Kennel Club of India – How to Register your Dog?

The Kennel Club of India (KCI) maintains dog breed standards and organizes dog shows. The Chennai headquartered club’s purpose is to ensure the maintenance of breed standards. This also includes the scientific breeding of dogs.

KCI stands for the Kennel Club of India. It is the Chennai-based body that keeps the country’s register of pedigree dogs, issues their registration certificates and approves the dog shows held under its rules.

Registration done — keep the health record current with our dog vaccination schedule in India.

KCI registration is a pre-requisite to exhibit your pet in dog shows.

KCI registration is a pedigree record. It is not the municipal dog licence that your city corporation may ask you to take.

How to register the litter with KCI?

KCI-affiliated clubs have an inspection process for the litter. Litter registration must be within 180 days from the date of birth of the puppies.

The breeder should be registered with the Animal Welfare Board of the states they operate in. It is easy to register pups if their parents are already registered with the Kennel Club of India (KCI). Puppies with unregistered parents are certified as “Registration with Unknown Pedigree”.

KCI registration fees and categories (updated 2026)

To register a litter, the breeder needs an active Indian Kennel Gazette (IKG) subscription. On KCI’s tariff sheet of 1 April 2024, litter registration is ₹750 per puppy if filed within 60 days of birth, ₹1,200 per puppy for days 61 to 120 and ₹2,000 per puppy for days 121 to 180, and KCI’s litter form sets 180 days from birth as the last date. Indian breeds pay half of that (₹375, ₹600 and ₹1,000), German Shepherd litters pay more (₹1,000, ₹1,500 and ₹2,500). Transferring ownership into your name costs ₹500 if the dog is under a year old and ₹1,000 after that, and the IKG subscription itself is ₹1,200 a year.

KCI sorts every registration into one of four categories: Category 1 (both parents already KCI-registered), Category 2 (imported dogs, needs the airway bill and customs clearance alongside the usual papers), Category 3 (parents not KCI-registered — this is where most Indian-bred pedigree puppies start), and Category 4 (mixed breed). Which category your puppy falls into decides what paperwork the breeder needs to hand you.

Fees revise periodically. These were checked on 16 October 2026 against KCI’s own tariff sheet and litter form, but confirm the exact amount with the KCI office before you pay.

Transfer of ownership

The breeder hands you the initial documents when the litter got registered. You would then need to transfer the ownership of the puppy to your name. After registration, the KCI issues the dog’s pedigree papers. If you want to take part in dog shows, transfer of ownership is a must.

The registration certificate includes the pedigree of the puppy’s parents and grandparents, going back five generations. If the puppy’s parents are the champion bloodline, their names will be listed on the certificate.

Address of Kennel Club of India

The Kennel Club of India 
P.O. Box No. 6872 No.28, 
(Old No. 89) AA Block, 1st street Anna Nagar, 
Chennai - 600 040
e-mail: administrator@kennelclubofindia.org

Kennel Club of India dog registration

There are two methods of registration for dogs bred in India:

1. Litter registration: This is applicable for puppies whose parents are registered with KCI. The Dam and Sire must be fitted with microchips approved by the KCI.

The litter registration form is available online. The application form needs to be submitted along with the registration fee. The litter registration form has to reach KCI within 180 days from the date when the puppies were born.

2. Single-dog registration: For dogs whose parents are not registered, a KCI-authorized person inspects the dog. Following the inspection, the registered dog is shown as having unknown parentage. This happens when the breeder is unable to get the litter registered.

What is the Certificate of Opinion?

KCI judges have the authority to determine if a particular dog is capable of being registered as a specimen of a specific breed. The dog must be older than a year at the time of inspection.

What a KCI certificate shows, and how to check one

A KCI certificate is the paper that puts one particular dog on the Kennel Club of India’s register. Going by what KCI’s own forms record, it carries the dog’s registered name, breed, sex, colour and markings, date of birth, the KCI registration number, the sire and dam with their KCI numbers, the breeder’s name and the owner’s name, with a field for the microchip number. A certified pedigree running four or five generations deep is a separate document KCI issues for ₹1,000 and ₹1,500, and a replacement for a lost certificate costs ₹1,000.

The certificate records parentage. It carries no hip score, no eye test and no word on temperament, so a dog can be fully registered and still badly bred.

KCI has no online lookup. In mid-October 2026 its website was a single holding page of downloadable forms with a note that a new site is being built, so there is no official page where you can type in a registration number and get an answer. The check that works is to write to the KCI office in Chennai (administrator@kennelclubofindia.org, or the enquiry desk on 044-26213661 and WhatsApp 7200013661) with the registration number, the registered name and the breed, and ask them to confirm the dog and its registered owner.

Do three things before you pay for a puppy. Ask for the original certificate, because KCI’s transfer form (Form F) has to be sent in with the original, so a seller who only has a photocopy cannot transfer the dog to you. Match the microchip: KCI’s own check on an imported dog is to scan the chip and compare it with the papers, and any vet with a scanner can do the same for you. And make sure the seller’s name is the registered owner on the certificate, since the transfer needs that owner’s signature. If the original is missing or the chip number does not match, walk away.

Breeders and paper frauds

Breeders and ethics rarely run in tandem, eclipsed by the greed to make a quick buck. As a result, many pet parents who buy a dog aren’t given genuine KCI registration certificates.

Microchipping is mandatory for all dogs when you apply for registration. Indian Kennel Gazette is also a compulsory subscription and you must ask the breeder for it. You should also ask how many litters the female has already had.

Backyard breeders and puppy mills breed the female as much as they can to churn profits in a short span. This results in health issues for the litter as well as the mother.

Falling for fads, be it pugs or Labradors, is another thing that plagues buyers. We have all seen far too many cases of Huskies in sweltering Indian summer. We request you to adopt, don’t shop as there are hundreds of loyal loving dogs awaiting a family like yours. Dogs are pure love, unadulterated by biases of breeds.