|
AKC HISTORY AND
FUTURE
The American
Kennel Club was founded in 1884 by a small group of wealthy men who
conceived a "club of clubs" to formalize budding competitions.
It was a platform from which to compare and improve one's breeding
stock. That meant keeping track of who produced what and that
ultimately led to formation of a registry.
Prior to WW
II, the sport was still defined by the comfortable rich with time on
their hands but as Americans prospered, more families kept dogs as
pets rather than for utilitarian reasons. By the fifties, AKC
shows had become a gathering ground where common folk could
socialize and show off their pets. Dogs were still judged more
on using ability but gradually, esthetic beauty became paramount.
This came as a result of women moving from the whelping room into
the show ring. As women's rights became fashionable, they were
no longer content with nurturing pups and then turning them over to
the men to exhibit. Women began to take dogs into competition
and all the way to top honors. Stylized grooming techniques
and showmanship caught on. Dog Shows had not only arrived,
they became a family sport.
During the
seventies, Americans became more urbanized, worked shorted hours,
and realized more disposable income. Gone were the days
of 300-dog entries where an owner handled dog could win the Group.
A bale of hay in a NC tobacco barn turned into a throne when Lina
Basquett sat down beside me. Gesturing with her long
cigarette, she said "Look at them BJ! There's the OE and
Woody, Jimmy and the Shepherd, Carlos and Dino! What are they
doing here in this God-forsaken place?" I risked the
observation that they were here for the same reason she was here.
She flared her nostrils and replied, "But dear, I will
win the Group so they
are just wasting their time!" We stayed to cheer her on to
BIS, which she also won, defeating all of four hundred dogs.
By the
eighties, most breeds needed professional handlers. Entries
were averaging over a thousand dogs. "Politics" had always
existed but what had once been human nature became a way of doing
business and could be embarrassingly flagrant. It was hard to
sell a show puppy and let the buyer think they do it themselves.
Honest breeders told them to get a handler and after a decade of
education and networking, they could possibly win as owner-handlers.
Whereas in the past most exhibitors were breeders, an increasing
number of buyers only wanted to show. The dog show was a
social event, the dog itself more of an accessory than a hobby of
the heart.
The United
Kennel Club (UKC) was unchallenged in hunt and field events and AKC
was the king of Conformation. Peripheral registries had yet to
be defined, much less considered alternatives. Rare breeds
were formalized by organizations such as the American Rare Breeds
Association. Roadside signs proclaiming "AKC Puppies For Sale"
had yet to reek of commercialism. Puppy mills were only
gestating, about to be born as Vietnam vets received generous
federal funding and were taught that raising dogs could be a viable
business. Dog farming also caught the attention of farmers
strangled by agri-business monopolies. Suddenly, dogs and
everything connected with dogs became a bountiful money crop.
Enter the
Nineties. Records computerization by the end of the eighties
came just in time for an explosion of shows and registrations.
AKC began to see possibilities of expansion, not-for-profit not
withstanding... What was once free or considered part of a
show or AKC service was now for sale. Everything from parking
spaces to points verification now came with a price tag.
Everything
seemed to speed up as the Millennium came and went. AKC judge
and commentator Sari Teitjen hit the nail on the head in her
February 2004 Dog News column when she enumerated three problems
facing AKC's continued success. "AKC support of and commercial
alliances with the commercial pet industry... has led to an erosion
in confidence..." and a "declining interest in AKC registration..."
Wayne Cavanaugh, former AKC Communications VP, was also critical of
AKC's failure to define its positions and the value of registrations
as its primary product.
Indeed, AKC
has a long-standing obligation to the dog owner of the new
millennium. Whether for exhibition, breeding, or simply for
companionship, the dog must be a WELLbred dog.
An AKC certificate must mean it will look and act like the chosen
breed because it is that breed. It will be healthy
because it was created by someone who understands genetics and would
never want the beloved parents to be sick or die prematurely.
The papers must signify quality created by an individual who
loves dogs. The dog of this century must not become a crop - a
product hawked by an AKC that may have forgotten its avowed Mission.
The dog must not be merely an accessory to glamour or a means to
provide ancillary income or ego gratification.
No American
should forfeit a God-given right. "A boy and his dog"
is a part of American history. It is so, not because of AKC or
any other registry. It was a precious part of childhood to
city kids and farm boys alike, and whether purebred or stray, it was
a DOG not a product. The family pet was not something
commissioners and tax collectors viewed as revenue. It was not
a legislative target for humaniacs. The dog was your best
friend and should remain so until there is no more life on earth.
Our parents
took for granted what we now must fight to preserve. Some of
us entered professions which sustain a lifelong love of dogs but
unless we mass produce or condone mass marketing, we should choose
another vocation! We can not profess to love dogs and what
they mean to us - and tolerate what they mean to others, even the American Kennel Club. Would you sell out your best
friend for a business deal? Well? Would you betray your
heritage for another "endorsement" fee? Would you?
It's Election
time. How will your Delegate vote? Do you have a
commitment from the candidates to put the American Kennel Club's 1884 Mission first, before profit,
production - and PAWS?
Are we too
little too late?
- Barbara "BJ" Andrews
reprint permission
SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE March 2005
Copyright © 2008 TheDogPress.com - Reprint rights hereby granted upon the condition that
a link to the reprinted page is furnished to
Editor@TheDogPress.com upon
publication. Under penalty of law, except for brief quotations
with source provided, no portions thereof may be stored or reprinted in
any form, electronic or otherwise, without prior express written consent
of TheDogPress.com
comments or news
to contact@thedogpress.com
|
