Bulldogs World

I recently bought an adorable English Bulldog puppy. It has been 18 years since I last bought a bulldog and I had no intention of ever breeding her, so I wasn't looking for and don't remember anything about "Limited registration". Anyway, nowhwere in the online description did it say "Limited registration". When my wife talked to the breeder, the breeder asked if we were going to "breed" the dog, we are not breeders so the answer was no, were are not "breeding" the dog. Here is the thing, we did not take breeding to mean never ever, not one time; we did not consider the possibility of mating our boy once a few years from now in exchange for "pick of the litter" to keep as our next Bulldog pet to meet the definition of "breeding". It was not disclosed in this conversation that the puppy would NEVER be able to produce an AKC registered litter. We sent a non-refundable deposit to hold the puppy.

We take our kids and go meet the breeders, during the 3 hour drive (one way) we talk about how we may get to keep a puppy from him a few years from now. We get there and the dog is beautiful, just perfect, so much excitement! We were given a folder with a contract which we were instructed to read and sign, did not say "limited registration" in the contract; it did say that they made no guarantee that the dog would be able to reproduce. There was also info on NuVet and they talked about the benefit of the supplement. Additionally, the folder also had the AKC registration papers; in all the excitement I failed to notice the little box checked that said "Limited contract".

Next day when I reviewed the AKC registration papers I noticed the "Limited registration" box darkened. What the heck is this???? I thought. We contacted the breeder and requested the code for a regular registration, which they refused to provide. They said we told you we only sell to people who want a dog for a pet, not breeding. I felt more than just a bit deceived at this point.

Obviously the "breeders" had a different concept of "breeding" than we did. They gave examples of how much other breeders would charge for a dog with regular registration and the ability to produce registerable litters. Thing is, although I did not want a dog to "breed", just the potential to get a puppy in a few years, the cost of the dogs he cited was not double what I paid. Financially, it would have been cheaper to pay 75% more now and that would have covered a future puppy too, essentially getting the next dog for at least 25% less. Heck, if I had to pay all that $$$$ now I would go ahead and offer the dog for stud services, even if he was only used once or twice (ever) it would further reduce the cost of my next dog. Unless the buyer never intends to get a puppy from the dog at all - ever, paying 75% more for regular registration makes economic sense.

I'm not making excuses for my lack of knowledge, but if "limited registration" had been specified in the description I could have researched what that was prior to sending the deposit.

I'm posting my experience so that people looking to buy a puppy may be more aware and make an informed purchase. Buyer beware.