Dog breed registries have had a massive impact on modern dog culture. AKC, UKC, NSDR, ASDR, NKC, CKC – all are dog breed registries of different size, influence, and scope.
The best-known one in the United States is probably the AKC, or American Kennel Club. For decades, AKC pedigrees were one of the best ways to ensure you were getting a well-bred dog that was far less likely to suffer from congenital or chronic diseases later in life. Pedigrees were a standardized system for tracking bloodlines. But why?
Of course there are the standard answers surrounding doggie eugenics (and that isn’t all hyperbole) but registries were also the best way to be aware of recessive genetic traits among breeding lines. As one dog breeder’s handbook from 1994 states, “You have no way of knowing about a recessive trait except by test breeding.” What is test breeding? Complex methods of maintaining breeding lines and studying pedigrees and registries were used as ways to reduce risks of recessive medical conditions. Every breeding pair was a genetic gamble of some sort – a chance to identify dogs that were carriers of medically dangerous traits. Breed registries kept track of the results in breeding books to prevent recessive carriers from creating medical issues throughout a breed. A noble goal.
However, for better or worse, we are not living in 1994. Within the last decade, genetic testing for dogs has improved by leaps and bounds. Dog breeders no longer have to make heartbreaking, risky gambles on “test breeding” to ascertain carrier status for medical issues. All one need do is buy a test, submit a saliva-soaked swab, and within weeks you have your answer! This can also prevent inbreeding, and even measure how inbred a dog already is! Science is awesome, right?
However, this leaves the three-letter organizations above, the sacred keepers of the precious registries and breeding books, more irrelevant each year. The AKC took over the breed standards for some breeds quite recently – Australian Shepherds were added in 1991, despite the Australian Shepherd Club of America objecting to their inclusion. During this expansionist phase in the 90s, the AKC also press-ganged the Border Collie Society of America into joining AKC conformation shows – by threatening to revoke their right to compete in obedience and tracking trials. In 1994, the AKC forced the Border Collie into conformation showing, deigning to impose a breed standard for appearance, despite the BCSA opposing an appearance standard for Border Collies as far back as 1975.
History shows that certain breed associations for working breeds (like Aussies and Border Collies) had their own wishes overruled so the AKC could assign a uniform breed standard based more on looks than any other quality. The bad blood between fanciers of these breeds and the AKC exists to this day, with some still refusing to register their dogs with the AKC 30 years later. In these breeds, many consider reputable breeders to be those who don’t register their dogs with the AKC.
The National Stock Dog Registry (NSDR) was the original registry for the Australian Shepherd, with records going back to the very foundation of the breed. The Australian Shepherd Club of America (ASCA) was established as the parent club for Aussies in 1957. The American Stock Dog Registry came onto the scene in 2005, and became popular due to the dwindling influence of the NSDR, which never made the jump to 21st century technology, allegedly still exclusively using snail mail and run by one woman in their home office. Despite its recent establishment, ASDR registration can be just as valid as the older organizations, especially with genetic testing. The dam and sire of a litter being cleared by genetic testing (and preferably OFA certified as such) is perhaps the best sign that a breeder cares about the future of the breed. If AKC papers are the biggest accomplishment a breeder has to show for their litters, take it as a red flag. Even puppy mills can get AKC papers, and the organization itself does little to discourage fraudulent registrations (which are easier than you might think.)
So while the AKC might want the world to see it as the be-all-end-all of dog culture in the United States, its claim as such has never been shakier. The advent of modern genetic science made the organization’s pedigrees pretty much irrelevant. After all, it’s the genes that make a healthy puppy, not a piece of paper.
And last but certainly not least, the final nail in the AKC coffin for many: worrying reports have come out of the American Kennel Club’s negligence and inaction when faced with proof of a pattern of sexual assaults in the last few years. Multiple AKC dog show professionals – handlers, breeders, and even former AKC employees, were convicted of crimes against children. Instead of instituting background checks like many similar organizations, the AKC failed to intervene, having the audacity to claim powerlessness to keep sexual predators from participating in their events. Yet strict rules for things like using curse words have been and remain in place. It is only in the past year or two that the AKC has started to take any accountability, which may have had something to do with a string of convictions and arrests of well-known handlers and judges.
In the end, breed registries (and especially the AKC) are a mixed bag with pros and cons. Science has rendered a lot of their original purposes moot, so if you are looking for a happy and healthy puppy to join your family, ask for their genetic testing, not their papers.