Why is AKC recognition a GOOD thing for rare breeds? Long answers welcome.?

Question

I am involved w/a rare breed club who has an outspoken, deep voiced, opinionated, know it all gal on board who talks down to the lowly members about how bad AKC recognition is. I (and others who have been involved in AKC for over 15 yrs) do not think so but the general membership is a motly batch of pipsqueak novices who agree with every opinion this gal dishes out, even if it is bulloney. Help, oh, Yahoo Answer community!

Answer 1

I think her problem with the AKC is pretty complex.

Partly, I am guessing that it makes her feel better about herself to have a dog that few other people do, and she really likes the attention that she gets from being one of the few people with her breed.

Partly, I agree that the AKC membership COULD be bad for the breed, but the AKC doesn't ruin breeds...it's because AKC recognition could mean more attention for the breed, and mean more attention for greedy, irresponsible breeders to ruin the breed's integrity.

There's nothing wrong with AKC recognition...it's just that some rare breed groups would just as soon keep the breed of dogs they love out of the hands of people who see them as ATM machines.

Answer 2

It is not AKC per se that is the "problem", it's the breeders.

As far as I'm concerned, recognition was the saving of the Shar Pei breed. Until then they were being mass produced by BYBs and puppymillers, drawn by the lure of high prices for this (at the time) "rare" breed. The breed was riddled with health problems, temperament problems, lack of type and structural defects. Once the breed was recognized I noticed dramatic improvement on all counts. The breed still has it's issues, but it's a far cry from where it was 20 years ago.

I believe that it is not "showing" or "recognition" that harms a breed, it's when the majority of breeders in a breed lose their way and forget about those traits that made their breed the ideal working dog for it's job. This seems to happen in the more popular breeds, where a lot of people jump into breeding and then jump out again, never really learning the in-depth aspects of their breed.

I don't know about other breeds, but the Basset Hound Club of America puts a lot of emphasis on understanding how form follows function, how each part of the Basset relates to the job it is supposed to do. Although we sometimes see extremes and fads, for the most part the breeders are striving to produce a sound, functional animal.

On the other hand, there are some breeds that are so caught up in the "show" aspect that they are completely forgetting their breed's purpose, and even their standard. For example, the Cocker Spaniel standard states:

"The ears, chest, abdomen and legs are well feathered, but not so excessively as to hide the Cocker Spaniel's true lines and movement or affect his appearance and function as a moderately coated sporting dog. The texture is most important. The coat is silky, flat or slightly wavy and of a texture which permits easy care. Excessive coat or curly or cottony textured coat shall be severely penalized."

Now, anyone who has seen show cockers knows that this is NOT being adhered to.

In short, whether AKC recognition and showing are good or bad for a breed in the long run is not in the hands of the AKC, it's in the hands of the breeders and the parent club.

Answer 3

You didn't say what rare breed club you are involved with and that can make a big difference on if AKC recognition would be a good or a bad thing. The biggest problem with AKC is they focus mainly on conformation according to a written breed standard, and if your breed is a working or hunting breed, the instincts that make your breed what it is may go by the wayside. Border Collies and Australian Shepherds are two breeds that many of the breed enthusiasts feel might have been better of if they did not become an AKC registered breed.

Answer 4

Your breed club is indeed fortunate to have you as a member! People who are willing to do the research and learn the facts are as rare as your dogs! Good for you!

I think that Ms. Mega-Opinion is concerned about your rare breed becoming popular, and overbred. While this has happened in the past, it certainly doesn't happen to every breed. For example, I thought that the Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen was going to be the next popular breed once it was recognized. Didn't happen -- I was wrong!

Also, for breeds that are primarily concerned with working performance, there is some concern that recognition by the AKC will lead to an emphasis on appearance over performance. This is one reason why the Border Collie fanciers were conflicted about full recognition. They wanted to be in the Miscellaneous class so that they could show in Obedience. But showing in Conformation was the last thing on most Border Collie fanciers' minds. I heard lots of talk about AKC recognition "ruining" the breed"

These are the two chief arguments I've heard against AKC recognition.

By the way, I have to disagree with al l about health standards. The AKC registers tons of puppy-mill puppies, and we all know about the health problems of these unfortunate little guys. In addition, most AKC breed standards don't have physical screening tests in them -- for example, Dobermans don't have to be screened for Von Willebrand's Disease, a form of hemophilia which is commonly carried by Dobermans.

I wish that breed standards included specific screening instruments for physical health and temperament, but they don't. As long as the parents were registered with the AKC, the pups will be able to be registered, too. (That is, unless one or both of the parents had Limited Registration papers.)

How to deal with Ms Mega-Opinion's views? I suggest that you contact some of the breed clubs for rare breeds that have been accepted by the AKC, and ask them whether they feel that this has helped or harmed their breed. Your informal survey should carry some weight when presented to your group members.

Then you'll be dealing with facts, not foghorn opinions!

Answer 5

Seems like you're having trouble getting a direct answer to your question.

Some bonuses I can think of:

1. Having a very good record-keeping organization in charge of of the stud book, titles, DNA profiling, etc. -- Seems like it would put your breed's heritage and history in better hands than those of the rotating volunteer secretary for the parent club, who might accidentally lose half your records in a move, or when their house is hit by a tornado.

2. Being able to compete in conformation, agility, and obedience with your breed.

3. Giving your parent club a voice with the AKC, which has a bit more legislative clout than individual clubs when it comes to BSL and Pet Ownership/Spay/Neuter laws countrywide. They are dedicated to the purebred dog, and listen to their membership. If these laws are of concern to your club members, this could be a large bonus.

4. More exposure has its downside, but it can also open up your breed to dedicated dog people who are truly interested in developing the breed, here, and expanding your gene pool...how is that a bad thing?

These are all that occur to me right now (it's bed time!) -- I'll star the question and hopefully you'll get some more ideas by morning. :)

Remember that breeds are only "ruined" by AKC competition if the breeders allow it to happen.

ADD: Wow -- for the folks who don't understand what conformation and the breed Standard have to do with breeding better dogs and functional ability...we need to have a talk. It's so easy it vilify the AKC conformation ring and the breed Standard when you don't really understand why and how breed Standards are written, isn't it?

*Cave Canem*, please don't include my breed among those "destroyed" by the show ring. I don't see that to be the case...in fact, the winner of the National Specialty this year was a working sled dog with the title to prove it, and I have 4 AKC champions running on my 6 dog team right now.

Yes, yes, AKC dog shows are evil and destroy the functional ability of a breed -- like I said, it's the BREEDERS who allow that to happen.

I really am going to bed, now.

Answer 6

She apparently needs to be replaced with someone that knows what they are talking about...have you investigated the AKC???maybe you should, they have done more to recognize rare breeds all over the world, they inducted 3 this year...does that sound like they aren't trying..its a great thing, the AKC recognition for dogs, this maintains the standard for the breeds, so people just dint breed what they want and sell them and say they are standard, if every dog born was standard, they we would have a heck of time showing them all at one dog show huh????????????maintaining the standard of each and every breed is what AKC does, and if she is ignorant to that, just dint listen to her...and I would find a different club where you feel your opinion matters and not to just a few in the club........I have been directly involved with AKC for 14 yrs now, as a breeder of Miniature Schnauzers, and believe me, they know what they are doing.....

Answer 7

It appears she has something that she personally does not like about akc. I have nothing against them - but the thing is - many breeders can be akc registered but the puppies they produce are not exactly akc quality - this I do not like - just to have akc registered pups will increase the price of your litter but akc does not exacly check on the quality of the dogs being bred. but then again - which registration does? it all depends on a responsible breeder. I have had akc dogs - but not all are within akc standard - akc recognition should be given to the dogs with akc standard. Other than that I don't see anything wrong.

Answer 8

Basically the AKC sets guidelines to encourage healthy breeding and to prevent dogs with poor health problems from being bred. AKC recognition for the breed would set a healthy set of standards that breeders of that breed would have to follow in order to produce healthy pups. So many people think the AKC is about how a dog looks but it's not it's about good and respsonible breeding and I don't think any responsbile dog owner would say that's a bad thing.

Answer 9

Show breeders and backyard breeders ruin breeds, not necessarily "just" the AKC. Whenever breeds are bred for looks over working ability, health, and temperament, the breed starts to go downhill. I don't mind the AKC for venues like agility and rally, but showing dogs is pointless and detrimental to all except perhaps the toy and small non-working terriers. Even if I was interested in a toy breed or small terrier, I'd still want to see CGCs and TTs and agility titles or therapy dog titles on the dogs. The German shepherd, Doberman, Siberian husky, Labrador retriever, Great Dane, and many other working breeds are subject to such fads in the judging ring that the dogs that are actually used in working venues like Schutzhund, ring sport, field trials, etc are usually much different in both looks and temperament than the show lines. Showing dogs is a vain hobby at best and detrimental at worst. As Max von Stephanitz (creator of the German shepherd) said, beauty is what serves a USEFUL PURPOSE.