I have a 2 year old black Labrador dog. I re-homed him after the previous owner could not commit time to him. I have now had the dog in my possession for 13 months now. The previous owner has the pedigree and papers and said many times that he would send them to me, but never has. I had been told by acquaintences of his, that this is because he does not want us to breed from the dog. We said he is purely a family pet and would never breed from him and make any money, but would like to have the documents anyway. Is there any way we can get duplicate papers issued, or somehow make the previous owner give them to us?

Do you know the dogs registered name.

No I am afraid I do not. All I know is that he is a Sandringham breed and is called Buster which is taken from is registered name. If I knew his full name would that help me?

Unfortunatly not really. sorry i read first post wrong.
If you did not buy the papers with the dog legally they don"t belong
to you.The man you got him from could throw them away if he wanted.
Your only option is to keep asking. did he definately have all the dogs papers.

Yes, he did say he had all the papers. I have in the past year sent him a couple of pictures of Buster to be friendly, in the hope that he may post the papers to us. Also, we did not buy the dog, he was given to us.

Hi,

I don't want to worry you but you need something in writing from the previous owner that you now own the dog. We took on a black lab from someone who was unable to keep him and things went ok for nearly 10mths. The dog was lovely and really settled in although he was very submissive.

The trouble started when we told this chap that we were moving. He forced his way into our house and took the dog. The police were called and he refused to hand the dog back. He still had the original pedigree paperwork and despite the fact that we'd had the dog microchipped and insured etc the police informed us that the law still considered him the legal owner.

I really hope that things don't turn nasty but you really do need to have something in writing for your own protection.

Fiona

Firstly in my opinion the man may feel you are wanting to breed,he could have sold him but chose to give him to you.I presume he didnt promise papers at the time and as no money changed hands you dont have a right to them.We get this all the time in rescue we rehome Labradors and they are adopted,a form is signed saying no breeding will take place,the papers are filed, and then people want the papers supposedly (and some times true )just to know a birthdate etc.but we had a case once where a man had used his rescue dog at stud and was asking for papers as the puppies would need registering,we pointed out his signature on the adoption form and the fact we had the right to take him back if he renaged against the details on the form,anyway it was all sorted out by the man having the dog nuetered and us seeing proof and he was allowed to keep the dog.I feel if you just want papers for information its not worth upsetting the previous owner as it could backfire on you,just enjoy your lovelyLabrador.

not sure if you're right on that one,a freind of mine was selling an older male, a young couple bought him, theyd been ringing around telling folk their rescue bitch had just died and they didnt want to go through it with a pup so wanted an older dog or bitch, purely as a pet ,it would be there only dog ,sleep on the bed etc, .theyd rung here too and sounded very believable,anyhow they went to see the male ,as a pup hed cost £800 ,he was proven and had excellent breeding,but because it was as a pet and they where told the papers where to be witheld, which they had no problem with,he was sold for around £300-£400,with a bill of sale for both partys for that amount, anyhow a few weeks or so later my freind got a call that the dog had sired a litter to one of there bitches and theyd need the registration, to cut a long story short, solicitors letters followed and finally a court date,in the end the papers where handed over to this couple as the seller did not have the new owners signature that they knew the papers where to be witheld,it was very upsetting for this freind as they are in poor health and very honest people, it really shook them up ,they also had not very nice calls from the buyers, the delightful people that bought the male now advertise him at stud, or at stud to suitable crossbreedings,

Thats a very sad story,im sorry for your friends I cant see how if you sell a dog without papers they can be demanded at a later date,of course my example was rescue labs but I actually let one of my bitches go to a really nice family for a modest amount without papers and nothing would persuade me to give them the papers as the arrangement was no papers! I suppose in this day and age anythings possible and you can be sued for any amount of silly things. I suppose also with DNA theres no cracking on you dont know which dog it is.

i think it all started when the kc allowed people to add the clause -not to be bred from,when people got their registrations through it was often in place and then an argument would kick off between the two partys, this was happening so often that the kc changed the rules to ---if you dont have signed proof that you have explained to the buyer that the papers have been witheld ,then you'd be made to give them the papers,;i can see the reasoning behind it,just my freind forgot to get anything signed, she always uses puppy contracts but the fact that this was an older male she didnt give it a thought,