HOW I SEE IT
GRETCHEN
BERNARDI
20
The Most Important
Clubs of All
P
a pretty good job, however unfair their methods. Many new
arent Clubs. What are they, really? And what is their
owners didn’t like it and complained that what was needed was
function, their purpose, the reason they even exist?
a more democratic, open and inviting atmosphere and, over the
Why do we give them such a place of importance? And
years, that’s exactly what they got, sometimes through elections
are they fulfilling their primary mission?
and sometimes through the gradual fading away of what was
The AKC defines Parent Clubs in the bylaws, sort of: “It shall
regarded as the ruling class. No one lives forever.
be the duty and privilege of each parent member Specialty Club
Some Parent Clubs today still operate within that oldto define precisely the true type of the breed ... which it was
fashioned framework. Some of the breeds with the largest
organized to promote and improve … [Its] definition when
registration numbers have relatively small memberships. But
approved by the Board of Directors of the AKC shall and will
if we look at the clubs of the past and at those current clubs
be recognized … as the sole standard of excellence for which
that still operate in a less democratic manner, who is to say
such breed… shall be bred and by which specimens … must be
which is better, which philosophy serves the breeds better?
judged.” This talks about improving and promoting dogs, and
I’m ashamed to admit, and I’m sure readers will not be surit addresses the standards. But we know our Parent Clubs are
prised to learn, that I was part of that
much more than that.
early move for change, for modernizaCertainly it’s a heavy responsibility to
tion, for more democracy. But today I
be the one organization in charge of so
It’s a heavy
have doubts about which method has
much, of virtually all aspects of a breed
responsibility to be
the best results. It now seems many of
within the world of AKC, especially conthe one organization
our Parent Clubs are in a transitional
sidering that the entire sport of purebred
stage, struggling without the guidance
dogs could not exist without our individin charge of so much.
of the past that came from those leadual breeds. And certainly the quality of
ers we regarded as too rigid, too elitist.
our dogs will depend, in the end, largely
We’ve lost the wisdom of the past and have not yet learned
on the guidance given to breeders. But are all of the Parent
how to go forward without it. But, as we say, that was then…
Clubs fulfilling that responsibility, or is much of their time and
energy taken up by administrative details? And why are so many
club members fighting among themselves?
A Parent Club’s Main Duty
To the credit of most Parent Clubs, they have taken their
ownership of the breed standards seriously, protecting them
Changes Over the Years
against unnecessary changes, against trying to fit the standard
So many things were different when many of us first joined our
to the dog, while addressing deficiencies and lack of clarity
Parent Clubs. Those were the days when those who are now
when necessary. But have they fully taken on the task of the
so strongly anti-elitism would have had legitimate reasons to
interpretation of those standards? When issues of the health
complain. Some Parent Clubs were anything but welcoming to
of purebred dogs in the United Kingdom first arose, the Kennew owners, and considerations were given to aspects about
nel Club addressed the issue by, in some cases, demanding
prospective members that had little to do with their ability to
changes in the breed standards. But many participants in the
keep and care for a dog. When my husband and I first applied for
sport, breeders and exhibitors, believed that the problem was
membership to our Parent Club, we were immediately suspect
not the written word, but the interpretation of those words.
because we were from the Midwest, or at least not from a part
In order to avoid such an unlikely scenario in this country,
of the Midwest with which they were familiar, that is, not Chicait would be wise for Parent Clubs to help breeders and espego. And what kind of last name is Bernardi? Were they Italian?
cially judges understand that problems are not caused by the
The ladies and gentlemen who ran the breed clubs undoubtstandards themselves, but by extreme interpretations. Who is
edly had only the best in mind for their breeds and protected
explaining that “can be aloof with strangers” does not mean it’s
them the only way in which they were experienced: with a little
all right to bite people they don’t know? Who is explaining that,
suspicion and a whole lot of snobbishness. But just as the first
working within the standards, the dogs should be able to perMayor Daley (the mayor of Chicago from 1955-1976) was able
to run a great city and run it well, those early club officers did
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