Tom and Chris Levy
disgusted or discouraged and just quit . There ’ s a very fine line to tread . A president can make a huge difference in how well or quickly a breed can move forward . Prior experience is always a plus , and people skills are even more important . The dynamics of a club is totally dependent on the individuals who make up the club .
9 . You ’ re going to get an earful on this one . To start with , I
think AKC needs to add more requirements before the breeds / clubs get recognition . One requirement ( wearing my judge ’ s hat here ) should be that they have a functioning , experienced Judges Education program and are providing multiple seminars in many locations across the country . How can judges adjudicate a breed they ’ ve never seen nor had the opportunity to learn about ?
Second , they need to count not just 300 registered dogs , but a threshold number of living and competing dogs . How many people have seen a Boerboel or a Chinook since those breeds were recognized by AKC ? In the case of the Pumi , probably 95 percent of the registered dogs are still alive , and over 30 percent of them had AKC titles . And they are competing all over the country , so even if you were a judge in Minnesota , for example , with no dogs being shown in conformation , you could go to an agility trial and see a number of them .
Now , as for the recognition process , this is where I have some definite recommendations for AKC .
Once we reached the magic 300 number ( the club had already fulfilled all the other requirements to move up ), AKC set a date a year ahead when they would move into the Herding Group . This date was July 1 , 2016 . At the beginning of June , we started receiving new registration certificates for all of our dogs . Early in June , AKC asked that we provide a couple of dogs to be on TV in New York on June 22 . That is all we knew . Sure , we ’ ll have a couple of dogs there for you .
What we did not know , until it happened , is that on June 22 , AKC put out a press release about the Pumi moving into the Herding Group . The 190th breed ! AKC has a new breed ! Yeah ! We were not prepared for the onslaught , nor in fact , in hindsight , did we want it . News outlets across the country did segments about the breed , pulling erroneous information from press releases that had not been vetted by the parent club and using some not-very-good photos found on the internet .
Until June 22 , our personal website averaged about 700 hits per day . Starting June 22 and for the rest of the month , we averaged 3,100 hits / day , and the month of July averaged 1,400 hits / day . We were deluged with emails ; some from potentially good homes , but most from the “ oh-isn ’ t-it-cute-Iwant-one ” crowd .
Do you know what happens when there is a huge demand for puppies ? Now there is a new market providing puppies to the “ oh-isn ’ t-it-cute-I-want-one ” crowd . And there are always people willing to fill that market . What will the result of that be ? Rescues .
For a rare breed , and a small club , the last half of 2016 has been overwhelming . If I had my “ druthers ,” I truly wish AKC had never issued a press release , nor had we been on Fox & Friends or CBS This Morning . We were doing just fine , growing slowly and surely . Now we have puppy brokers , puppy mills and zillions of emails from people wanting the newest fad breed that we have to screen and check out . What have we done to this breed we love so much and want to protect ?
I have a lot of recommendations for AKC . Why is a press release necessary ? Why not give the parent club the choice after telling them the consequences of having one . And they need to allow the parent club to review what ’ s on the press release .
AKC has to prepare especially the smaller clubs for the onslaught . A parent club needs to have an articulate , knowledgeable person designated in the club on the day of the press release ( on a mutually agreed-upon day ) to take all these calls ; someone who isn ’ t on the road ! They need to let the clubs know that many high-resolution photos will be needed , and ( gulp !) they need to breed some dogs to meet this demand . They need to be prepared for requests for appearances for photo shoots all over the country .
RICHARD L . REYNOLDS , AKC JUDGE
1 . Englandale ( Beagles ); Plum Run ( English Foxhounds /
Jack Russell Terriers ); Reynard ’ s ( Dachshunds , Norfolk Terriers , Bedlington Terriers ). Tenafly , N . J .
2 . I have judged for the rare-breed clubs for about 20
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