AKC Relations
Protection Dogs in a Politically Correct World
Jim Engel
Thirty years ago the conventional wisdom, especially among Americans, was that continental Europe - particularly Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands - was much more supportive of the protective heritage canines in terms of training and breeding infrastructure and social acceptance. This is of course where these breeds evolved, these are the homelands.
Three decades later America has made little real progress in grass roots breeding and training, although a few imported dogs continue to do well in international competition. More surprisingly, Europe has in some areas regressed significantly, as in the physical and moral qualities of the show line German Shepherds, which have become an embarrassment to the heritage of von Stephanitz.
In terms of the social climate America has shown enormous progress in that police and military canine service are flourishing and public acceptance of our working sports is good. Although there were deep concerns in the early years, today Americans breeding and training working dogs are unimpeded by legal or social limitations, and use all of the traditional training devices, supplying many surreptitiously to Europe, and free to dock or crop their dogs according to their traditions.
Europe on the other hand has come under enormous pressure from the increasingly passive and socialist elements of society, that is, the show canine establishment promoting soft pet dogs and the Nanny state set which is having real success in banning prong collars, radio collars, ear cropping, tail docking, the use of the stick in working trials. Their agenda is to eliminate all work and sport involving aggression, dogs biting people.
A pertinent example was the announcement by the Frans Janssen
led FCI Utility Dogs Commission that the stick would not be used
at the 2014 IPO championships, and would be eliminated two years
later, which would have been this year. Although the Europeans
were as usual no more than passive aggressive, that is submissive
and compliant, USCA president Jim Alloway made it clear that they
would not run trials without the stick and I responded vigorously
in a series of EMail messages to four or five thousand of my closest
sport friends, including most SV and FCI IPO judges.
Within the week the Commission reversed itself, and the stick was back.
We have not won the war, but we did win a skirmish, and demonstrated that you can stand up to bureaucracy if you have the resolution and courage. Interestingly enough many Europeans, including FCI IPO judges, told me repeatedly that nothing could be done, that we had to give in. Pussification prospers when those on the front lines lack the courage to resist.
Having been among the principal advocates for an American working heritage since the early 1980s, through my writing in Dog Sports and Dog World Magazine and as a founder of both the AWDF and the North American working Bouvier club, I was involved in the early efforts to gain AKC acceptance, which are not well remembered, but will be outlined here, and once these initiatives failed the establishment of national level alternatives.
Gaining social acceptance and avoiding legal restrictions was a
serious issue in the early years, and there is a lot of history to our
efforts to overcome these obstacles. Thirty years ago, in 1987, our
Fox River Valley Working Dog Association put on a protection
demonstration at the International Kennel Club in Chicago,
in terms of prominence and prestige second only to Westminster.
This came about in large part through the efforts of Joan Klem of
the Medallion Rottweiler Club. Louis Auslander, later AKC
Board Chairman, was present and saw my Bouvier Gambit and others
working at a Medallion function and invited our group to put on the
demo at the IKC show.
Several years later, under Auslander's tenure at the AKC, the infamous Schutzhund ban of 1990 was promulgated, and I responded with a formal letter, to which he responded, indicating personal support. His direct words were "…the AKC has erred in not bestowing its approval on Schutzhund combined with AKC events."
The relevant documents and photos are presented here as a reminder that even 30 years ago some of us had the will, determination and courage to resist:
IKC Show
There was a Schutzhund demonstration at the 1987 IKC Show in Chicago. Joan Klem, a well known name in the Rottweiler world, played a key role in making this happen.
Dog World Magazine
Public Relations Duty: Pete Rademacher of Rodsden Kennels with Dux v.d.Blume and Kathy Engel with Centauri's Gambit after a Schutzhund protection demonstration at the Chicago International AKC show in 1987. Both dogs were Schutzhund III as well as AKC conformation Champions. (Photo Steve Monyko) Decoy is Ron Maloney
