Columns: No Limits, No Kidding!

DOG SHOWS IN FUTURE AMERICA

A decade ago this dog fancier foresaw a time when average folk could no longer attend dog shows because AKC had TV rights, big bucks and total control.

February 2017

Previously published October 2006

Vickie Haywood, Dog Sports Editor

Are we going to roll over for AKC economics like offering the mass market producers (puppy mills) grace periods and discounts on registrations.  And making a contract with Petland pet shops. This is just the beginning of a future with AKC I cannot fathom.

I'm seeing a future where you can order your pup directly through AKC just like the old Sears Roebuck catalogue.  The contract with Petland would have been a big step in that direction and I do not see them giving up on that so easily.  AKC is going to continue to make decisions like this but now there's TheDogPress so they will find better ways of hiding it from the general fancy and delegates.

In Canada, ALL pups born must be permanently identified prior to dispersal. If they are registered, they must have a tattoo at the very least, and each year have a designated letter so that at a glance you know what year a dog was born. They are pushing microchips. You can pay a fee and can be a member of the CKC, with voting privileges.

The UK has a similar scheme. You pay a fee and are a voting member. You can also become an Accredited Breeder by paying a fee and following some simple rules. The Kennel Club Of England is also non-profit and their website, while maybe not as extensive, is certainly much easier to navigate than is AKC's website.  Perhaps that is the intent of the AKC. To make it harder to ferret out the info you seek and make it easy to find the things that make money.

I am watching the entries at the dogs shows, attendance is down, this portends a lot of things in my eyes.  Gas prices, hotel fees, entry fee prices all affect the entry, and entry numbers are falling nationwide.

This affects the whole scheme of things in the dog world.  AKC doesn't get as many recording fees, Clubs loose money while all the time, paying higher fees to rent the facilities and higher prices for judge's fees and travel. And it seems that we have fewer judges to pick from. (Only 20 or so all-rounders)

I wonder why it is that the older judges are retiring and newer judges are not stepping up to take their place? Could it possibly be that long time breeders don't want to take part in the direction AKC is heading?

Isn't it interesting that so many of the old timers aren't speaking out? Why is that? Could it be the $$$$ that go in their pockets each weekend for their judging assignments? Should AKC put a CAP on judging fees or limit what a judge can charge over and above expenses? Shouldn't the Clubs refuse to pay the huge amounts some judges want to charge for their services? What happened to the judges who charged expenses only?  It was their way of giving back to the sport. Now-a-days it is hard to find a provisional who will judge for expenses only!  That is hurting my dog show club.  We are struggling to survive.

Some will say.. No AKC, No Dog Show, but I beg to differ. There are a few other games in town and it is relatively easy to get sanctioning for some of the other games!!!

IF more of us would just ask the other governing bodies, we could put the hurt on AKC.  It is simple really. DON'T ENTER. Don't play their game their way. The current AKC doesn't want to play fair. They don't want to back up what the American Kennel Club's founding fathers intended, they don't want to back up their own paper work, don't want to back up the stud book. Alrighty then...

What do you think would happen if we BOYCOTTED all AKC events for 30 days?????  What if we didn't enter but went to some local shows and very politely, stood outside with signs that read: AKC Must Listen to the FANCY!!!  What if we had that march I talked about a while back.  That seems to be what protestors are doing today.  What if a couple of thousand of us took our ribbons and deposited them at AKC's doors right on Madison Avenue in New York City?  Would they listen?

I'll bet the press and the public would relish an event like that.  What a "dog show" that would be!

Can you see dog shows of the future with PETLAND puppies as competitors?  Would the judges withhold for lack of merit?  Probably not.  Makes you wonder who's payroll they are on.  There is one good thing about all this.  IN AMERICA ARE WE FREE to speak out, have quiet peaceful protest Rallies and choose to REGISTER AND COMPETE WITH OUR DOGS SOMEWHERE ELSE!

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