The truth about the AKC: showing good, working bad

[Orville Story]

I never felt as if I were on trial. The friendly debate is over the article. I support Schutzhund very much, I also support the AKC. I see the positives both the sport and the AKC bring to breeding of dogs. I differ from the author's opinion that the AKC is "Evil" because they don't endorse Schutzhund. I wish the AKC did endorse Schutzhund, but that has nothing to do with how the club operates.

The author's explantion and description of the local clubs that send delegates is completely wrong. The AKC is run by Local Clubs. The Local Clubs are made up of average dog fanciers of every walk of life.

The reason AKC does not support Schutzhund is because of the liability of the protection phase of the sport. Even the USRC forbids a picture of a Rottweiler doing bite work in it's magazine. This is a club that promotes Schutzhund. So I understand why the AKC chooses not to sanction Schutzhund events eventhough I disagree with them.

However, I don't think their stance towards the sport calls for the anti AKC propaganda.

[German Vanegas]

Fair enough Orville. However, I am more interested in knowing, what is your personal opinion on these excepts from the article linked in my discussion topic? (NOTE: Please, bear in mind, this article was written in 1990 ):

"... Indeed, since the "German Shepherd" of the American show ring has for all practical purposes become a different breed from European lines and the dogs in the hands of North American working enthusiasts, its supporters are effectively isolated from all other breed enthusiasts. In my view this sad circumstance is to a major extent the result the isolationist tendencies which have always held sway at the AKC..."

"... The Doberman club is almost as strong and independent, and some of the "regional" Rottweiler clubs have upwards of a thousand members and rosters indicating a virtual national scope. Locked out of AKC power and influence, the enthusiasts for these breeds have built their own virtually independent structures..."

"... In many ways, the power of the AKC is incredibly fragile. Until a few years ago you had to have a "license" to be a professional handler, and more than one breeder was harassed for handling dogs out of his own lines. This came apart when one pro, upon having his license suspended, replied by in effect saying "Hell no, not only do I refuse to accept your suspension, I withdraw your right to license handlers. Shall we discuss this in court?" The AKC immediately backed down and gave up the handler licensing system!..."

"... The most recent and flagrant example of the AKC wielding its power in support of its real constituency, the "conformation show elite", is the June 18th notice banning any member club from "sponsoring" Schutzhund and other serious tests for our protective heritage breeds. The wording can easily be interpreted to also prohibit the ATTS temperament test and precludes any club from supporting police service dogs. As we shall see, the real reason for this action was to stop the increasing involvement of the national Doberman club in Schutzhund activities..."

"... The immediate causative factor for the AKC dictate was the Doberman Club's program of issuing Schutzhund titles in conjunction with the German mother club and their membership in the American Working Dog Federation, the umbrella group for the serious protective heritage breed enthusiasts in America. Other AWDF breed organizations are the North American Working Bouvier Association, the United States Rottweiler Club and Schutzhund USA, representing the only really serious German Shepherd fanciers in our country..."

"... The gathering strength of the working contingent made a crisis inevitable. In the past months the American Doberman community has been engaged in a family feud, ostensibly over the involvement of the Doberman Pinscher Club of America in the Schutzhund sport. In reality this dispute has little to do with Schutzhund, dog legislation, AKC policy, the nature of American society or what the politicians are about to inflict upon us. The real issue is the character of the Doberman Pincher. Nobody questions that the breed was created as a police and guard dog. Apparently few would dispute that in America today the vast majority of "Doberman Pinchers" are not suitable for this original working role. In the hands of their would be American guardians the Dobermans have become only "pets" and "show" dogs. The "Doberman establishment" is not only responsible for this metamorphosis, they are for the most part proud of it. Those who attempt to train these "Americanized Dobermans" for their original purposes find them by and large insufficient in aggressiveness, courage and character. In their view the breed has been emasculated, stripped of its working character..."

"... My opinion is that the AKC establishment was much more horrified by the precedent of the members of a national club actually deciding something for themselves, by means of a democratic balloting process, than by the Schutzhund activity itself... "


"... This quarrel in the Doberman world is merely one facet of the larger picture. There is a struggle going on in America, indeed, in the world, to control the fate of our working breeds. Both sides are well entrenched, determined and certain they represent the voice of Western civilization. Neither is inclined to compromise, for the difference is too fundamental, too deep. The leaders of the "American establishment" have spent a lifetime devoted to the emasculation of our protective heritage breeds, and never doubted the righteous of their cause or the certainty that their views will predominate among all right thinking Americans..."

"... The believers in the working heritage are even more dedicated and determined, knowing that should they fail even once there will not be another day to fight, that our heritage, handed down for generations, will have been allowed to flicker out. These people, no matter how small their numbers became through the years, have always believed that they are the rightful heirs of the founders, the keepers of the flame. I believe that they are correct. These are, ultimately, irreconcilable differences..."

"... Another consideration, crass as it may seem, is that to remain as a breeder one must be able to sell his puppies, and increasingly it is necessary to show some credible working potential in order to do so..."

"... The Rottweiler situation is unique in that, in spite of the breed's immense popularity, there is still no AKC recognized Rottweiler parent club. (Somebody must have committed a major indiscretion somewhere along the line!) The strong regional clubs have on the whole had a relatively open attitude toward Schutzhund, and the United States Rottweiler Club openly follows the example of the parent club in the homeland. My perception is that there is relatively little "anti Schutzhund" sentiment among Rottweiler enthusiasts, establishment or otherwise. The reason for this is that, because of the recent growth of breed popularity, most of the people have become involved in the new era where the protective function of the breed is accepted as legitimate..."

"... If current trends persist the result will be the separation of our working breeds into distinct genetic pools, that is, the "working dogs" and the "AKC exhibition dogs." This process is so advanced for the German Shepherd that it seems irreversible. The only possible way to unify the breed would be the virtual extinction of current American show lines..."

"... These working oriented clubs, united through the American Working Dog Federation, are in the process of transforming the protective heritage breeds in America. I believe we will succeed in establishing a genetic pool of strong working stock in each breed and in building the training and competitive infrastructure necessary for a viable long term heritage..."