Starting October 1, 2009, the American Kennel Club will allow owners of mixed breed dogs to list their dogs with the AKC and receive an official ID number, which will allow mixed breed dogs to participate in official AKC agility, rally, and obedience events.

Since reportedly half of all dogs in the U.S. are mixed breed, the AKC may just have realized that there was a whole stream of revenue going untapped (participation in the program costs $35).  Still, I might consider getting "papers" for my dog, just to show that mutts can have a pedigree, too.