Free: Contests & Raffles.
If people don't think the AKC has ruined a lot of field bred dogs, they are blind. The AKC sets breed standards based off the "look" they believe the dogs should have. Nowhere do the standards talk about field ability, or intelligence, run, style, nose, retrieve, etc. Because of that, dogs that are out of standard are not considered for breeding In the AKC circles. IT doesn't matter if the dog is the best field dog the breed has ever seen, if it's out of standard, it's automatically considered a reject. Putting form over function has ruined many field dogs.
The breed clubs fall under the umbrella of the AKC. They must obey the rules and guidelines set fourth by the AKC, or the AKC won't recognize them as a breed club. When a vast majority of the money coming in comes from the show rings, who do you think has the say in voting in the breed clubs? When the field people get outvoted by the show people, the field ability of the dogs suffers. Why do you think the Setter and Pointer people could care less about registering with the AKC? Why do you think the GSP folks split away from the AKC and now have a seperate AF side? Why do you think many of the field people in the Brittany world want to split from the AKC? Because the AKC is controlled by the show people, who controll the breeds. They make their decisions based on the "look" of a dog and not the field ability of a certain breed. Why? Because AKC represents all breeds, not just working breeds. AF represents field breeds only, and there is no standard anywhere in their database. That's why amongst pointing breeds, American Field is held in a much higher regard than the AKC. Most pointing dog guys will tell you the AKC is a joke.
That's why amongst pointing breeds, American Field is held in a much higher regard than the AKC. Most pointing dog guys will tell you the AKC is a joke.
That's because pointing dog trials naturally weed out unhealthy dogs. Good luck laying down a solid hour with bad hips or a bad heart. Other trial venues do nothing to test the stamina or physical ability of a dog, and thus unhealthy dogs can actually win. That's why AF doesn't need to post a "standard" either. A largely oversized or undersized dog will never be able to compete.
for the sake of argument, dogs with poor hip scores can go their entire lives and not be diagnosed with dysplasia. OFFA scores do not mean the dog is going down or can't run. Furthest from the truth. The score simply is a measurement of the orientation of the socket to the joint. A dog with a poor score can easily run for hours without showing any sign of dysplasia. It could run it's whole life. Where that comes into play, is when it is never tested, gets bred a whole bunch and it's offspring get bred and nobody is doing it because, "It ran fine for hours".... That is where many pointer breeders are off. Lab breeders felt the same way about CNM and PRA. My dog never shown signs of it and he's an FC. Breed away. Then, you start getting a few blind puppies showing up, nervous system issues etc. GSP's are no different or, many pointing breeds for that matter.
Wirehairs do it all.they are fur and feather dogs, tracking, ect.it would take a special lab to hang with them in the upland area. But for water some wirehairs love it some don't