A KC reg breeder sells a pup, the new owner is given all the correct paperwork but never gets round to sending off the change of ownership form.

In time the 'new owner' decides they can no longer keep the dog and gives yes gives it away!! The second 'new owner' is handed all documentation.

So who legally owns this dog at this point?

If the second 'new owner' decides to send off the change of ownership form does the breeder get notified of the change in ownership?
Can the breeder object if they have not been informed that this re-homing has taken place? Will the KC grant this change of ownership to the second new owner?

Who really owns this dog?

KC registration is nothing more than somewhere to register where pedigree dogs are, it will be shown in the current BRS, but that is it, the breeder will NOT be notified.

It is nothing to do with the law or legal ownership. The KC do not get in the middle of disputes of ownership and the KC registration paper is not proof of ownership. They will transfer any KC registration sent to them as long as the previous owner has signed it over.

The owner is the second owner. Even if the breeder has a contract with a clause that re-homing must come to them very often lose in court as once a dog is sold it is sold, end of.

If a dog is given away FOC from the first owner, it still belongs to the second owner. :-)

Well I would say the person to whom the dog has been given the last person mentioned.

The first owner bought the pup and the fact that she did not register it is, I would have thought, in the eye of the law of no consequence.

If that person then gives it away the recipient is then the owner in law. Do not know if the KC would register but they may well do so if the breeder has signed the paperwork.

If you think of the dog as being a car, a man buys the car and before registering gives it to his son, the car belongs to the son and he will register it in his name.

Snap Carrington - think we have said the same thing.

Thank-you both, I thought that was the case but just wanted to know for sure.

I think it's sad for the breeder mind after all of her work.

think we have said the same thing.

:-) The amount of times I start a post and no-one is there and then by the time I post it 5 people have all said the same thing I can't count. :-D But at least it is confirmation from others. :-)

I think it's sad for the breeder mind after all of her work.

I think that it is devastating for most breeders in this position, apart from trying to contact the new owners and introduce ourselves there is little more to do, sometimes we can vet so carefully and it still goes wrong, I do think one of the better things to do is tattoo the pups, and leave that forever in the breeders details, at least if they do end up in rescue there is a chance of being contacted, more so than a microchip. :-(

I don't believe that the dog was tattoo'd but she was chipped by the breeder, I'm keeping fingers crossed that the dog will be OK.

I know if I ever bred I'd be upset and want my dog back.

I have just read in the BRS of a girl from my first litter being rehomed, she was 10. I am very upset as the owner didn't even have the decency to contact me , it is in our contract ( we are still in the same place, she isn't!) I have sent her messages on FB which she has not replied to. I have been consoled by the fact that she is too old to be bred from and the new owner has registered her so they must want to be owned by her! I am sending a letter to the KC to ask them to forward to the new owner, all we wnt to know is that she is alright. I will track the original owner down as she has other breeds so will watch out for her at shows as I want to tell her face to face how disappointing this is. I think in this case it is new ones in, oldie out :(

For me when I have a litter my responsibilty is for life, I am pleased to say I will not be having another litter so will not find myself in this position again.  

This is exactly what puts me off breeding from my dogs. You cannot guarantee that somebody will look after the puppy you bred the way you would hope and then they can simply chuck them out when they are fed up of them. Anything that comes into my house stays here!