Should I be worried about no 'papers'?

[HoneyG]

Hi all,

We rehomed Honey at 17 weeks from another family who live locally.  Long story short (if you haven't seen some of my other posts)  I just think they hadn't thought through the decision about getting a dog.

Anyway, when we got her I asked about the breeder and if she had any papers but was informed she had no paperwork.  I asked for the breeder information for future reference, and have since requested again but she has not got back to me.

I will be honest and say I have no idea what difference it makes having 'papers' or being KC registered...but people keep asking me! 

All I know is that she was born to a litter of eight (i think).  When the previous family got her they met Honey's Mother and her Auntie.  The breeder was from Luton (or that area) and was South African.

I have no concerns at all about Honey's behaviour or temperament. She has proved to calm (well, as calm as a cocker can be!!), a quick learner and the only thing she growls at is if another puppy at puppy classes tries to take her toy or food (and the trainer says this is totally normal (and I agree!!!)

So, what differences does it make?

Thanks

Beki

[SophieBlueRoanLover]

Papers (if they are KC ones) will give you some reassurance that the breeder takes breeding seriously, in that they want to breed their dog because it is healthy, has a good temperament and is a good example of the breed. If you have papers you can then also check up on the health background of the pup.

If there are no papers there could be lots of reasons, but it may be that they've bred the dog too much, it's originally from a puppy farm, they're cutting costs, haven't got health tests done, etc..

The papers give no assurance that all these things will be fine, but usually show some responsibility from the breeder.

[SophieBlueRoanLover]

Sorry - my pup was barking to go out, so didin't finish properly and sounded a bit negative.

If your dog has a lovely temperament now then please don't worry. Lots of dogs without papers will obviously be healthy and happy.

[HoneyG]

Yes, I guess I just worry that it doesn't appear to have been a well thought out decision from day with the family that got her, and so can't imagine vetting the breeder was top of their list either

So unless someone on this forum happens to know a South African breeder near Luton who breeds show cockers (my girl is golden but no idea how that passes on!!) and can put me in touch to see if this is why my Honey came from...then I will just have to trust that at nearly 6 months she seems of good temperament and health and I can't worry about things I can't change...

Thanks for your reply...I was rather ignorant and thought that papers would only be important if we wanted to show her and things, but what you say makes absolute sense.


Thanks

Beki

[Becky87]

My cocker poppy doesn't have papers and I only ever seen her mother. She's the best dog ever, really quick at learning and has the most amazing temperament.

How ever you can still buy KC Reg'd puppies from licenced puppy farms (well known one in Lincolnshire)

I know just as many KC reg'd dogs to have serious health issues as well as none KC reg'd dogs.

I wouldn't worry too much that your dog doesn't have papers... 

[JaspersMum]

As a private rehome I didn't expect there to be any papers when we had Jasper, however we did get them..

It made no difference at all to Jasper as we had already agreed to take him but the papers led us back to his breeder.  I rang her and long story short, have a lovely relationship with her and she's seen Jasper a few times since he's been here.  The nicest thing she said, was that she wished we'd been there to take him as a puppy!  Then again we were looking for a rescue at the time so probably would never have come into contact and our journey into cocker-dom would never of started!

[8 Hairy Feet]

Ah Jenny,
what a lovely post about
Jasper
You were meant to be together
steffxxx

[Ralu A]

My cocker doesn't have papers. We bought him when I was 15 years old (his breeder gave him to us at a symbolic price, she is a nice lady- a "backyard breeder"). His mother, Emma, had the most wonderful temperament and was a house pet. She had 2 litters in her life. I met his dad too, sort of. He was at a house not far from Elmo's "breeder" and I used to cuddle him trough the fence rails His name was Cookie Elmo's temperament is very good. He's healthy (no genetic issues). He's very far from the breed standard, but that's OK. I was lucky.
Now I would only buy a dog with papers, from health tested parents and with good temperament. I hope I don't sound negative. You will be fine. Not all cockers have papers. And just think at all the lovely crossbreeds and rescue dogs that are healthy and have lovely temperaments.
 http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=48072.0
 Please don't worry about your pup. I'm sure she will turn out OK. Just focus on her education. A lot of people on here recommend the book "The perfect puppy", by Gwen Bailey, if you ignore the outdated info on "pack theory". It's a positive method. I see you are taking puppy classes, so my advice could be useless or already known