I have a kennel name in mind. There are none using this name on Wiscoy or Woodhaven or AKC, however, I did get a hit on OFA website of maybe 4 Labradors total with this name and the latest being 2002. I don't recognize the pedigree AT ALL, and assume these dogs must be field lines. Would you use this kennel name?

Impossible to say without knowing the kennel name you are considering using. What is the name?

I would search AKC database and see if it is being used.

You can also email AKC and ask them if it would be acceptable to them. Thats what I did before I started to use the name I picked.

I wouldn't use it. Someone else already has and you may not want to be associated with what they have produced!
Sheila

Just because it is OFA does not mean it is registered. I would ask AKC if not I would use it. People choose names and won't pay the money to register it. too bad when it's gone and used by BYB though.

For Pete sakes, make up a new name. Why would you take one someone has used. We all thought of one and researched it. Its sad when someone has to change their name they have been using for years. Look on OFA and see if its there. Change it a little. Don't use an old one. JMO

I agree with Sheila...

Another good way to learn if a name has been used is to actually post the name you are thinking of using.

When my sister and I began breeding some 20+ years ago there was no internet. So we came up with Mellowood. When I finally got a hold of some JBD's, we saw that the name had been used. We did not use the name for too long as my sister and I decided to go a different way with our lines.

I registered my kennel name with the AKC last year after I was checking the AKC website and found a chocolate Lab registered with the Rycroft prefix. Interestingly enough when I went to register my newest addition from another breeder, I wanted to use my kennel name at the end. I also had received another puppy from a different breeder about the same and sent in their registrations that same time. The one puppy's registration came back rather quickly, but instead of my other puppy's papers, I got a letter from the AKC stating I had to chose another name for her since that name was protected and permission was not granted to use it! Hello? I am the registered of that kennel name AND the dog was being registered to me. So I had to write a letter granting permission to use my kennel name on my new puppy! LOL Hey, at least I can say that they were watching out for me.

Dianne

2 years ago I went to register my kennel name "Wood Duck" $100 later the letter from AKC said it could not be used because it was too common and had been used ( not registered) by not only a few labs but a few goldens and a few tollers.
This year someone at the Potomac had chosen to use the name " Wood Duck" - I believe a new breeder also. they had inquired to breeders around them and no one knew of the name being used-- one quick check on Infodog, AKC, or OFA would have shown it indeed was being used.
I politely wrote to them and asked them to try to find another name- that I had been using it since I acquired my foundation bitch some nearly 12 years earlier. I got this very nice letter of apology ( which was not needed) and they told me how they had come to chose the name. But they also graciously said they would move on to another name.
I say check as many places as possible and just because it is not AKC registered, does not mean that out of courtesy you should not use it.

Take the time to call AKC they will do a search on the name.Some times it takes a while. I have a BYB field breeder near me that has his name of Sandhills.
Another field breeder who is a vet with the same name of Sandhills been breeding for a long time. Can you see the confusion it could cause. Neither are connected and neither kennel name is reg'd.

I picked Muddy Marsh for brown mud we have chocolates.
Not because of hunting.The reason why your not finding many dogs. Is prehaps the person only has a 1 litter every 3-4 yrs. And I know alot of pet people don't even send in registrations.?
I went throught many I thought was the prefect kennel name but because there were a few or many dogs with that name I couldn't get that one. So you need to call AKC.

Don't just check AKC. Check OFA, Wiscoy, Woodhaven etc. Get Creative - you want your kennel name to be yours and not anyone else's. If you put as much work into your breeding program as others do you will want to stand out and be recognized.

I agree - the AKC isn't typically very helpful beyond some basics. A few years back (I'm not mentioning names) a newbie way up in the Northeast took the kennel name of a very well known, long time Lab breeder on the West Coast. Even a cursory check at what was going on back in the day would have shown that this breeder was very active, that her dogs figured prominently in a lot of pedigrees, but still it happened. I wouldn't offer a guess as to motive, but it had to be pretty disappointing to the old timer to think about the potential of what her kennel name might be associated with.

Another problem with AKC registering kennel names is the requirement necessary to register a kennel name. I show a lot but I rarely breed a litter because of my occupation. I bred a litter 3 years ago under my kennel name "WILMARK" which I made sure noone had. I plan to breed a litter in the next year or two, but AKC will not register a kennel name unless you breed 1 litter a year for 5 years.