I completely agree that judges should be faulted for putting up dogs that do not fit the standard- if you read my previous response, I said as much. We often have a problem in Shibas with people getting "grandfathered in" to judge our breed, meaning group judges often don't understand the finer points. They don't realize, for example, that a flashy, super-friendly animal may be a great show dog, but not exactly a fantastic representative of true Shiba temperament.
But this is the case in EVERY breed. It's unrealistic to expect a judge to know every breed as well as his/her own (although judges like Annie Clark and Pat Trotter are superlative examples). It's just another reminder that we must find creative ways of living in an imperfect world. When it comes down to it the onus will ALWAYS fall on the people breeding the dogs. Did they not choose, after all, to become *stewards* of the breed? These are the people who drew up the standards, the very same who are holding (hopefully!) breed-type workshops, and national specialties. They should know their own breed better than anyone else.
Stewardship implies protection- protection *especially* from fads. So what if you lose under a few all-breed judges here and there? If you are breeding TO THE STANDARD you SHOULD be winning under breeder-judges (the ones who REALLY matter). And if breeder judges are putting up the wrong dogs...well then, you REALLY have a problem.
But once again- AKC is a registry PERIOD. I'm not really sure how to explain this any better, but it's a little bit like blaming God for the ill effects of choices you make with your own free will. AKC is not here to hold our hands, or slap them when we go astray- it is up to US to realize this.
It is what breeders as a whole decide to do once their breed gets ACCEPTED by the AKC that choose the destiny of a breed. You cannot fault a registry for the mistakes that breeders whose love for winning outweighs a love for their own breed.
Casablanca makes a good point- requiring some sort of working title for a dog before it competes in conformation would be the most effective way to eliminate such a problem. (And I agree, the working breeders who ignore everything but drive are just as bad as the conformation breeders who ignore everything but looks).
Unfortunately, this will probably never happen. The logistics of it (what titles are acceptable? How do you decide what kind of a working-title is acceptable for a Pekingese? What do you do with breeds whose original function is so esoteric there isn't a way to test it anymore?), make it easier on a whole (and lets face it, more lucrative), to allow people to CHOOSE whether or not they put titles on both ends of a dog's name. It all comes down to the free will thing again. The ability to change your breed for the good or for the bad lies in your own hands. To lay the blame on AKC is a cop-out.
But this is the case in EVERY breed. It's unrealistic to expect a judge to know every breed as well as his/her own (although judges like Annie Clark and Pat Trotter are superlative examples). It's just another reminder that we must find creative ways of living in an imperfect world. When it comes down to it the onus will ALWAYS fall on the people breeding the dogs. Did they not choose, after all, to become *stewards* of the breed? These are the people who drew up the standards, the very same who are holding (hopefully!) breed-type workshops, and national specialties. They should know their own breed better than anyone else.
Stewardship implies protection- protection *especially* from fads. So what if you lose under a few all-breed judges here and there? If you are breeding TO THE STANDARD you SHOULD be winning under breeder-judges (the ones who REALLY matter). And if breeder judges are putting up the wrong dogs...well then, you REALLY have a problem.
But once again- AKC is a registry PERIOD. I'm not really sure how to explain this any better, but it's a little bit like blaming God for the ill effects of choices you make with your own free will. AKC is not here to hold our hands, or slap them when we go astray- it is up to US to realize this.
It is what breeders as a whole decide to do once their breed gets ACCEPTED by the AKC that choose the destiny of a breed. You cannot fault a registry for the mistakes that breeders whose love for winning outweighs a love for their own breed.
Casablanca makes a good point- requiring some sort of working title for a dog before it competes in conformation would be the most effective way to eliminate such a problem. (And I agree, the working breeders who ignore everything but drive are just as bad as the conformation breeders who ignore everything but looks).
Unfortunately, this will probably never happen. The logistics of it (what titles are acceptable? How do you decide what kind of a working-title is acceptable for a Pekingese? What do you do with breeds whose original function is so esoteric there isn't a way to test it anymore?), make it easier on a whole (and lets face it, more lucrative), to allow people to CHOOSE whether or not they put titles on both ends of a dog's name. It all comes down to the free will thing again. The ability to change your breed for the good or for the bad lies in your own hands. To lay the blame on AKC is a cop-out.