Looking After Pets

To the average person who loves dogs, the rules and regulations of some national dog registry associations like the American Kennel Club (AKC) can seem unusual, to say the least. You would reasonably expect that a puppy registered by the AKC would be a healthy, high quality purebred, yet this isn’t always so. You can only be certain of getting a puppy with a recognized pedigree. The health of the puppy’s genetic line, and the integrity of the breeder’s establishment, are not monitored by them. This can shock a lot of dog owners who would certainly assume that a registry like the American Kennel Club would provide such basic regulatory care. And it demonstrates why some breed clubs, such as those for the Australian kelpie dog breed, have decided not to implement the requirements for AKC registration. This means they’re not eligible for recognition by the American Kennel Club as a separate breed, and these dogs are not allowed to compete in the many American Kennel Club official dog shows. What is does mean, is that a breed’s health and working dog qualities are protected.

What the AKC wanted breeders of the Australian kelpie to do was effectively limit the natural genetic variation of their dogs. Pedigree dogs seem to be bred from an ever decreasing gene pool. And this is particularly true for those most concerned with champion lines. The net effect is that a lot of these dogs can no longer do the things for which they were once well known, such as hunt. It has also resulted in a lot of genetic health issues, as a result of too much inbreeding to keep the lines ‘pure’. Dogs are mated back to their grandparents and parents, all because it creates dogs that help win shows. The University of Wisconsin:

“First, the AKC defines quality in a dog primarily on the basis of appearance, paying scant heed to such other canine characteristics as health, temperament, and habits of work. Over the years this policy has led to destructive forms of inbreeding that have created dogs capable only of conforming to human standards of beauty. Many can no longer perform their traditional tasks–herding, tracking, hunting–while more than a few cannot live outside a human-controlled environment.” (Source)

Of course, this isn’t the only reason why a breed isn’t listed by the AKC. Some of the smaller breeds are not recognized as they are smaller versions of larger dogs, and the AKC doesn’t recognize the distinction. This is the case with dogs like the small German spitz and the toy Manchester terrier.

Ultimately, unless you plan to show your dog, registration by the AKC is not as important as buying a good quality dog from a breeder who breeds healthy dogs that still retain the abilities for which the breed was once (or still is), renown. Breeders who breed mostly to achieve a certain look are more likely to follow breeding practices that don’t support a dog’s wellbeing. And it could result in dogs that have personalities that might prove difficult to live with. Whilst this might not be true across the board, for all breeders, in the long term, sustained inbreeding can only create problems for a breed.