Fuming over elitist, nasty reaction to AKC mixed-breed survey--what do you think?

ORIGINAL: sillysally
If you have a rescued golden with no papers you can get the dog an ILP number....

 
I am dimly aware of that, but I don't see what benefit I get out of it.
 
And a larger question I have is if I can get an ILP number because I have a paper trail that says she is a Golden, what ramifications are there (if any) for paper trails that go through shelters? The reason I ask is that shelters can sometimes misidentify breeds, and I am aware of some shelter personell who wilfully designate a "dangerous" breed as something else.
 
I am not trying to start anything, I am just curious how this works in practice.....

in reference to the AKC trying to make money, as far as i know, they are a FOR PROFIT organization. someone please correct me if i'm wrong about that.

 
actually:
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from 2005 annual report
[linkhttp://www.akc.org/about/annual_report/2005/ar.html]http://www.akc.org/about/annual_report/2005/ar.html[/link]
 
However, IMO, they're pulling in a LOT of mone for a not-for-profit organization.  (But I think that about the Red Cross too.)
 

 i deeply respect the commitment involved in competition, but i wonder why people feel they need to be officially recognized all the time? 

 
For some people it's just fun.  It's a challange and it's fun to take on the judge's challenge and perform well with your dog.  The titles are proof that you and your dog can do the work.  I've known a lot of people to say "My dog can do that" while they're watching a dog do agility.  Well, I'm sure if that person were willing to put forth the time, effort and energy, the dog could.  But getting the dog to do a jump or climb the Aframe is the easy part.  Getting the dog to do it infront of hundreds of people with strangers in the ring (judge and ring crew) in the correct order in the alloted time with other dogs barking and running around, lots of strange smells, a food vendor nearby, etc is the hard part. 

For those that wonder why we work for titles on our dog, for many of us it's like this:  (it's been all over the internet, so i think it's okay to post)
 
by Sandy Mowery, from Front & Finish
Not just a brag, not just a stepping stone to a higher title, not just an adjunct to competitive scores; a title is a tribute to the dog that bears it, a way to honor the dog, an ultimate memorial. It will remain in the record and in the memory, for about as long as anything in this world can remain.
 
And though the dog himself doesn't know or care that his achievements have been noted, a title says many things in the world of humans, where such things count.
 
A title says your dog was intelligent, adaptable, and good natured. It says that your dog loved you enough to do the things that please you, however crazy they may have sometimes seemed.
 
In addition, a title says that you love your dog. That you loved to spend time with him because he was a good dog and that you believed in him enough to give him yet another chance when he failed and in the end your faith was justified.
 
A title proves that your dog inspired you to that special relationship enjoyed by so few; that in a world of disposable creatures, this dog with a title was greatly loved, and loved greatly in return.
 
And when that dear short life is over, the title remains as a memorial of the finest kind, the best you can give to a deserving friend. Volumes of praise in one small set of initials after the name.
 
An obedience title is nothing less that the true love and respect, given and received and recorded permanently.

In case this was intended to reply to me I think I may have been misunderstood. What I do not understand is the ILP #. What does it get me?

My situation BTW is that my mystery dog (the white one) is a born athlete. And I have futzed around with agility with him but I am not necessarily the type to compete when it comes to this specific thing. Other things yes, but not this. We all have things we enjoy and think we excel at but this is not my thing.

My Golden is very sweet, but agility? She is a clutz.
So somehow I would find it strange to go to the effort to enable her to compete in AKC sanctioned events but not him. Or if I were to get an ILP # for her but not for him well, I would feel that I had somehow betrayed him. I mean, this is like canine segregation, if I understand correctly.

Really I am happy with the fact that they are both Certified Therapy dogs, but that has nothing to do with the AKC. We visit nursing homes twice a month so I think that in a way most of what is in the Mowery explanation is fulfiled, at least for me. So what is the point of the ILP?

wow... for a non-profit, they sure do a *hearty* business[]... who knew??  and thanks for the *why* on the titles.... a nice little thing that helps me the non-competitor understand a bit better what the *big deal* is

and, for the record, although i believe varitek to be ATHLETICALLY capable of excelling in agility, i don't believe he has the mental stuff[].. so instead of me watching competitions thinking:  i can do that, i watch thinking: MAN i wish we could do that[]

Well, badrap, if you're so inclined, I'd be the first to encourage you to give it a try.  Some dogs, like basenjis, do take a little longer to focus and get titles with, but dog knows if my tri-ing basenji can, most any healthy (mentally and physically) can.  []  The mental thing is a building thing. 
 
Also, I should add, that for me going to shows is also social thing.  I know lots of people and miss them when, like this month, I have a month off.  We're all dog lovers and love to watch the teams go out there and give the course a try.  Of course there's always new people to meet, and that's just as fun too. 

I too would encourage everyone to try agility.  But if it doesn't excite you after trying, then yeah, why bother with the trial aspects of it.
 
Zircon, the ILP from AKC would allow your golden look-alike to compete in obedience, agility, rally and other non-conformation events with the AKC.  The thing about AKC is that it has the rally and obedience and other stuff besides agility.  Whereas there are lots of other venues to do agility in, CPE, USDAA, NADAC, etc. where you don't have to be PB, there are not many, if any, other organizations for obedience, rally, and what other stuff there is.  That is what the ILP from AKC would get you.  You could compete in non-agility stuff.
 
I compete because it's fun, it shows me where my dog and I are in our training, it's a social event and it means, to me, that I love my dog enough to spend the amount of time with them that it took to get us there. 

[sm=clapping%20hands%20smiley.gif]Bravo!
 
Thank you for posting this.
 
 

ORIGINAL: agilebasenji

For those that wonder why we work for titles on our dog, for many of us it's like this:  (it's been all over the internet, so i think it's okay to post)

by Sandy Mowery, from Front & Finish
Not just a brag, not just a stepping stone to a higher title, not just an adjunct to competitive scores; a title is a tribute to the dog that bears it, a way to honor the dog, an ultimate memorial. It will remain in the record and in the memory, for about as long as anything in this world can remain....
An obedience title is nothing less that the true love and respect, given and received and recorded permanently.

American Mixed Breed Owner Registry

I was wondering when someone would mention that...

saying that mixed breeds shouldn't participate in AKC irritates the hell out of me. 
 
I have a mixed breed dog that has been better than any purebred I've ever owned.  However... If everyone is going to pitch such a b***h about it... let them compete in their own catagories with the same/equal titles.  Except for conformation of course because there is no for a mix breed.
 
And I'm pretty sure I read that on here somewhere... so I'm repeating but I really don't care!! lol

ORIGINAL: badrap

and, for the record, although i believe varitek to be ATHLETICALLY capable of excelling in agility, i don't believe he has the mental stuff[].. so instead of me watching competitions thinking:  i can do that, i watch thinking: MAN i wish we could do that[]

 
Mental stuff? [sm=wink.gif]
 
TRY IT! I think dogs---like kids and the rest of us---only make the most of our mental power when it is something we REALLY want to do.
 
If he enjoys it he'll focus more mental energy on figuring out how to do it. And if the two of you enjoy it, do it anyways, even if some of the tricky mental stuff takes a long time.
 
Some breeds make it look so easy because they were bred to run a long distance and turn at the point of a finger---others were bred to stay closer to us. If your guy is a "closer" kind of guy then don't worry about the distance thing. You WILL be close to him in beg. agility. You don't start out pointing and running alonside.
 
I won't say you won't get frustrated and it won't be tricky but if he LOVES it and he lights up when he sees the obstacles, then you'll be glad you did it.
 
Find a good class near you and give it a whirl. Don't put it off and regret it later.
 
Unlike others here I am totally new to agility and know (comparitively) nothing. I do know that our first couple of classes looked like disasters from the outside (and to me sometimes) but my Gizmo loved it. He had fun and I so did I.
 
So go for it and don't look back.

ORIGINAL: tashakota

Zircon, the ILP from AKC would allow your golden look-alike to compete in obedience, agility, rally and other non-conformation events with the AKC.  The thing about AKC is that it has the rally and obedience and other stuff besides agility.  Whereas there are lots of other venues to do agility in, CPE, USDAA, NADAC, etc. where you don't have to be PB, there are not many, if any, other organizations for obedience, rally, and what other stuff there is.  That is what the ILP from AKC would get you.  You could compete in non-agility stuff.

Tashakota I realize that you meant this very nicely, and to explain what the ILP does, but the content behind your answer infuriates me. What this is saying is that my clutzy Golden (who is sweet but not the brightest bulb in the pack) would be welcome at AKC events while my mystery mutt, who is a natural born athlete would not be. Maybe if Sophia had not spent the first 20 months of her life in a concrete kennel serving as "momma" in a puppymill before we rescued her she might have been able to develop her talents...
I dunno....this would be like having two adopted children, one of whom would be allowed to play in the Little League and the other not.  Maybe comparing dogs to children is excessive, but I would not want anything to do with an organization that is so "exclusive".

I don't think it'll promote designer dogs at all! Remember, they have to be sterilised! It would be great for promoting responsible ownership and reaching out to the "average" pet dog owning community. I'm guessing fewer people would purchase ill-bred (ie: money bred) pet purebreds. There might be more of an attitude that f you want a pet, save a shelter mutt! If you want a retriever, well, then go to a GOOD breeder, not just some guy off the street selling AKC purebreds with no titles! Currently it is more along the lines of...if you want a pet, buy the cheapest purebred you can find.

I do NOT agree with AKC's idea that this might encourage mixed breed dog owners to have purebreds next by getting them beaten by the purebreds! Lol. If anyone truly loves dogs, he wants to HELP them, not just get some live toy! Sure, the same person may become an ethical fancier on top of his charitable activities, nothing wrong with that. Put it this way, I don't care that my ILP Golden is a darn good hunter and will become an AKC Champion Tracker by hook or by crook (don't worry, he likes it just as much as I do, and is really good at it), I still want to eventually have a purebred champion. But sheesh...I don't like the idea of anyone trying to switch people away from saving animals through competition.

Oh, and btw, some of the best SAR and detector dogs are mutts.

ORIGINAL: zircon

ORIGINAL: tashakota

Zircon, the ILP from AKC would allow your golden look-alike to compete in obedience, agility, rally and other non-conformation events with the AKC.  The thing about AKC is that it has the rally and obedience and other stuff besides agility.  Whereas there are lots of other venues to do agility in, CPE, USDAA, NADAC, etc. where you don't have to be PB, there are not many, if any, other organizations for obedience, rally, and what other stuff there is.  That is what the ILP from AKC would get you.  You could compete in non-agility stuff.

Tashakota I realize that you meant this very nicely, and to explain what the ILP does, but the content behind your answer infuriates me. What this is saying is that my clutzy Golden (who is sweet but not the brightest bulb in the pack) would be welcome at AKC events while my mystery mutt, who is a natural born athlete would not be. Maybe if Sophia had not spent the first 20 months of her life in a concrete kennel serving as "momma" in a puppymill before we rescued her she might have been able to develop her talents...
I dunno....this would be like having two adopted children, one of whom would be allowed to play in the Little League and the other not.  Maybe comparing dogs to children is excessive, but I would not want anything to do with an organization that is so "exclusive".

I think you might be taking this WAY too personally.  I have a mutt (probobly mostly pit bull, but we don't know) and a purebred and I have no issue with my Sally (who was my first dog, my cuddlebug, and my heart dog all the way) not being allowed to compete alongside Jack, who is from a good breeder and is a purebred lab. 

Then again I also don't try to take my Standardbred horse to Arabian horse shows and then pitch a fit when he is not allowed to enter.   Certain registries have their own rules and purposes, and I can choose to participate or not.  If I so badly wanted to show in Arabian horse shows, I'd get an Arabian horse.  I don't have an arabian horse so I'll participate in open shows if I wish to compete.  It's the same thing with dogs.  I just don't see why people's panties are in such a twist about an organization *gasp* doing what it was created to do, which is be an advocate for the purebred dog.