Ahh, it seems this is the great debate. I will never fault a working breeder who choses to show in conformation as well. I'm sorry, you can say that putting a working breed in a show ring is ruining the breed, but I just don't see it. When breeders sway from having working dogs who show to having show dogs who work is where breeds get ruined. AKC doesn't write standards. Individual breed club write and revise standards based on the membership of that club. If you have a largely conformation membership there is where your fault lies. If you membership is somewhere towards the middle, and you have a working breed the then working members need to stand up and be more invilved to keep that working standard.
Thank god my breed seems to be one of the few where a lot of breeders show conformation but also own their own farms and/or trial the dogs as well. The parents of my youngest dog are both finished Ch.'s. Dad is also a working trial champion and a dual (herding and confo) Ch in AKC. Mom has herding titles as well. Both live on a working farm.
I am trying my darndest to keep dogs who work, or at minimum have herding instinct, in the show ring. My oldest dog is a conformation Ch. she has upper level agility titles in multiple venues, and a rally title. She would have made a killer herding dog had I found an instructor sooner. She was 8 by the time I found an instructor and at that point was too much to handle for both of us. She had a LOT of drive, but was a possible danger to the sheep because we had no control over that drive. Her parents were both Ch's in AKC and her dad had AKC herding titles. Her mom didn't have titles but was the breeder's team roping dog when she did rodeo.
AKC championships do not kill working ability. Breeders who do not breed for working ability do that.
Dekka, I agree with you on a lot of things, but the parts where you talk about diversity and breeding dogs who are successful in multiple venues is a bit confusing to me. Let me explain.
We have a minimum of 5 health tests reccomended by CHIC.
Canine Health Information Center We also have a total of 4 other optional tests. Just the 5 main tests can knock out a large number of dogs from the gene pool. So out of 100 breeding age male dogs, 5 fail the OFA hips. 1 has DJD in the elbows. 6 are unilateral for hearing. 3 come back as PRA "c" (affected). You are down to 85 dogs. Out of those 85 that passed all health clearances, 25 are conformation Ch's. 15 of those Ch's have working titles. 20 dogs have working/sport titles but no conformation. If you narrow just to the titles/tested dogs you have 45 dogs left.
I guess I'm just trying to point out that the more you test and title the fewer dogs you really have contributing to the gene pool. How long before it ends up that you are just breeding based on the lesser of two evils?
I'm not EVER EVER saying quit testing and titling, but even if you aren't linebreeding you are still narrowing down your gene pool