We had a litter of 4 Border Collie females once, all of them black with white blazes and some other miscellaneous white points. Since we had to send for the litter registration papers, they all had to be named ahead of time. Better check with the breeder, because if you are getting papers you have to tell her how to register your new kid :)

Tonchi, I'm not sure if she will be registered. She is most certainly a purebred and her heritage is posted on the Internet for all to see, but the breeder is strongly encouraging me to have her spayed since she will "only" be a companion animal and not one used for show or breeding purposes. I couldn't agree more, since the last thing I need is a litter of pups on my hands, and I have neither the interest nor the desire to find a suitable sire for a litter of purebred Cardigans. I don't know if the AKC registration procedure applies in such cases or not. I'll have to ask the breeder.

Selling a dog with a pedigreed background without papers is common. Unless the breeder can confirm that the dog was not bred before spaying, they have a dilema. The so-called backyard breeders can get dogs that way and then use the AKC kennel's name to get high prices for puppies they produce. So the breeder will withhold the papers as a semi-protection for themselves. However, you MUST have the papers in order to show the dog, you can show neutered bitches in a separate class, so that would be your incentive to want papers anyway. I guess a lot of it depends on your relationship with the breeder.

Sure, registered dogs have a fancy name on the papers, but even the most expensive dogs can't read. Her name will be what you call her. ;)

Which is just as well, hee hee. My first registered Australian Shepherd was Wind River's Ximena Hechicera of Rune. She was called "Shimmy" ;)

I love Aussies, as Tonchi knows. The thing I like about Cardigan's is that they are essentially Aussies on short legs. Herding type dogs are the perfect breeds IMHO. They are smart, highly trainable, and very gentle with their families and friends; fierce in protecting them. Smart as they are, they still can't read - I had to spell out words like
C A R, B A L L, and B O N E around my first Corgi if I didn't want him to go into a frenzy of anticipation at the thought of these treats. I imagine my second Corgi won't bother to read any papers that may accompany her and go by the name we two decide upon. ;)

Half the reason dogs are fun is they'll even go nuts attacking leaves. :lol:

I could never rake the leaves from the big old mulberry trees in the front yard while the Aussies were out playing because they LOVED to run through the piles and scatter them everywhere. They also burrowed into the piles and hid there, so we lost a lot of squeaky-toys during leaf season :apaw:

"I had to spell out words like
C A R, B A L L, and B O N E around my first Corgi if I didn't want him to go into a frenzy of anticipation at the thought of these treats."

I used to do that.....used to spell out words like...

"Hey Jude, shall we take the dog to the w*o*o*d*s for a w*a*l*k"
Worked a treat til the dog learned how to spell....think I'm kidding? Well ok maybe a little. I dont think he actually can spell, but he instinctively knows what it is I am spelling out and gets just as excited as if I'd said the words.

Was the same for c*h*i*c*k*e*n and b*i*s*c*u*i*t too.

The dog doesn't know you're spelling - he thinks you're saying "doubleyouayelkay", which means "go outside".