Prefix Hints

What is a kennel prefix?

A prefix is the name that you want to have as the first name of every dog you breed and the MDBA associates with your breeder membership as your kennel name.

Within a pedigree system a prefix works the same way as your surname, just like when people have children the children take on the parent’s surname. As a breeder when you breed a litter of puppies, they all take on your prefix name.

When anyone hears a puppy’s name or reads a pedigree anywhere in the world, they can see straight away who bred the dog. Some breeders have their prefix name as their business name, for advertising, social media, websites, email addresses, stationary, etc. This is why it is important that you choose a kennel prefix that you can be proud of.

We need you to have a kennel prefix so that we can put that prefix on all of the pedigrees that we produce for your puppies.

By having your prefix on the pedigree, it means that for the rest of the dog’s life, (and for as long as it’s descendants may live), anyone who sees those pedigrees will know which kennel/breeder bred the dog.

Say, for instance that your prefix name was “Prefix” and you registered a puppy whose first name was Milo, his name would be displayed as “Prefix Milo” on his pedigree and in our database. With surnames there may be tens of thousands of John Smiths in the world but with prefixes what the MDBA is aiming for is for you to be the only person in the world with “Prefix”.

It can be a challenging task to find a prefix that you will be happy to have not only now but in 10 years’ time.

The importance of using your registered prefix

Our team goes to great lengths to be as confident as possible that the prefix you have submitted is unique. Whilst we are only obliged to search our own databases to ensure the prefix name you have submitted is not being used by another member, we go one step further and search internationally. We do this because dogs and semen move around the world and we want to know when people see your prefix they know you are the breeder no matter where your dogs live.

Breeders work hard to build their reputations and if someone else was allowed to use their prefix name it could impact positively or negatively on that reputation. As we said before, it is challenging to find a prefix that is right for you so it wouldn’t be good if we let anyone else use the prefix name you have picked.

When a prefix is approved and registered to you it is very important to use the prefix name exactly as we have approved it. If you change it from what we have in our records and anyone checks your breeder details with us and finds any changes, they may think that they are being scammed and you could mistakenly be using someone else’s prefix.

Why was my prefix not accepted?

New breeder members may become frustrated with the process of choosing a prefix name because their choices are not approved and the MDBA team ask for another list of choices. Sometimes even before a breeder member has had their prefix name approved, they have set up websites and promoted the name they want, we strongly advise you not to do this as the prefix name you may want may not be approved and you have wasted your time and money.

Just because you have a name as a property name, business name, website or face book page doesn’t mean it is can be used as your prefix as that prefix name may be approved for use by another breeder member.

Simply put for a prefix to be approved for you to use you need only two things:

1. The name must comply with the MDBA prefix guidelines and
2. The name must not be in use by another breeder

Prefix Guidelines

• Be between 5 and 18 characters long (including spaces).
• Consist of letters only. No accented letters ( é ), symbols ( $,#,@ ), numbers or punctuation (commas, hyphens, dashes etc).
• Not contain any currently registered prefixes.
• Be at least 3 characters different from any similar prefixes.
• Not incorporate a name of an established breed (Such as “Bulldog”, “Labrador”, “Terrier” etc.), a breed in development or a cross breed. (Such as oodle, doodle etc.) (as of 30th June 2014)
• Not incorporate a ‘nickname’ for a breed. (Such as “Bull / Bully”, “Frenchie”, “Daschie”, “Cav”, etc.) (as of 19th August 2020)
• Not include any variations or words such as “Kennel”, “Farm”, “Pup/Puppies”, “Pooches” or country names etc. (as of the 21st of June 2021)
• Prefix approval is subject to the decision of the MDBA membership team and MDBA Board of Directors. Any prefix that seems inappropriate or in bad taste will not be approved.

Hints on how to choose a unique prefix.

Not too hard to pronounce, spell or remember – People who are searching for you to get a new puppy or who want to refer you to their friends, give you a pat on the back etc need to know how to say your name and spell it. For example, you may want to use the first initial of every family member as your prefix but if your family members initials are JHGTREW that is a real pain for someone trying to remember what the name is and how to refer someone to you.

Play around with words you like – (e.g.: if you like the colour “yellow” and you like “roses” put them together e.g.: Rosellow). Think of words that are associated to you e.g. names of important people, places you have lived or like the sound of, street names, look outside your window, e.g. tall trees, powerhouse, winding road, city lights, use two words that aren’t normally used when speaking of dogs e.g. Smooth Sailing, Maybe try song titles e.g. What about Me, Blueberry Hill, Chantilly Lace, but remember that at the end of the day a prefix is like a brand name so you need to choose carefully.

Avoid words that others may see as negative – Your choice of words may have negative meanings to others so this is also important to consider. Using words such as “Notorious”, “Danger”, “Sinister”, “Underground” can have negative meanings. Even if that isn’t how you perceive them some people may interpret your prefix name negatively.

When you have a list of 6 – Once, you have your list of preferred prefix names we suggest you search the web using the name you have chosen with the words breeder and puppy after it. If the search shows any results for that choice then cross out that name from the list and move on to your next choice. Keep doing this until you have a list of 6 choices that don’t return any results in your web search. To be really sure of your choices you could do the same searching process on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram.

Note: Just because you find 6 choices that don’t return results in your web search, it doesn’t mean they are available for you to use. When you submit your prefix name choices our team will then search other databases that aren’t available to the general public. However, by you doing the first search for your choices it will cut down the risk of you choosing a name that has already been used by another breeder.

MDBA prefix disclaimer

Whilst the MDBA conducts searches of multiple databases to find out if a prefix has been used by another breeder, we are not able to check everywhere. As a result, the MDBA does not accept responsibility for any disputes regarding any prefix that we have approved for your use that may arise in the future. The approval of a prefix by the MDBA cannot prevent the use of that name by people who are not MDBA members. If you want to protect the prefix name you have chosen it may be useful for you to apply for a trademark.