Registration
ALL Fifteen Acre Farms Australian Shepherd puppies are AKC AND ASCA registered with a UKC option. All puppies are placed with registration paperwork that is provided to every buyer at time of sale.
Registries
AKC is American Kennel Club & began registering PUREBRED dogs in 1884. AKC is the most recognized & respected dog club registry in the world & began registering Australian Shepherds in 1991. More info at www.akc.org.
ASCA is Australian Shepherd Club of America & is the largest single breed dog registry in North America registering & promoting only the breed of Australian Shepherds since 1957. More info at www.asca.org.
UKC is United Kennel Club established in 1898 & is the largest all breed performance dog registry in the world. The programs at UKC include Obedience Trials, Rally Obedience Trials, Agility Trials, Weight Pull Events, Terrier Races, Dock Jumping Events, Lure Coursing, Total Junior Program, Coonhound Field Trials, Water Races, Nite Hunts and Bench Shows, Hunt Tests for retrieving breeds, Pointing Dog Events, Beagle Events including Hunts and Bench Shows, and Cur and Feist Squirrel and Coon Events and Bench Shows. Rounding out the 'Total Dog' package, UKC Conformation Events are among the largest growing events. UKC dog shows are family events designed by and for the breeder-owner-handler. Professional Handlers are not eligible to exhibit dogs for others at UKC Conformation Events. At UKC dog shows, the emphasis is on the DOG, not the SHOW. More info at www.ukcdogs.com.
There are several SUB-STANDARD registries that will register ANY dog & call it whatever you would like. For instance, if you think you have a Schnauzer but want to register it as a bulldog but it's really a chihauhau .... those registries don't care ... they just want your money & will register the dog any way you want them to. These sub-standard registeries are not registering purebred dogs. These registeries include APRI (American Pet Registry Inc), ACA (American Canine Assocciation), ASDR (American Stockdog Registry), CKC (Continental Kennel Club), NSDR (National Stockdog Registry) and there are a few others. BEWARE of dogs associated with these registeries. They are many times not purebred. Do your research.
In additiion, breeders who choose to register their dogs & puppies with these sub-standard registeries many times do so to avoid following AKC's rules & inspections.
A dog may also end up in one of these sub-standard registeries because the breeder of an AKC or ASCA registered puppy had the breeding rights restricted for medical reasons or because the puppy did not meet breed standard. These dogs should not be reproducing at the discretion of the breeder for good reasons because the ONLY reason to breed is "to improve the breed". Some buyers, however, don't always adhere to the wishes of the breeder & choose to register their dogs with one, or more, of these sub-standard registeries producing puppies that either are not purebred & registering them as such or producing puppies with a number of medical problems because they came from parents who had their breeding rights restricted by the breeder due to a medical condition or because they did not meet breed standard.
DO NOT PURCHASE puppies with registration papers labeled as APRI, ACA, ASDR, CKC, NSDR. ONLY purchase Australian Shepherds that are AKC AND ASCA registered.
The so called "mini's, toys, & micro's" ARE NOT RECOGNIZED BY AKC OR ASCA BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT PUREBRED AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE BREED WELL. This information is clearly posted on both AKC & ASCA's websites for your viewing. DO NOT TAKE MY WORD FOR IT. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. The standard height for Australian Shepherds as set forth by AKC & ASCA is, & has always been, 18-23". We did not wake up one day & now they are 10" tall. Mini's, toys, & micro's have had smaller breeds crossed into them to reduce height making them a MIXED BREED dog. These lesser quality version's of the breed DO NOT represent the breed well. Just because they are one of the four colors of the Australian Shepherd breed does NOT make them purebred. Do your research! You will also notice these mixed breed dogs labeled as mini's, toys, & micro's have stringy hair, matted eyes, & pricked ears ... that is because they have been crossed with a toy breed so they are NOT purebred dogs. Don't take MY word for it .... see for yourself. Go to http://www.akc.org/ then click on the Breed List. You will NOT see a listing for Miniature Australian Shepherd or Toy Australian Shepherd BECAUSE AKC DOES NOT RECOGNIZE OR REGISTER THEM. FURTHERMORE .... FOR THE MINIATURE AMERICAN SHEPHERD BREED ... AKC STATES ON THAT BREED PAGE THAT THOSE DOGS DERIVED FROM 'UNREGISTERED' DOGS. Now see what ASCA has to say about those mixed breeds at: https://www.asca.org/?s=miniature You will clearly see the Miniature & Toy "variety" are NOT recognized by ASCA and NOT registerable. Mini's & Toys are ONLY registerable through SUB-STANDARD registeries because THEY ARE NOT PUREBRED AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE BREED WELL.
DO NOT buy from a breeder that does not have the registration paperwork readily available at time of sale. I hear this ALL the time that someone purchased a puppy from another breeder & was told the breeder would mail the paperwork at a later date when received from association but failed to do so & now said breeder will not answer calls or return emails from buyer to get the paperwork.