Getting Started

A couple of years ago, as a purely coincidental consequence of purchasing a purebred dog, my wife and I were drawn into the world of AKC breed conformation. It has been an interesting journey of heights and depths. We have met and been privileged to work with some of the most wonderful people we have ever known, but have also seen examples of what can happen when people become obsessed to achieve personal goals at the expense of the infrastructure supporting their participation. It has not taken very long to understand that breed conformation as it exists today is losing ground to the efforts of the latter, at the expense of very dedicated breeders, handlers, and kennel clubs, but especially to the detriment of the breeds themselves. In short, conformation is in desperate need of reformation.

Hence this blog. I have no illusions about it; I created it to speak my mind on these matters, but as you can see I have done everything I can to obfuscate my identity. We still show dogs and intend to continue to do so, but the state of AKC conformation today is such that we do not dare speak on the subject as ourselves, as this would almost certainly negatively impact our dogs' show careers. This irony is, in fact, the crux of the matter. AKC conformation judging is so intensely subjective that even an offhand remark made carelessly in the presence of some acquaintance of an AKC judge can impact a dog's show career.

To see the intense bickering that is a side effect of this subjectivity, one need only perform a Google search of breed discussion / news groups to see owners, breeders, and handlers pouring lemon juice into each other's cuts. I have no desire to step into that fray either. But I do believe that it is time to make some observations that are perhaps more obvious to us as newcomers than to those who are long-time veterans.

It has been my impression that those who work hard to maintain professional integrity in this intensely political environment have chosen to accept its considerable shortcomings and have, surprisingly, achieved some level of success, making in many cases significant contributions in spite of the self-serving efforts of their peers. This is even more surprising when one realizes that the goal of breed conformation is to establish consensus on a pool of breeding stock that most closely reflects the breed standard as established by the breed club and approved by the AKC. Those who enter this world seeking names for themselves or their kennels will always thwart this goal by putting other interests before the simple goal of ensuring that "Best of Breed" is exactly that. In just the two short years of our involvement, we've seen dozens of inferior, sub-standard animals win their class/sex/breed competition. We would never claim in so short a time to have apprehended all the nuances affecting these decisions. But we can question the fact that the system as designed allows for such extreme, subjective variances, and that is what this blog is all about.

If in fact those who feel strongly about this issue ever find this blog, I hope they will have things to say in response to my posts. But I do ask that those with vested interests refrain from pushing their personal or organizational agendas and respect my request for honest discussion. Reform is all about organizational and personal introspection; there is no room here for chips on shoulders, protectionist drivel, or comparisons of the relative merits of alternative kennel clubs. If AKC breed conformation is to become a legitimate endeavor, it must turn a bright light on itself and accept dispassionate discussion about the innate subjectivity of its current infrastructure. Hopefully this blog can contribute to that. Should it become a breeding ground for more useless bickering, I will not hesitate to take corrective action. It is my blog, I have a goal that I have stated, and I will keep things on track.

Let's get started.