Is AKC Killing The GSD - Page 5

Biltzen-

Yes, you should blame the breeder for doing poor breeding but if they have AKC papers they can breed. AKC will give nearly any dog papers. It is to bad we have uneducated people breeding with-out knowing the GSD. Yet if they did not have papers they would be less inclined to breed, so that is a point that the AKC is killing the breed.  

Americians think- (AKC) Papers = Money

To address a thread earlier in the post about American Lines not going oversea's. I think that answers it self as you see dogs of no quality breed in the states. Not saying there are are no good breeders in the states just very few.    

TS, many puppymillers are selling dogs without AKC registration, they are using other registries. The general public doesn't know the difference or care if their new dog is AKC, UKC, ADR, whatever. No one needs AKC papers to breed dogs.  In fact the Amish millers around here don't even use AKC anymore since they don't want to be subjected to keeping paperwork trails or an accurate record of which dogs sired which litters. Do you think there are no puppy millers  breeding imported dogs? Pink papers do not quarantee quality dogs any more that AKC papers do.

How would you propose an organization like AKC should decide which of our dogs should be bred, which not? Titles? Breed surveys? What is appropriate for each of the hundreds of breeds registered by the AKC. How would you select breed wardens for all these breeds? Who would make the rules and enforce them? How would the wardens and judges get licensed? You just can't expect a registry that addresses so many breeds to operate like the SV. Some I know don't get all excited about the way some of the SV dogs get their titles and breed surveys either. Right here on this board there are photos of coats that are listed as KKL1 and V rated in Germany. Their owners have neglected to also say that these are not SV titles, the coats there have their own registry. Is that honest?

So what if the American dogs don't go overseas, what does that prove. How many here export dogs they breed to Germany? Even the big players don't sell many dogs to Germanys, do they? The Germans have their own, they don't want yours or anyone else's. The deal is - we buy their dogs, they don't buy ours.

We have got to get over this "My dogs are better than you dogs" mentality and see the big picture. Stop blaming AKC and the American breeders for everything that's wrong in the breed today. I guess it might make some feel better to blame the ugly Americans and AKC for all the problems in the breed today, but it is not realistic.

Very true, Sunsilver.

I may not like everything AKC does, not by a long shot.  It would not be that hard to have people to check for disqualing faults. The people would not have to know what a perfect speciman of the breed would look like to check for what is disquaifiing in most breeds teeth, height, testicals, etc. Temperment will show up quickly in a rank or petrified dog when checking teeth and testicals. I would really like to see AKC open up performance trails to altered mix breeds, to give more people something to do with their dogs and enjoy.

But I am replying to remind people that AKC does some really good things too. They have been on the fore front of fighting Peta's anti-dog legislation for years. Check  their legislation page to see how many laws they are fighting across the country at any given time. They devoted lots of time and money to fighting AB1634.  

AKC spends a lot of its money on education promoting responsible dog ownership and proper care. The website has pages on health care, when to see a vet. Their are articles on how to pick the right breed, are you ready to commit to the life of the dog and how to find a reputable breeder, what questions to ask, what to expect from the breeder.

AKC promotes microchipping. Home Again is a nationally known microchip registry is run by AKC. Yea, more money to them but how many more dogs find their way out of the shelters and back home because of it.

The CGC may look like a joke to those of us who really train. Looked at a different way it gets people out working with their dogs. People who take classes ahead of time to take the CGC are taught about health care, vaccinations, feeding, resposible dog ownership while learning how to work with and train their dog.  It also temperment tests, even if lightly. If it gives some people the training bug and they go farther in their training then great.