Dogs Inside Out

Alexandra Horowitz, author of "Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know," writes in The New York Times:

It is now well known both within and outside scientific communities that elements of many breed standards are linked to inherited disorders, sometimes quite horrible and painful ones. In research reported in 2009 in The Veterinary Journal, Lucy Asher and colleagues detailed the number of disorders related to "conformation" -- breeding to a prescribed standard. They looked at the 50 most popular U.K. breeds (a list that overlaps broadly with the U.S. list), and found that with every breed, at least one aspect of the standard predisposed members of that breed to have an inherited disorder.

Bulldogs and pugs have a brachycephalic (broad and short) head, leading to often severe obstructions in breathing. Many large breeds have debilitating hip and elbow dysplasias even in youth. Rhodesian ridgebacks are predisposed to dermoid sinus, leading to neurological problems. Shar-Peis are prone to eye ulcerations. The Cavalier King Charles spaniel may have a brain that is too large for its skull, an extremely painful condition called syringomyelia.

Breed standards could be revised to reduce the incidence of these disorders. The pug's predisposition to spina bifida, linked to its curled tail, could be reduced if the standard did not instruct, "the tail is curled as tightly as possible over the hip." Dalmatians with patches are less likely to be deaf, but the standard says, "patches are a disqualification." Change these, improve the breed.

Right. Or at least right in theory. In theory, practice and theory are the same, but in practice, they never are.

So what of the real world? In the real world, the AKC is never going to change breeds standards.

Selection for defect has been the rule for more than 100 years, and there is not the slightest whiff of reform within the AKC. Ditto for the practice of closed registries and the inbreeding that it engenders.

So what is the way forward? Simple: The way forward is at the pound where mixed breed dogs are waiting -- literally dying for an owner.

Americans get that, which is why more and more people are getting their dogs at the shelter, and AKC registrations are falling like a penny down a well.

AKC registration are now half what they were in 2004, and they continue to tumble downward with each passing month despite the frantic addition by the AKC of more breeds to ruin.

The word is out that the AKC has strapped its financial fortunes to the puppy mill trade.

The word is out that buying an AKC dog is, more likely than not, to tie yourself to expensive veterinary bills that will only end with a dog that is dead long before it's time.

The word is out that the folks who continue to prop up and apologize for the AKC are a particular kind of broken individual; people who desperately need ribbons to validate their lives, but who are incapable of participating in real sports, have no real craft skills, and who are incapable of demonstrating real knowledge in a way that would cause people to pay them much attention.

Unable or unwilling to do esteemable things in order to boost their self-esteem, they have gravitated to buying a dog bred by someone else and, more often than not, paying someone else to walk it around the ring so that they can then brag that they won a ribbon made in China and worth less than a dollar.

Dog shows are a sad thing at every turn. Yes, many of the dogs at these shows are freaks of some kind or another, but have you considered the people?! Too much is broken here. Too much is sad. Is it any wonder that the the fortunes of the AKC are diving into the basement?
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