Registration is one of the most important pillars in purebred dog development. It ensures the continuing documentation of the efforts of dog breeders to keep the purity of the dog breeds they are working on as well as how specific dogs and/or breeding lines are producing over the years.

Various information pertinent to dog breeding and performance are kept by a registering body such as the PCCI. More specifically, information is collected for each dog which must have its unique registration number that serves as its identification code for as long as the registration database of a registering body exists.

For a breeder, his efforts to produce purebred dogs is documented in a Pedigree Certificate that is issued for every single dog that he registers. This document serves two main purposes:

a. It is like a birth certificate that lists down the date of birth of the dog, its sire and dam, color and specific markings.
b. It shows the genetic lineage or ancestry (four generations in the case of the PCCI) of each dog.

It is the hallmark of every purebred dog as the Pedigree Certificate traces not just its ancestors but more importantly the accomplishments of each dog in its lineage.

The Certified Registration and Pedigree Certificate (the Pedigree Certificate for other Registries abroad) is the official recognition of the PCCI of your dog's place in the purebred dog history. For a breeder, the name you have chosen for registering your puppy (Kennel name and registered name combination) is considered unique and once approved cannot be changed under any circumstance. Please see the Litter Registration Section for more details on naming procedures.

Once properly completed and endorsed to the new owner of the puppy, the Certified Registration and Pedigree Certificate becomes the legal instrument for fully transferring the ownership from the breeder (or previous owner) to the new owner.

A dog may only be registered once with a registering body. For the PCCI, a dog may either be registered by the breeder if locally bred or by the owner if it is imported.