Just got into a disagreement with an AKC representative about the AKC.

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Just got into a disagreement with an AKC representative about the AKC. I admitted I didn't really care for the organization because they encourage breeders to breed for a look and not for the ability the breed was designed to perform.

She disagreed.

Comments

Kimberly Brink-Castleberry said…
Yup, most breed standards (dog or otherwise) are a appearance standard not a performance standard sadly.
September 18, 2011 at 11:57 AM
Walter Hawn said…
Which is why so many breeds are prone to hip dysplasia and other ills. The debate and unhappiness with standards goes 'way back. Check Albert Payson Terhune's excoriations of the flat, narrow nose standard for collies in the early 1900s.
September 18, 2011 at 12:01 PM
Marion Ramirez said…
I am from Belize, will be in the US in Nov. for business ( LA , NY and Atlanta) , any good / reputable Dog Breeders that I can contact ? I want to purchase an Akita and a Rottweiler pups for my kids ? Thanks.
September 18, 2011 at 12:14 PM
Yay Happens said…
Jason I totally see your side on this and my own curiosity asks; when an AKC dog is bred according to standard, should not the inherent personalities of the breed be exactly the nature they are expected to exhibit, with a lot of their habits being the result of the breeder's personal influence and socialization training?
September 18, 2011 at 1:37 PM
Jason ON said…
No. The AKC rewards breeders who breed for a physical standard. A look: a tail of x inches, brown eyes vs. blue, 22 inches at the should instead of 20, doesn't mean the dog will be able to perform how the breed was originally intended to perform. For example: if a dog is bred to look like the epitome of what a golden retriever is "supposed" to look like, that doesn't mean the dog will be able to fetch or hunt. And instead of breeding those mental and instinctual capabilities into future generations, they are breeding those capabilities out of the dogs.

But yes, Yay Happens, there is also a level of learning involved, but without those innate skills that were bred into the dogs over centuries there is no foundation to learn from.
September 20, 2011 at 1:33 PM
Yay Happens said…
Oh wow, interesting! I did not realize their standards for show (which in turn would be awarding the breeders a "reputation") was so heavily weighed on the scrutiny of specific physical measurements like that. Much of it sounds too extreme. What you're saying sounds like they are pseudo-GMO dogs! Yowch!

Maybe the future of finding certain species is to find the breeders who participate in the Gun Dog Hunting shows and stuff?! Those instincts are so important! I can't imagine having a retriever that doesn't retrieve or a hound that doesn't track. I can't even wrap my head around that!
September 20, 2011 at 2:00 PM
Jason ON said…
Border collies, for example, have almost two lines now. There is the herding lines and then there is the show lines. The show lines rarely perform well in herding and the herding dogs are not "standard" enough to show. Sure there is some cross over, but it's a small percentage.

I use BCs as the example because they were only recently allowed to join the AKC as a breed because there really is no breed standard for them: breeders were breeding BCs to herd, so they didn't care if BCs were black and white, brown, blue-eyes or amber; they didn't care if the ears were erect for floppy, the fur was long or short, etc. All that mattered was whether they would and could herd.

BCs come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors: http://www.colliecorner.com/01intro.htm but the AKC wants a specific breed standard for them.
September 20, 2011 at 2:05 PM
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