Register your dog

Need to register your dog? You've come to the right place.

You need to register your dog before it's 3 months old, and then renew the registration every year. The annual rego period is 1 July to 30 June.

You can keep your dog registration costs down by:

The information we collect about your dog goes onto a national register. This helps to identify and locate owners in the case of wandering, lost or stolen dogs. It also helps keep track of dogs who have changed owners or districts, or who have a history of complaints.

Are you a preferred owner? Read this!

We’ve started sending out dog registration renewal notices for 2025/26 but, unfortunately, some have gone out with incorrect information.

A data issue in our system has resulted in notices for some preferred owners showing the full registration fee rather than the discounted fee of $99 per dog.

We’re working to fix this now. It mostly affects those of you who received your notice by email, though not everyone has been impacted.

What you need to know

  • If the fee on your notice is incorrect, please hold off on making payment until you receive an updated notice.
  • If you've already paid an incorrect amount, we'll refund the difference. Please contact us to arrange this.
  • If you've paid the correct amount, your dog tag is on the way and there's nothing further you need to do.
  • If your notice was correct and you haven't paid yet, you can go ahead and pay.
  • If you haven't received your notice yet, you'll be receiving it in the coming days.

We’ll continue to update this page as more information becomes available. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Register a new dog

Register a dog with us for the first time or transfer registration from another council.

Renew your dog registration

You need to renew your dog registration before 1 August every year.

Sign up to receive dog rego notices by email

Sign up to get your annual dog registration renewal notice by email instead of in the post.

Fur-ever tags are on the way

When you register your dog this year, you'll get a fur-ever tag, designed to last a lifetime.

Dog registration fees

Registration type Standard fee 2024-25 Standard fee from 1 July 2025 Total fee (including penalty) if paid after 1 August
General registration $176 $182 $273
General registration (desexed dog) $131 $135 $202.50
Preferred owner $99 $99 $148.50
Rural working $61 $63 $94.50
Disability assist no charge no charge no charge
Certified for use by specified agency no charge no charge no charge

Dog registration fees are set under the Dog Control Act 1996. Disability assist and specified agency are as defined in section 2 of the Act.

What dog registration pays for

Your dog registration pays for the Council to monitor and enforce the Dog Control Act 1996 and ensure compliance with local dog control bylaws and policies. Our Animal Control team investigate and respond to all reported dog complaints and incidents.

Dog registration pays for:

  • promoting better care and control of Palmerston North's 8,000 dogs
  • promoting community safety
  • encouraging responsible dog ownership
  • protecting dog owner's rights to own a dog by dealing with dog related problems
  • providing dog owners with education on dealing with dog related problems
  • dealing with aggressive and roaming dogs
  • dealing with irresponsible owners
  • patrolling public areas
  • running the preferred owner scheme for responsible dog owners
  • responding to dog complaints and animal nuisances
  • maintaining national dog database records
  • maintaining the animal shelter. All impounded dogs are given food, water, shelter and exercise

Penalties for unregistered dogs

It's an offence to have an unregistered dog and all dogs must wear a current registration tag so they can be identified. If your dog is found without the correct registration tag, it will be considered unregistered and could be impounded. The infringement fee for unregistered dogs is $300.

Back to top