I actively show in both the old club and the AKC. Yes, it is easier to get a
championship in the AKC and one in the old club will probably mean more to me when I
get it than those I got in the AKC. There are benefits to both venues.
In the old club, the atmosphere is more social than what you find in the AKC.
You get to know breeders/exhibitors from all over the country instead of just mostly
local exhibitors. You also get to know more about Cavaliers in general, which
bloodlines produce what, etc. You see some lovely Cavaliers there, greater numbers
than in the vast majority of AKC shows. I really enjoy the old club shows.
In the AKC, you have the opportunity to learn more about dogs in general, not
just Cavaliers. You learn what makes an outstanding dog, you learn to recognize good
movement (which is very hard to learn). You learn this by not only watching your
breed, but by watching the dogs in the Group competition, and how each judge evaluates
them. Yes, you do a lot of politics, but you also see that in the old club, just
different players. There are good and bad judges in both venues. You can even learn
from the professional handlers, if you get to know some of them, you will find that,
for the most part, they are normal people who are just very good at what they do.
Most of them will even help you if you are open enough to constructive criticism to
listen to them. And if you have a dog that has an emergency, a handler is going to be
your best help before you can get your dog to an emergency vet, because they have such
experience with dogs. Yes, there are some handlers who will play dirty, but there are
some owner-handlers who will do the same thing. There is good and bad in everything.
As far as mandatory testing goes, I bet if it was put to a vote before the entire
voting membership, it wouldn't pass. Not that mandatory testing is a bad thing, but
let's be realistic: no one wants to be told what they can and cannot do. I bet if
mandatory testing were enforced, you would probably see an exodus of quite a few big
time breeders (I am certainly not a big time breeder). Without these big time
breeders, the numbers shown at the old club would dwindle, and I would bet that the
quality of the dogs would also ultimately suffer. If these breeders left, a large
part of our gene pool would leave with them, and this certainly would not be good for
the breed. A small gene pool is never a good thing, the Basenjis had a similar
problem and had to import dogs from Africa to correct it(and I seriously doubt that
the tribes in Africa were as strict in breeding registries as the AKC was at that
time, it was done to save the breed)
I also agree that this is an issue that breeders should have the say-so in. We
are the ones who must choose the best mate for our dogs. If I want to breed to that
heart-clear 10 year old AKC only dog with a very good pedigree, I should be able to
make that choice. All other registries in the world recognize the AKC Cavalier
registry; in fact, I think if you did take a CKCSC-only dog to the UK, it couldn't be
registered there (I may be wrong on this, but I'm fairly certain I read it somewhere).
If a potential pet owner is concerned about buying a puppy that has an AKC-only
parent, don't buy that puppy.
I am not a member of the AKC parent club, but am a member and a board member of
the local all-breed AKC kennel club. I am also an old club member. I don't feel I am
compromising my ethics to belong and actively participate in both clubs. I get great
pleasure from both. When I have a litter of puppies to evaluate, it helps to get the
input of both Cavalier breeders AND those that have other breeds. Sometimes we
Cavalier breeders get blindsided by a particular feature on a puppy, such as a
breathtaking head, and seem to forget that the lovely head needs four well-built legs
to cart it around. And as far as the AKC promoting puppy mills, please read any
recent issue of the AKC Gazette, the back of it is filled with puppy-millers getting
suspended priviledges and fines for various violations. Yes, there are still some
mills out there who probably still register AKC, but the AKC is making it very hard
for them to do it without monitoring (ex. - DNA testing on dogs bred more than 3X/
year or 7X/ lifetime. If a puppy miller can only "use" a stud dog for 7 "hits", it
really won't be very cost-effective to use him(especially when Cavaliers can have
relatively small litters)
I personally feel that it is time to be allowed to use an AKC- only dog. I'm
not sure if I would ever use one, but if that hypothetical 10 year old heart clear AKC
only dog were to exist, we would be crazy not to consider using him!
JMHO, Cindy Jones
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