How to tell if a dog is a pure breed

I often encounter the question “What breed is my dog?”, which is an almost impossible question to answer. Technically speaking, the ONLY way of determining if a dog is purebred or not, is if it has registration papers. No papers, and it can't be called a purebred.

A dog can look like a purebred, you can have DNA blood work testing done, you might even know who its mother is, but unless the dog has proper registration papers it can't legally be referred to as a “Purebred”. Plain and simple.

Being a purebred does not mean a dog is a quality dog, it only indicates the dogs parentage. Those parents could be good quality, they could be champions, or they could be the bottom of the barrel. The only thing a dog needs to be purebred is registration papers with a recognized breed registry, such as the AKC, UKC, CKC, and so forth.

Most dog breeders have their puppies tattooed before they go to their new owner. This tattoo indicates who the breeder is, what litter the pup was from, and what number that pup is within the litter. If an animal shelter finds a stray dog who is tattooed with a breeder tattoo they can easily find out who the breeder was, and eventually who the current owner is. This tattoo also links the dog to its registration papers, assuming the dog was registered.

Most countries have laws regarding the marketing of pedigreed (registered animals). For example, it is usually illegal to refer to a pet as a purebred if it does not have registration papers, and it is usually illegal to offer pets at one price with the papers, and one price without.

You can try to determine the breed of a dog by having a veterinarian do an expensive DNA test, but unless you can trace the dog back to its breeder and it was a registered dog, with registration papers, it can still not be called a “purebred”. As such most owners just guess what breed, or mix of breeds, a dog is simply by looking at it. If you're not familiar with dog breeds, ask your vet, or dog groomer to make a guess. Think about what breeds are common in your area.

A dog does not need to be purebred to be a good dog, many purebreds are riddled with health issues. One advantage of a purebred is that since you know its parentage, you know which health issues run in that genetic line, so know what to expect and watch out for. Keep in mind, that being a purebred does not mean the dog is a quality dog. To determine that, a person must take the dog to shows to prove its quality, or research the pedigree to see what Champion Ship titles its ancestors hold.