[BamaFan121s]

In regards to THIS particular situation, what AKC will or won't do should be irrelevant. Your original agreement with the breeder was not to pay the extra for the AKC registration--it's unfortunate that you lost contact with her, but until you regain it, you should honor that agreement. To go behind the breeder's back years later and try to register the dogs anyway is underminded and shady, IMO.

I say this because if I were the breeder and found out, I would be FURIOUS! And that's only IF everything was what the breeder claimed it to be...for all you know, the breeder never had breeding rights on the dogs to begin with, and therefore, neither should anyone owning any offspring they produced.