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Date Posted: 14:41:53 03/13/08 Thu
Author: Michelle Convis
Subject: AKC is not your problem
In reply to: Tom P 's message, "How to Stop the AKC Take Over of Your Rare Breed" on 07:26:44 03/11/08 Tue

AKC is not such a bad thing. Every breed that has gone through the process of moving from a rare breed on up to an AKC breed has had breeders who always touted the same thing:

"AKC will change our breed"
or
"AKC will run our breed"
or
"AKC will refine our breed".

AKC doesn't do anything to the breed.
AKC is a REGISTRY and all it does is regulate paperwork.

Breeders are the ones who control what becomes of the breed from that point on.
AKC only helps bring verifiable lineage to the breed and requires DNA on any males who produce more than 3 litters a year or more than 7 litters in a lifetime.
They also require that ALL imported dogs, whether male or female, must be DNA'd before ever producing a litter.

How can this be a bad thing?
It only makes breeders have to step up to a goal that should be as easy as putting on your shoes in the morning.

Also, some people against AKC advancement say that AKC will thrust their breed into the public eye and then people will start buying them up to breed and make money and there will be huge issues with rescue dogs.

This is not true.

AKC recognition has not made the Sussex Spaniel, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Glen of Imaal Terrier or the Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen a fad breed where people buy them up in droves.
These are AKC recognized breeds.... and I bet until you read this, some of you had no idea these breeds were even full AKC registered!

Simply, what makes people buy dogs up in droves and makes them an issue of rescue and overbreeding is when they are featured in movies.

Look at 101 Dalmations. Dal's were not popular until the movie, and then once they were seen on the silver screen there was a huge problem.
Dal's have been an AKC breeed for years. It wasn't AKC who screwed them up, it was the movie industry.

Take a look at American Bulldogs. It wasn't until the movie Homeward Bound, and then suddenly you see AB's everywhere. A breed once rare that was thrust into the eyes of a nation by a movie was exploited by THE MOVIE INDUSTRY.
Believe it or not, most of the lifestyles of people today are directly influenced by TV and movies.

If you want to be mad at someone for problematic issues in the advancement of a breed, be mad at the people who sell out the breed by allowing their dogs to be featured in movies and on TV, as TV promotes more interest and more problems in a breed than anything.

Ask the Jack Russell Club of America.... one of the biggest reasons for rescue dogs they see is due to people buying JR pups because they think Wishbone and Eddie on Frazier are so cute, but once they get the dog and realize they are high energy, that they bark alot and can be destructive... off to the pound or rescue they go.

It's not AKC that ruins a breed.
It's stupid people who ruin a breed.
And until you can control stupid people, there's nothing you can do.
Good breeders can keep their noses to the grindstone & breed for correct breed type, and hope their efforts are larger and have more impact on the breed than the stupid people's efforts.

AKC can truly HELP a breed by making pedigrees verifiable and making breeders rise to a level they may not have done otherwise of their own accord.

It also brings a uniform breed standard, and creates a more unified breed in looks, temperament and health.
And, AKC also promotes OFA testing, helping to better the health of the breed.

I am all for AKC. I used to be against it in my other breed, the Dogue de Bordeaux, back 10 yrs ago. I used to be one of the screamers who touted the phrases above. But I have seen first hand how AKC has HELPED the Dogue de Bordeaux breed, so I am now an advocate for it. I feel it would help better the BB breed too.

Once a breed is in AKC's system, that's it.. that is the future, like it or not. At some point, there will be enough people to support it, and a breed club will step up who will seek parent club status, and it WILL happen.
You just have to make a choice whether you will or will not be on that boat when it sails.
And once it sails, if you don't have AKC papers on your dogs, where does that leave you and your line?

How many people will buy a NON AKC dog once the breed is AKC?
Not many.

I don't say this to inflame anyone. I say it because it's true.
I see it in the Dogue de Bordeaux breed RIGHT NOW. People who have fought it for years are now SCRAMBLING to get their dogs AKC-FSS registered before AKC closes the doors for open registration on the breed in June 2008.

The Dogue de Bordeaux is receiving full AKC recognition on July 1, 2008.

10 yrs ago most everyone in the DDB breed was against AKC - including me. But more and more people saw that the attitude of people were changing, and the younger people entering the breed wanted AKC, and so it was a slow changing over of attitude over 10 yrs... but it DID happen.

Things change and breeds progress, and forward progression often means AKC.
Look at everything AKC offers.. conformation, agility, obedience, tracking and rescue dog work, CGC and much more.

The bottom line is that HOW any breed progresses is all totally up to the breeders - not AKC.

Michelle

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