American Kennel Club Controversy

To the everyday dog owner, 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 is not always the case. You can only be certain of getting a pedigree puppy. The American Kennel Club does not make sure the puppy’s parents are free from health problems that may be latent but genetic. Additionally, it does not regulate the standards of breeders and their establishments. This can come as a shock to a lot of people who would naturally assume that a prominent dog association like the AKC would provide such basic assurances. And it demonstrates why some breed clubs, such as those for the Australian kelpie dog breed, have decided not to finish the requirements for American Kennel Club registration. Dogs not recognized by the American Kennel Club cannot compete in the many AKC official dog shows. It does, however, protect the breed’s health.

The AKC effectively wanted to restrict the natural genetic variation of breeds like the Australian kelpie. Dogs in American Kennel Club recognized breeds, and with an American Kennel Club issued pedigree, have been bred for show, according to quite limited characteristics. The result has been that a lot of these dogs can no longer do a lot of the things their ancestors once did, such as hunt. It has also resulted in a lot of genetic health problems, as a result of injudicious inbreeding to keep the lines ‘pure’. Dogs are bred back to their parents and grandparents, simply because it creates dogs that help do well in shows. On their website, the University of Wisconsin write:

“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 reason some dogs aren’t recognized by the AKC as a separate breed. Some of the smaller breeds are not recognized as they are smaller versions of larger dogs, and the American Kennel Club doesn’t recognize the distinction. This is true of 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 finding a good quality dog from a breeder who breeds with the health of the dogs in mind, as well as to preserve the dog’s natural abilities. Breeders who breed primarily to achieve a certain look are more likely to follow breeding practices that highly strung or unintelligent dogs. And it could result in dogs that have less than desirable temperaments as pets. Whilst this might not be true across the board, for all breeders, in the long term, too much inbreeding can only create problems for a breed.

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