What Has the UKC Done for the Chinook?

As far as the UKC doing 'good' for the Chinook, it truly depends on your interpretation of what 'good' looks like. Here are some things the UKC has done, whether good, null or bad, and perhaps it'll be fun to have a discussion around whether we believe these changes are ultimately going to be good for the breed or not. 

10 UKC changes to the Chinook that I see:
1. Formalized approval of Chinook standards in alignment with UKC standard regulations.
2. Larger shows with more competition including from other dog breeds.
3. Exponential breeder growth to fit the higher demand that dog shows ultimately promote.
4. Recognition (and hence support) from the public at large that the Chinook is a legitimate dog 'breed.'
5. Increased news coverage from newspaper (and other media) that frequent the UKC shows.
6. Outside registration by a third party.
7. In order to be with the UKC, the national breed club must adhere to all UKC rules and regulations.
8. Outside, third party judges promoting what they interpret as the ideal Chinook.
9. More prestigious and valuable winnings, especially with winnings over all other breeds. 
10. More money coming into the breed club, highly prized stud dog owners, and the UKC as a result of higher popularity in breeding.

So, what do you think? Will these things ultimately be good or bad for the Chinook breed as a whole?  Let's take a closer look.

Many people believe that they are working for the benefit of their particular breed. But, the interesting thing is that the same words are spoken whether a person is talking about the people in the breed or the dogs themselves. Let's take an example...

Scenario
Here's the simple statement... "(So and so) is working hard to improve the breed." 
Actions: Posts informational websites, starts the application entry into the AKC-FSS, gathers the breed club together for regular meetings, encourages more breeders to join the club, writes a book about the breed, wins prestigious titles in UKC show arenas, etc.

No one would argue that these actions are commendable and good for publicity and promotion. However, all of the enthusiasm in the work above is not directly improving the dog in health, temperament or conformation. It is improving things for the people in the breed; whether improving status, increasing money, achieving better recognition, etc. 

However good these things are, the most important endeavor that a breed club can do is improve the dogs themselves in either health, temperament and/or conformation. When we look at whether the UKC is 'good' for the Chinook, let's identify and eliminate all the benefits to the people who have an interest in the breed. That will allow us to really focus on whether the dog breed itself can benefit from the UKC's involvement. 

So, I'd like to take the changes I see in the Chinook one by one:
1) Formalized Standards: 

The UKC has done a good thing by allowing the Chinook to keep the temperament standards and functional abilities of the Chinook in their formal standards. The temperament section of this working dog is actually quite clear and concise and I can really tell what the dog's temperament should be like as well as what tasks it should perform with ease. The standards even state that they will disqualify a dog based on any exhibition of aggression or fear. However, the standards are just words if dogs are given championship status without working trials to prove any one particular dog meets the working temperament part of the standards. Since the UKC does not have sled races, pulling trials or temperament tests as part of their shows, I would conclude that the UKC gives champion titles for conformation alone. The problem with doing this is that the Chinook is a very intense working dog, meant to endure the harsh conditions of the intense cold and treacherous task of pulling a sled through thick snow over all kinds of terrain. According to the Chinook Club of America (the AKC-FSS parent club) the first mixed dog (Husky X mastiff type) named Chinook and his descendents lead expeditions in Antarctica. This was serious sledding of the extreme type. In fact, the Chinook's founder, Arthur Treadwell Walden, received the Congressional Medal for his part in these expeditions. My question now then is, would any Chinook living today be able to endure the same conditions? It isn't enough to test a Chinook's potential by training them to pull a little cart on a level paved trail. That's like testing the GSDs herding potential by putting them in a round enclosure with a bunch of sheep and seeing if they instinctively round them up. Herding sheep takes brains, wit, quick thinking, problem solving and brawn. A round pen full of 10 sheep is not quite the same of 150 sheep roaming a vast countryside where one lamb is lost in a ravine. But, I digress a bit. The point is that the Chinook's original temperament, for which it was prized by many, was its awesome ability to pull and sled under extremely harsh conditions and still come home and be great with the kids. If the breed is no longer like this, they are not the same breed, in my opinion, and the UKC is not going to help at all to bring this part of the Chinook back by focusing on conformation.

As stated above, the Chinook is also registered in the Foundation Stock Service with the AKC. The AKC standards are different than the UKC standards. So, with different standards comes different opinions of the ideal Chinook. Confused yet? What if one dog received a championship title with the UKC and another dog with the AKC? The titles mean different things because they are based on different standards. "Oh, but they are basically the same," you say. Yes, but subtle differences do create big changes in the eyes of judges, especially over time. This is what happened to the GSD. The German Standards are different than the American standards and so, the German GSDs are quite different in bone structure and body movement than the American ones. The temperament is also very different among them. Breeding them intermittently has created a mixed type, which we call the 'backyard GSD'. Offspring can range from a hyper working dog to a much less energetic show-type temperament. And... there is no guarantee which you will get. It pays to know the pedigrees well in the GSD lines. Will the same happen to the Chinook? They are still relatively small in comparison to the GSD and so perhaps something like that will be a long time in coming, but different standards equal different rules equal different reasons for winning ultimately equal different dogs. In the Chinook's case, it is up to the Chinook Club of America to preserve their breed's unique temperament and character abilities. AKC-FSS and UKC will not do it as temperament and sledding/pulling characteristics are not judged in the show ring.

Not only does the AKC/UKC/CKC/ARBA/FCI/CKC/UK/JKC, etc own the rights to your breed's standards per the contract you sign to be a part of them... but they can register your breed using your same name without your permission (unless you've established trademark of the name and can pay the court fees it'll take to retain those rights). 

Let's consider this article: AKC Takeover of Rare Breeds

Let me know what you think.

I know we are talking about the Chinook here, but while we're on the subject of all-breed registries, let's talk for just a moment about the Shiloh Shepherd Dog. As you all know, the Shiloh Shepherd Dog was created by Tina M. Barber. She had been out to improve the GSD during the 1970s and eventually, in the 1980s crossbred to other breeds in order to continue her path to the ideal dog as she remembered the shepherd in her youth in Germany. (interpreted from her book: The Shiloh Shepherd Story: against the wind, a breed is born) As long as she bred her own dogs with a handful of breeders working in conjunction with her, she owned all the right's to her breed. In fact, many broke away claiming that she was too strict and they saw this strictness as her need for control and power. Anyway, Tina eventually went to the American Rare Breed Association (ARBA) and signed over her standards to them. I do not know the details of the contract she signed with them, but she ultimately did not have the right to say which dogs would be allowed as Shiloh Shepherds and which would not. According to Tina, the ARBA allowed long-haired GSDs to win in the show ring as Shiloh Shepherd Dogs. As the Shiloh Shepherd Dog grew in popularity, more and more breeders joined the bandwagon. With ARBA's approval, (again a claim by Tina) they bred GSD crosses calling them Shilohs and were allowed to show them in the ring. The ARBA judges placed these dogs and some even won championship titles. Breeders wanted to breed with these Shiloh Shepherd Dog champions and so, as Tina so many times said, the Shiloh wasn't the Shiloh anymore. After years of battle and litigation, she ultimately reclaimed her standards again claiming they were copyrighted. The ARBA wrote new standards for the Shiloh Shepherd Dog they were registering. But, she did not get to keep the Shiloh Shepherd Dog name. She eventually changed it to the New Zion Shiloh Shepherd to distinguish her dogs from the "imposters" as she liked to call them. 

Here's Tina's account: Protecting Breed Development

Anyway, all of this information brings us back to the UKC and the Chinook. I'll post some thoughts to number 2 next. 

So, back to the Chinook and if it benefits the breed to belong to the UKC. Let's take a look at the next one.

2) Larger, more competitive shows: With larger shows comes larger prizes. With larger prizes comes more possibility of cheating and cutting corners to win. So, mostly larger shows that promote grander competition benefit the people showing. Dogs don't care about titles or prizes from winning over each other. Although some show dogs are excellent at exhibiting themselves to their very best, this is a learned behavior for reward. In other words, they've been trained. On their own, dogs strut in front of each other for one purpose only... to breed. Dog criteria for who is the best to mate with is quite different than human criteria. Dogs aren't as picky. Haha! 

Do larger shows with more competition do anything to benefit the dog breed itself? Not if the shows are only about conformation. This is because prestigious wins in the show ring don't mean anything if you are masking a genetic illness or a bad temperament. It actually greatly hurts the breed if these things are not strictly regulated. Has everyone here watched the British documentary: Pedigreed Dogs Exposed? I love the bit where the journalist confronts the King Charles Spaniel's owner after a HUGE win in the show ring. If that dog goes on to sire countless bitches, it only perpetuates the cranial issue in that breed. It's hard to watch the obvious discomfort, but so revealing its compelling to not keep watching.

This is not an isolated occurrence. It happens ALL the time in the show ring. There is absolutely no regulation to stop it. So, more conformation shows with higher competition is the last thing a healthy dog breed needs. 

So, larger shows ultimately lead us to number 3) exponential breeder growth. Now, currently the Chinook has 11 registered breeders with the Chinook Club of America (CCA) and 4 stud dog owners. In comparison to the vast amounts of breeders in more well-known breeds, these 15 breeders equal a very small population of breeders. There is a lot of room for exponential breeder growth, though, if the Chinook rises in popularity at the shows. But, at the moment, its a relatively small pond of breeders. They do seem to be close-knit at this point, too. The Chinook Club of America is involved in numerous genetics studies including: temperament studies to collect samples of shy, reserved or stable temperaments; coat type study to help eliminate any coat type not colored tawny; an AKC-CHF (AKC-Canine Health Foundation) grant to map genes responsible for epilepsy in the Chinook; and the CCA is part of the Canine Health Information Center where the club houses all the health data on their breed. This is all promoted by the Chinook Club of America and the people who are most interested in breeding better Chinooks. This is an excellent thing, actually. Our club may wish to go this route with formalized genetic testing at some point. But, these endeavors are not through the UKC and the AKC-CHF only gives out the grant funds. At this point in time, the AKC doesn't require health testing in order to register for show. So, once again, it is the breed club doing the work to better the breed. 

The AKC-CHF states:

So, let's move on to #4. MANY, many times people have asked if our breed, the American Alsatian, is recognized. What they mean to say is, if our breed is a part of AKC, because to some AKC recognition is when you've made it. Your breed is something. It's a part of the world of dogs. Without AKC (or any other third-party all-breed registry) it seems some people look down on us. By taking a stand and not choosing to be a part of AKC, we've limited our breed to just a mix or a mutt. To some, without AKC (et. al.) you are no breed at all. How degrading to be outside of AKC (et. al.) Truly, even Wikipedia does not consider Lois Schwarz, our founder, to be a reliable source. She's self-published after all. But, the AKC is reliable. Somehow, dog editors on Wikipedia agree that the AKC or the UKC websites are legitimate and are never questioned. The AKC/UKC has prestige and clout... something a dog breed just doesn't have without them. Recognition goes along with that. Never mind that we have standards, rules, a breeder's association, are dedicated to great health and a companion dog temperament, etc. Without AKC's backing, we are like the black sheep in the dog family. We don't fit. We are called all kinds of names and ridiculed for our beliefs. 

But, we are not the only breed to see the importance of staying out of the AKC/UKC (et. al.) As we've mentioned before on this forum... the Border Collie, the Jack Russell Terrier, the Coton de Tulear, etc. have all wanted to stay out of the AKC show rings. However, not all breed clubs feel that way. Some people see their breed's name on the AKC list of dog breeds as a win for their breed. They will finally have recognition. Some rare breeds are even eager to join up and will do anything the AKC asks them to do to prepare to enter their breed with the AKC-FSS or the UKC in order to be recognized faster. 

So, what does recognition have to do with a dog breed? What benefit does recognition give to a dog breed? Well, you can ask all those working Border Collie folks and they'd tell you how much it has already hurt the dogs as a whole in just a few short years of being in the AKC show ring. They are already seeing a decline in Border Collie working behavior. Only those Border Collies not produced by show breeders can do their sheep herding job as well as they used to. Here's a link from the United States Border Collie Club, Inc. that predicts this:
Border Collie Culture

The Chinook entered the UKC in 1995 and the AKC-FSS in 2001. So, the breed now has 'recognition' from two very prominent kennel clubs in the US. Does that mean the dogs themselves are better in temperament or healthier or more prepared physically for pulling sleds or carts? No. Dogs don't need recognition to be happy. They need human companionship and in the Chinook breed some sort of energetic work to do. Being recognized by others is a human need, not a dog one. 

But, even so, when we recognize a breed as legitimate, then we promote it and give it validation and worth in the eyes of those looking into the breed. Then, money gets involved and the interest's of the dogs themselves takes a back seat. Under no circumstances do we American Alsatian breeders and owners allow anyone within or outside of the club to do anything if it does not ultimately better the breed... the dogs themselves... the living breathing animals we call man's best friend. They must always come first. Anything that takes us away from that must be vigilantly guarded against. 

If recognition brings prestige and prestige brings more power and money into the club, fine, if it doesn't cause the dogs to deteriorate in health, temperament and/or conformation for the task its bred to perform. With recognition comes a very important task of making sure recognition doesn't also bring large numbers of breeders, large fancy shows where dogs are being judged incorrectly, and disregard for the very breed we loved in the beginning. That is one reason why the American Alsatian breed has evolved slowly in breeders and shows and prizes. We do not want too much recognition too quickly... at least not faster than we can accommodate members. We must always re-evaluate our motives and our practices to make sure the dogs are taken care of first. 

So, recognition from the AKC-FSS and UKC isn't bad in and of itself. It's what happens after being recognized as a legitimate breed that makes all the difference for the dog. 

Recognition then brings us to number 5... increased news coverage. 

When a dog breed is recognized per AKC etc. people start getting more of an interest in the breed. I guess they feel that since UKC recognizes the breed, then it must be newsworthy if something interesting happens to the breed. Books start being written about them from people not affiliated with the breed, such as all-breed dog books. You see the breed named specifically in major newspapers. To me, this equates to free publicity. Once a rare breed that not many people new about, now a breed that millions of people read about in their Sunday newspaper or all-breed book. The more people know about the breed, the more people inquire about the breed, the more people buy puppies, the more breeders are interested in breeding them, etc. 

Does news coverage do anything for the dogs themselves? Well, dogs don't read the papers, so no. I wouldn't think so. Again, we have recognition promoting publicity promoting the interests of humans, not the dogs. 

I do want to let you in on a little known fact, though... just as an aside. You know how big corporations get all that news coverage? Well, they have public relations personnel who are very good at writing press releases. Basically, the corporations promote themselves to the newspaper. The news finds a lot of worthy news by reading press releases sent to them by the very people who would love to have the free publicity. Organizations like AKC know how to advertise and promote themselves for a big turn out at those prestgious shows. Little breed clubs don't always have the luxury of knowing how to send out press releases, nor do they have the funds to take out ads in newspapers across the country. So, they remain obscure. A new organization, such as the Companion Dog Association, has little chance of becoming a 'legitimate' organization without the funds to promote themselves in legitimate news media. So, it's not very often that news media comes to you. You have to be proactive and do the promoting for yourself. How much money and time do you have? That's the key. 

So, let's discuss #6, the potential benefits of an outside organization registering a breed of dog, eliminating the breed club's need to do so on its own. It's a lot of paperwork, surely... especially if a breed club has swelled to several breeders. The manpower it would take to enter all the information when you have breeders coming in from everywhere that want to register their puppies could get completely overwhelming. Let's just say, that, like the Chinook, there are 31 breeders registering their dogs through your little breed club's affiliated registry. Each breeder has a litter in the spring, but about half of the breeders have 2 dogs whelping, then another 1/3 have 3 dogs whelping. That's 10 + 30 + 15 litters that spring for a total of 55 litters. Lets just say that each of those litters had 5 puppies on average. That's 55 litter registrations and 275 puppies that will grow up and want adult registrations from their new owners. That's a full-time job for at least two people, especially if the breeders have litters again in the fall. The breed club will have to have the money to pay employees to take care of all of that. Plus, all the expenses and income gathered will need to be audited every year... an accountant has to do that. The breed club will need to have shows and be actively seeking out ways to be able to afford all that it needs to do in order to make sure that owners and breeders get what they need. In other words, the breed club will have to be willing to grow and become an effect organization to handle all that needs to be done. 

Now, what about just giving all the stress and worry of the finances and registration over to an organization that does all that for a living. They already have personnel to collect registrations from breeders and owners. They already have rules and paperwork to follow. They have the approval of the American people and have been doing this work since 1884. Well, that's easy and it would sure help the breed club concentrate on what they like to do best, show off their dogs in shows and trials. 

But, that's all for the convenience of the people in the club, not the dogs. Let's take a look at how moving the registration of a breed to an all-breed dog club can effect the dogs themselves within the breed.

A breed club knows their dog breed pretty well and they have an invested interest in their chosen breed. It is usually their great passion in life to be involved with the dogs they love. They study pedigrees and know who's who within their club. They may even be breeders or judges themselves. So, when registrations come in, they are able to keep the breed club together in one functioning organization. Breed clubs can require videos or photos of the dogs mated as well as photos of the puppies. They can do this because they can set their own rules for their breed of dog. 

But, when you turn your breed over to an all-breed registry, you must follow their rules as you are asking to join them. The AKC does not require photo proof that your dog is who you say it is. They have people, unrelated to your breed, entering all the data into files. Breeders are no longer working together for the common good of the animal, but since anyone can breed and register their litter of puppies as 'purebred' then breeders are left working one on one against each other in the AKC show ring. So, let's turn out attention to the UKC now. The UKC actually requires photos of each dog... AND... amazingly, they have a Limited Registration for those purebred dogs with disqualifying faults. They are required to be spayed and neutered as well. Also, gun dogs that are not purebred can also receive this Limited Registration in order to participate in the UKC gun trials. That is a very good thing. It means that they are aware that not every dog, even though it is purebred, should go on to breed, just because it is pure of breed. However, it is still easy to cheat and get full registration. 

Here's how people do it... Have a mother and father fully registered. They have a litter, but only two puppies are born in the litter. You take puppies from another litter pure or not as long as they have a similar look and claim they were also born from this litter. Take a picture of all the puppies with the pure mother. Or, in AKCs case, all you need are the registration numbers, no photo required. Just write down that you had 5 puppies instead of 2 and voila... you've just registered unpure puppies as purebred dogs. AKC doesn't know and you can sell those puppies for more money because they are 'AKC' registered purebred dogs. What if that unpure dog was so convincing it actually wins in the shows. Haha. 

Let's take an example... Before the 1970s no GSD had long hair. Now, you see them everywhere and they all have AKC papers. How'd that happen? How is that possible? Now, the FCI is actually changing the standards in include them. Does anyone know where they came from? Oh, right, they are a throw back to the very first shepherding dogs from German... even though there were no long haired shepherds for the last 100 years. That doesn't matter. 

Okay, got off track there for a minute... but, you see? Do you see how complicated it is? When a breed club, who knows their dogs and has the most interest in their well-being, gives over their breed to a group that is completely uninterested in the dogs themselves, but employs people to do the paperwork, you get mistakes. You get breeders working against each other to win in the show ring. You get judges who place dogs that are not according to standard. You get unpure dogs with purebred AKC/UKC papers. It happens... and probably more often than we want to really acknowledge. And... when the dog breed is affected by all these things that happen, the dogs are the ones to lose. The dog breed's well-being is no longer the most important part of breeding them. 

In our breed's case, you must submit photos of all sides of your dog along with a pedigree and registration numbers of the mother and father as well as the breeder's name. As a breeder, I must submit videos, temperament testing scores, photos, extensive puppy notes on each puppy throughout its growth and all potential breeding matches must be approved by the Breeder's Board. You cannot become a breeder unless you belong to the National American Alsatian Club and you are certified, which is a lengthy process. You must recertify every year and if your dogs are shown to have more issues than average, you can be barred from breeding and all your stock will no longer be registered. We have registration certificates that vary depending on the dog's adherence to the standards. Dogs must be spayed and neutered if they are not breeding quality. Each breeder determines this, but weight is placed on your abilities to determine the quality of your puppies as you can be banned from breeding if your lines have more than average occurrences of issues. This is all in the interest of protecting the dog breed itself. We do not care if you do not join us in breeding our dogs because you think the process is too strict. We want only serious people because protecting the dogs themselves means more to our breed club than winning prizes or being recognized or not having to do the work because its too much money or too time-consuming. 

But, this is the benefit of what a breed club can do for a breed of dog that an all-breed registry can never accomplish. 

Let's move on to number 7: In order to be with the UKC, the breed club must follow the UKC's guidance and rules and regulations.

This is actually the place where the UKC has done a tremendous thing for the Chinook breed. Remember that the UKC has a separate registration for dogs that are not purebred. Well, in order to improve the genetic diversity in the fairly rare Chinook, the UKC currently allows, by its rules and regulations, crossbred Chinooks to be registered as not purebred for a period of time until the new line breeds true to the Chinook standards. They worked closely with the Chinook Owner's Association (UKC parent club) to genetically test several pure Chinooks to determine their original foundation breeds. 

Briefly, here's a short history of the breed. When the founder, Arthur Treadwell Walden, created his sledding dogs from the father of the breed, Chinook, he bred for around 35 years as the sole breeder of the Chinook. Then, when he retired, he gave over all the dogs and equipment to a successor named Julia Lombard. She bred for around 30 years and then in the 1930s passed all the dogs and equipment on to another person named, Perry Greene. Perry Greene bred the dogs until 1963 when he died. Unfortunately, none of the breeders left notes on the origins of the breed. Therefore, the Chinook's heritage was completely unknown at the time a few enthusiasts took the 11 remaining breedable dogs in order to save the breed. Quite a fascinating story, isn't it? Well, the enthusiasts had very few breeding dogs to breed with, so they needed to expand the gene pool to increase the size of the breed. In order to do so, they needed to crossbreed with other breeds, but they wanted to only cross with breeds that were foundation breeds when Arthur Treadwell Walden started the breed. Since they had no way of knowing, they had the remaining dogs genetically tested and found all the supposed breeds that were a part of the original dogs that created the breed in the beginning. Some surprising dogs were found! 

Cross % Pure %
German Shepherd Dog  17.18%  19.59%  
Alaskan Malamute  14.10%  18.56%  
Collie  13.66%  15.46%  
Norwegian Elkhound  6.17%  8.25%  
Bouvier Des Flanders  6.61%  4.12%  
Siberian Husky  5.73%  0.00%  
Labrador Retriever  3.52%  3.09%  
Plott  2.20%  4.12%  
German Spitz  2.20%  2.06%  
Russell Terrier  1.76%  2.06%  
Icelandic Sheepdog  2.20%  1.03%  
Anatolian Shepherd Dog  2.20%  1.03%  
Australian Cattle Dog  1.32%  3.09%  
Belgian Malinois  1.32%  2.06%  

Anyway, the UKC is allowing these crosses to continue until they breed true to Chinook UKC standards and can be considered pure of breed. This is a very good thing and a positive for the UKC for sure.

The AKC is not allowing this at this time and only requires a 3 generation pure pedigree, so I assume that they are allowing crosses with 3 generation Chinook pedigrees, so F3 up. This is only an assumption on my part as I truly do not know.

However, the other rules and regulations of the UKC do not include temperament tests or pulling trials or health regulations prior to showing, so the breed club MUST make up for the UKC's lack of testing in these areas. The same goes for the AKC. 

written by: Jennifer Stoeckl

via the National American Alsatian Forum

December 2011