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AKC Treeing The UKC Coonhound Breeds

Dateline Dec 15, 2004   Following little if any public discussion, a startling initiative was finalized at the AKC December 2004 Board Meeting.  The Board officially

 “adopted initiatives to increase AKC’s involvement with Coonhound events.”  Effective only 16 days after the meeting.  Record time.

 This seems to confirm a rumor among UKC enthusiasts that breeds like the Redbone, Plott, Treeing Walker, and Blue Tick are getting AKC Championship certificates!  Longtime TDP Member Stella Carters asks “Why? …is there is anything AKC hasn’t thought of to make more money?  … AKC could make big bucks by registering Labradoodles and Pekeapoos!  It would hurt all those other registries that have sprung up everywhere.”

 Coonhounds may not be Dobermans or Dalmatians but they were dividing into specific breeds long before Louis Doberman thought about crossing a sharp black dog with a greyhound bitch and Disney had yet to hear of spotted dogs.  Coonhounds were busy putting food on the table and tracking down varmints that threatened the farmer’s stock.  Coonhounds were lifting man’s soul with their melodious chorus long before many of today’s “breeds” ever landed on American soil.  And in their off time, they played with the kids, patiently accepted the barn cats, and announced the arrival of company coming down the lane.

 No wonder AKC “adopted a number of initiatives designed to increase AKC's involvement with Coonhound events.”  Whereas local kennel clubs profit from conformation events, it looks as though the AKC plans to be involved with the myriad of events that cater to coonhounds.  Word has it that AKC quietly hired one of the head honchos in the coonhound world away from UKC!

 If anyone doubts that AKC wants coonhounds in a big way, consider this.  AKC will waive FSS registration fees for all Coonhounds with a Professional Kennel Club (PKC) or United Kennel Club (UKC) pedigree!  That’s right.  Most breeds registered with the Kennel Club England or other well respected registries had to do it the hard way, plowing their way through years and years in Miscellaneous Class, or paying what used to be called Enrollment Fees. 

 Editor’s Note: After careful pre-clearance, we imported two Akita bitches from England.  I sent in the proper paperwork but the TKC Export Pedigree revealed a JKC sire.  The promised registration was denied!  After some old fashioned hell-raising, AKC “reconsidered” and “enrolled” them “for breeding purposes only.”  This may have been the impetus for the yet-to-be-born FSS registry, a creative way to sidestep long standing policy – and speed up the money machine.

 Over two decades later, how different it is!  The coonhound breeds represent a pile of money.  AKC accepts this particular group of UKC pedigrees even though it refuses to accept UKC breeds which it already registers!  Example: UKC Poodle pedigrees are not acceptable to AKC and UKC Poodles can not be shown at AKC shows.  Let me say this again because it is so simple it sounds confusing.  AKC refuses to accept Doberman, Dane, Pom, etc. papers/pedigrees from UKC, even with generations of DNA certification, but is suddenly willing to accept pedigrees of breeds it has never recognized.

 Which also calls the question of why AKC has been so snobbish about UKC pedigrees.  One example should suffice since this reporter is not privy to a great deal of UKC/AKC history.  For those that didn’t know or don’t remember, a very prominent judge offered AKC a DNA testing program “all tied up in a red ribbon” and was refused.  The United Kennel Club implemented DNA testing and litter validation while AKC was still steadfastly in the dark ages.   Years would pass before AKC finally implemented DNA testing, using the same lab that UKC used. 

I knew you would ask.  What is PKC?  We are told it is a small coonhound outfit that holds Money Hunts wherein your entry fee is your bet – the winners divide the proceeds.  Sort of like a sweepstakes.  Which when you put a light on it, almost appears to be a form of legalized gambling.  Oh well.  We have also learned that the man heading up the AKC effort to tree all the coonhounds is the same guy that started the money hunts at AKC.  Here’s a hundred bucks that says AKC will try this gambling game too.  Any takers? 

 But there’s more.  To sweeten the deal, “FSS registration fees will be waived between January 1st and December 31st 2005.”

 According to Stella “that is not how a tax exempt educational foundation should operate.  It is a classic example of unfair trade practices.  Like, what would happen if Wal-Mart gave everything in their store away for free for a year in order to put Kmart out of business?”

 An interesting point.  AKC is going to spend upwards of a half million dollars on this venture in just the first year.  There will be new salaries for the new department, in addition to the two coonhound experts hired from UKC and PKC.  And then of course there’s travel to promote and appear at the hunts, oh, and some kind of promotional hat to the first hundred or so to sign up.  Clever idea.  How will all that sit with breed and kennel clubs that are already recognized by AKC and get nothing for their years of loyalty?  This is big business.  60 million dollars a year isn’t Wal-Mart but it’s not bad for a non-profit sport.

 There is still more.  Kennel Clubs may not be thrilled that PKC and UKC Coonhound events will be added to the list of non-AKC breed specific events that AKC clubs are permitted to hold effective January 1st, 2005.   “Effective April 1st, 2005 the license fee for all Coonhound events will be $25 and there will be a $3 recording fee per entry.”  Where will clubs that can’t find enough land to hold conformation and obedience shows find enough land for coonhunts?

 Still wooing the coonhound folks, the Board states “If requested by the board of the AKC Plott Parent Club, AKC will open the Plott stud book for dogs with acceptable PKC or UKC pedigree for two years.”

 TheDogPress sees this as not just another routine action of the Board even though it will be quietly and gently implemented as a non-issue.  It probably isn’t important to more than a handful of people like Stella, the UKC coonhound fancy, and people who are amazed to witness history in the making. 

 If however, you are curious about this; if you are out there working hard to get your breed “recognized” (and paying full fees); if you remember how AKC “stole” breeds like the Australian Shepherd, let us know and we’ll follow up on this story for you.

AKC Organizes shipments to military dogs in iraq

AKC organized a relief effort to aid the working canines after receiving word from a military veterinary technician that “rest and relaxation” supplies were greatly needed.  The dogs get plenty of care, but like our troops without air conditioners, they really appreciated toys and treats to alleviate stress and anxiety. 

 Thirty boxes – collected from Hartz Mountain, Iams, and Cherrybrook went to kennels in two U.S. Army units. Hats Off to AKC and it's generous partners for providing pull toys, rawhide chews, rubber chew toys, AKC-licensed treats (??) and glow-in-the-dark Frisbees, blankets, cool-down towels and water dishes.

Sgt. (P) Herman Haynes, USA. Sgt. Haynes and seven year-old, German Shepherd, “Frenke,” were honored by the AKC in May and presented with the first DOGNY Heroic Military Working Dog Award for their exceptional service in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“As always, we appreciate the generosity and continued support of our friends at Hartz, Nylabone, Iams and Cherrybrook, and we thank them for their assistance with this coordinated effort,” added AKC President Dennis Sprung.

JEAN HETHERINGTON RETIRES AFTER 8 YEARS SERVICE

Jean Hetherington retires January 2005.  Mari-Beth O’Neill will take on the title of Assistant Vice President (AVP) of Special Services.  As good a dog person as has ever worked at Raleigh's offices, Jean will be missed but we know how much her passion for Bulldogs and judging means to her and Bob. 

Said Lyons, “While Jean will be missed, Mari-Beth is highly qualified to take over the important responsibilities of this position.”  Mari-Beth will retain many of her current responsibilities, including overseeing the National Junior Organization, the Summer Intern Program, Breed Standards and Judges Education.  One has to wonder how Mari-Beth handles so much with so much flair and ease but she does! 

The Special Services department is one of the best services offered by AKC.  It fields questions and requests from AKC Board members, Delegates, club officers, judges, and others actively involved in the sport. It also manages the Indefinite Listing Privilege program, the Foundation Stock Service, Registered Kennel Names, impure breeding cases and the Breeder Referral Program. 

In other words, as did Jean, Mari-Beth do it all except set policy and rules.  Mari-Beth is second-generation, knows what's what and how to keep it that way.  She will assume her new role January 3, 2005.  She officially joined the AKC in 1990 and is a former exhibitor, breeder, exhibitor, judge and delegate. 

revamped AKC website simplifies navigation

Newly designed and reorganized for easier navigation and maintenance, it boasts 1.4 million unique users /visitors each month, and AKC bills it as "one of the most comprehensive one-stop shops for all things dog, anywhere on the Internet." The primary navigation bar includes seven categories – Breeds, Events, Breeders, Dog Owners, Future Dog Owners, Clubs and Kids/Juniors. The information and services found in each of these sections is specifically tailored to a particular audience.

Charley Kneifel, VP and Chief Information Officer says “We continue to add new information daily and develop new online services in order to better serve all of our key audiences – from pet owners to dog fanciers. With so many pages of information, we undertook this considerable reorganization so that visitors could find exactly what they were looking for more quickly and efficiently.”  It is indeed a vast improvement over previous content and navigation.  A bit busy and one has to study it to find the right links which may account for the previously quoted "18 minutes average per visit" but then there is a lot there.  The apparent ease of online registrations makes one wonder who that is for....  Perhaps it is for "us" but when noting subtle changes in wording, it does call a pertinent question and remind us that AKC has openly and aggressively gone after the commercial breeders.  That means providing services that were previously either not thought about or not deemed important enough for show fanciers.

The homepage is divided into four main sections: World of AKC, which focuses on key initiatives, AKC News, which includes twenty of the most recent news items; Features of the AKC, which highlights important programs, and Inside the AKC, which features rotating links to audience-specific information.

 There is a noticeably "more consistent, contemporary look and feel."  We are told that all breed images throughout the site are “clickable” and will take visitors directly to the main page for that breed but like all websites, the ideal isn't always what the user gets. The site also features Mondosoft, which is touted as a "new, more powerful search engine, which allows information-seekers to locate even more targeted, relevant information."  I tried it and on three tries, failed to get anything related to my key words.  Maybe they had the same problem we had with our search engine, who knows?  Suffice to say, it does not work and with so much to be accessed, it is badly needed.

 Again, we are told there is a tool "to help visitors get better acquainted with the new design, a detailed users guide is provided at the top of the “News” section on the AKC homepage.  I searched but could not find a "News" section and nothing in the Press Room that seemed to be what the link promised.