A Message to the AKC

Examples of Breeds and Their Classifications

Now, I shall be addressing this issue in a manner of parts, otherwise The Woman will be spending the entire day typing and not tending to any of my daily needs. Plus, she is obsessing again about washing all the dog fur out of the house. Out with the old and get ready for the new has a whole different definition in our household.

Throughout my discussion of class distinctions and rearrangements, I shall be referring to the link above. Hopefully, by the time I am done, my comprehensive correct restructuring of the AKC breeds will be more helpful to all as one watches a dog show and realizes that Poodles are really alien mutants that exist to screw everything up and that while a Norwegian Elkhound is a "hound" per se, does anyone else beside me notice that every single hound had floppy ears, short fur and a long tail except that breed, which, if you notice, looks amazingly like (*gasp*) a Northern Breed or Spitz dog? How is it that this one breed is placed in the Hound category when it looks nothing like what it is competing against? People will tell me, well, it is used for hunting. Well, my response to you is that the Komondor and the Rottweiler is used for herding and yet, lo, there they are in the Working Category rather than the Herding. Are the Australian Shepherds just that afraid of competing against a Rottweiler? Heck, I have been beating up Rotties since the day I left my whelping box and trust me, let them get back to herding sheep with the Border collies.

And wait just one minute. Aren't we all Working dogs? In every breeds ancestry, hasn't it accomplished some type of task that makes it considered to be "a working breed?" There are 4, count them, 4 types of cocker spaniels. Seriously, when was the last time you saw a cocker spaniel somewhere other than at a groomers? These dogs may have worked in the past but again, the work of 99% of all cocker spaniels is to entertain their people and hang out at the house. Using their history of "past hunting experiences" does not today a Hunting dog make. So the AKC has taken in upon itself to say, we have working dogs, hunting dogs, herding dogs and then this classification is all those breeds that really don't make sense.

Well, with my assistance, it will make sense.

My first act is to pull the Norwegian Elkhound out of the Hunting Group, because to quote Sesame Street, "one of these breeds does not look like the others." I may be removing the Basenji as well; I have not yet made up my mind.

My second act is to remove the title "Working Group."

My third act for today will be to say, oh, heck with it. Put all the cocker spaniels in one category and let them battle it out. Few other breeds are divided just because of their color. That is a stupid reason; it just gives that breed more opportunity to win. So, if you are a breed that is merely shown under a particular category because of color, that is now eliminated. Deal with it if you are a black cocker spaniel and need to compete against a spotted one. I am sure your feelings will survive if a dog of a different color beats you at your own game.



I Am Shiba. Tune in tomorrow . . .