It's fascinating to read the writings of certain people in the dog press who pretty much regurgitate the same thoughts and philosophies year after year. They act as though no changes in society have taken place over the years. One of the greatest all-round men in the sport, a mentor of mine and a good friend, the late Nigel Aubrey-Jones, frequently ran articles 20 and 30 years old without changing a word. He got away with it with the general public, since the situations had scarcely changed through the years. When Nigel did it, though, he usually did it tongue-in-cheek to prove a point. Others today who follow a similar gambit do it primarily because their philosophies have remained the same and have neither developed nor recognized the need for change with time. For instance, it's really incredibly deceiving to say that there are people who believe that the kennel club needs to open its arms to all dogs—purebred and mixed-breed alike—with not only its registry but to club events as well. The fact is that this is not the intent of AKC today, although The Kennel Club in the U.K. has positioned itself far more positively in that area than has AKC even thought about doing.
What is going on at AKC is a study, as I understand it, of the possibility of permitting mixed breeds to compete at companion events (i.e. agility) in separate classes from purebreds. Of course, in the U.K., agility events permit mixed-breeds and purebreds to compete against each other in the same classes. In the year 2005, there were 613,000 agility entries at licensed AKC shows. This increaseof approximately 50,000 entries over 2004 is mind-boggling, and has been happening for years now. Of these entries, many are from independent Agility Clubs, which, of course, are licensed by AKC to hold their events. They pay $25 per event and a $3 recording fee per dog. By definition, under the By-Laws of AKC, no independent Agility Club can become a Member Club, since they technically do not hold a dog show competition, as they are called companion events! This distinction, drawn up over 100 years ago, certainly needs rethinking today. Should AKC open its doors to permit at least Agility Clubs to become Member Clubs? Certainly it's a topic well worth considering. FYI, if a Member Club holds an agility event, there is no charge for the first event, but recording fees do apply.
Is it unreasonable to include mixed breeds in Agility? Personally, I think not. So long as Canine Good Citizenship allows mixed breeds to compete, why shouldn't agility as well? I understand that as a “cave-in” to those who are against mixed breeds competing in agility, it will be suggested that mixed exhibits must be spayed or altered, even though competing in separate classes. How this will fly in certain Delegate quarters remains to be seen. I think this is an unnecessary step, but that's me.
You know, there's one more aspect to the Petland situation I would like to discuss further. It has been written in this paper by other writers, and elsewhere too, that the John Lyons presentation had not been pre-planned and would not have been given but for either the so-called “Stevens misstatement” or the fact that someone at the Parent Club meeting learned of the proposal beforehand. Both scenarios are not the case at all! Anyone who read the NewBusiness part knew John was to speak. Whether the topic was actually specified is another matter. That's where I fault the kennel club. They should have let people know in advance what was going on. John was always scheduled to give his presentation, and obviously it was no last-minute job. It was a thorough and thoughtful dissertation, whether you agreed with it or not. It's certainly too bad, though, that it took a leak from someone highly connected to get the word out to others to torpedo John. If these people who were in the know meant to be truly constructive in the matter, don't you think they should have gone to Dennis or Ron and asked them what was going on in advance? Certainly, the alleged secret meeting of thesix or seven Delegates on Sunday night, at which the ambush is said to have been planned, could have been more constructive in nature. It would have permitted these people to at least appear positive rather than negative concerning important potential changes at AKC. I question not only their mode of action but their motivation as well. I call it “dirty tricks,” with a political goal in mind.
As many of you know, DOG NEWS is coming out with an all-breed calendar of show events for 2007. In working on the calendar, here are some interesting figures I developed. In the year 2007, from Friday to Thursday, there are three weeks where there are 7 STRAIGHT DAYS of all-breed shows; 9 weeks of 6 sets of shows; 16 weeks with 5 straight days; 18 weeks with 4 days; 4 weeks with 3 days of shows, and one week with two weeks of shows, and one week with only one all-breed show. The same analysis from Thursday to Wednesday comes up with some subtle changes: only 1 week with 7 straight all-breeds; 11 weeks with 6 straight shows; 19 weeks with 5 sets of shows; 4 weeks with 15 shows; 3 weeks with 4 sets; 1 week with 2 sets; and 1 week with no all-breeds at all. Imagine a full week with no shows! Keep in mind the cumulative shows are not necessarily in the same geographical area. Independent specialties are not included in the figures, but for Montgomery and Great Western. These are all-breed figures only.
We're off to Poland and the World Show. Tell you about that when we return. •