/or find easily in the future. By default, all newly created mated pairs are in the Watch Group. You can remove a mated pair from the Watch Group by clicking the checkbox next to the pair, clicking the Actions down-arrow, and then clicking Remove From Watch Group. Click the Go button and the pair is removed from the Watch Group.

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How can I make my list of mated pairs more manageable? Answer: In combination, the Display and Actions down-arrows allow you to create a manageable list of mated pairs. You can remove mated pairs you are not currently tracking by clicking the checkbox(es) next to the pair(s), clicking the Actions down-arrow, and then clicking Remove From Watch Group. Click the Go button and the pair(s) are removed from the Watch Group. Once you have removed all of the pair(s), click the Display down-arrow and then click Watch Group on the list.

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What is an "I" record? Answer: An "I" record indicates Mating involvement. If an "I" appears under the Type column for your mated pair, a sire you own was involved in the mating. If an "I" appears, you are unable to view any records related to a resulting litter because you are not the owner of the dam involved.

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What is an "L" record? Answer: A Litter Record, or "L" record, is created by the system if a dam in your account that you owned or leased on the litter date of birth is involved in an AKC registered litter.

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Why can't I change the birth date on my Birth Record? Answer: If the mated pair you selected already has an "L" record, the birth date on that "L" record (which was provided at the time of litter registration) is automatically inserted onto the birth record and made uneditable. If the birth date on the Birth Record tab or the Litter Record tab is incorrect, please contact customer service to correct it.

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How do I create a new Birth Record, or "B" record? Answer: If you are trying to create a new Birth Record for a new mated pair, you should select Add Breeder Record, enter the requested information on the Birth tab, and then click the Save Record button. If the birth date entered closely matches the birth date for an existing Litter Record, the system will match the new Birth Record to the existing litter record, creating a B-L record. If the birth date does not closely match an existing Litter Record, a new "B" record is created.

A "B" record can also be created from an existing Mating or Litter record. Select the desired pair in the list, click the Birth Record tab, make any necessary changes, and then click the Save Record button.

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Why is my witness/owner/buyer not in the list? Answer: If you do not see the person you are looking for in the list, you have not added that person to your address book. To add a person to your address book, you can either select Add individual in the drop-down box where you are trying to select a person, or you can click on Address Book in the left navigation bar and add the person. All lists involving witnesses, buyers, or owners must have their information in the address book before viewing them in their appropriate lists.

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How do I delete a record? Answer: Official AKC records cannot be deleted, which includes the AKC Litter Records ("L" record); however, you can delete Mating and Birth Records. To delete a Mating and/or Birth Record, click the checkbox next to the mated pair, click the Actions down-arrow, click Remove M-B records, and then click the Go button. If you delete a Mating and/or Birth record, any information you have entered about your puppies, including registration information entered for unassigned puppies, is also removed.

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How do I delete a puppy? Answer: You cannot delete a puppy; however, you can clear or remove any information you entered about a puppy. If you clear a puppy record that has not been registered, that puppy will return to its unassigned status. Changing information on a registered puppy will not affect AKC records. If you need to correct information on a registered puppy, please contact customer service.
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What happened to my puppies and/or their information? Answer: If you have cleared a puppy record or deleted a Mating or Birth Record, any information you have entered about a puppy is removed. Also, any puppy that is not registered is returned to an unassigned status.

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Where is my AKC Litter Record (or "L" record)? Answer: If you have recently submitted your litter application to the AKC please allow time for processing. If you don't see a Litter Record appear for a registered litter in a reasonable amount of time, please contact customer service.

Even though the Litter Record is not in the system, you can still create a Mating and Birth Record for the litter. Once the Litter Record appears in your account, the three records are joined to create an M-B-L record as long as the mating and birth dates match the information you sent the AKC.

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What should I do if the sire or dam I want to use to create a Mating or Birth Record is not available from the drop-down boxes? Answer: If you do not see a dam or sire in the corresponding drop-down box, select the Add a Dog link at the top of the grid to add the dog to your account.

If the dog was previously in your list, it is possible that you made the dog Inactive. To view all the dogs in your dog list, click Manage Dogs and set the Display to All Dogs. If the dog you are trying to use in a mating or birth is on the list but Inactive, you can make the dog Active using the Actions drop-down box.

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What does the Reset Record button do? Answer: The Reset Record button removes the changes or information entered on a tab before you save the record. The Reset Record button also allows you to leave a tab or page without saving any information.

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Why does a cleared puppy still have information? Answer: If you clear a puppy record for a puppy that has already been registered, the information required to register that puppy is not removed. Only information that you enter about the puppy is removed when a puppy record is cleared.

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Where did my puppy record go that I just cleared? Answer: If you clear the record for a puppy that was not registered, all the information is removed and the record becomes an unassigned record on the puppy list.

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What does the locked icon indicate? Answer: The locked icon indicates that the litter owner has entered all the required information to lock the record. If the new owner completes their AKC Registration online, the new owner will not be able to change certain fields during the registration process if a litter owner has locked a puppy record.

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What values or conditions are needed to lock a record? Answer:
  • The color, sex, registration type (full or limited), and registration number fields should have values
  • Transferred date should be greater than litter birth date
  • The puppy should not have a pending registration
  • One owner must have a complete address (first name, last name, address, city, state and postal code)
  • The litter should have only one owner
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If the puppy record is locked, what fields are uneditable during online dog registration for the new puppy owner? Answer: The information that is pulled from a record, that is not editable when registering a dog online includes:
  • Color
  • Sex
  • Markings
  • Registration Type: Limited or Full Registration
  • Transfer Date
  • Name of New Owner
In addition, Microchip, Tattoo, and new owner contact information (but not new owner name) will be pre-populated, but can be changed by the new owner.

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Can the new owner register the dog if the record is not locked? Answer: Yes, the new owner can register the dog. If the litter owner does not lock the record, the new owner will be able to modify sex, color, markings, transfer date, and new owner name(s).

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If I use AKC Online Record Keeping Services to maintain my dog and litter records, do I have to keep printed versions as well? Answer: Yes. While the system allows you to enter and maintain all of the data necessary to fulfill AKC record keeping requirements, at this time, AKC still requires printed versions of the forms. You can easily print your dog, breeder, and litter records from the Online Record Keeping system by going to Manage Dogs, clicking the checkbox in front of the dogs for which you want to print records, clicking the Actions down-arrow, clicking Print Dog and Breeder Records, and then clicking the Go button. The print function will produce forms which look exactly like the paper version of AKC record keeping forms. In the future, AKC may introduce enhancements which eliminate the need for paper records.

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