The AWDF (American Working Dog Federation ) has been in existence for more than a decade, and it is perhaps appropriate to evaluate it's progress and direction, and in a wider sense the progress and prospects of the protective heritage canine breeds in America.
The AWDF came into existence in response to a number of real and perceived needs within our working dog community, which in reality meant Schutzhund USA. The root of many if not most of our problems of today is in the ambiguity in the purpose and function of this organization. Although from the beginning formally a German Shepherd organization, there was and continues to be acceptance of other breeds. The motivation for this was and is pragmatic, for the working movement has struggled in America primarily because of distance and a lack of infrastructure, that is, truly effective local training clubs, the basis of the culture. We are so small in number that we need to involve as many potentially serious people as possible.
Thus there was an evident and urgent need for a larger, more inclusive organization which would allow Schutzhund USA to fully function as a stand alone German Shepherd entity, playing it's rightful role in the international Shepherd community, while allowing for the emergence of effective, similar, cooperating working organizations for the other breeds.
Another primary motivation for a national all breed organization was the plight of Schutzhund USA and its subservient place, relative to the AKC oriented German Shepherd Dog Club of America, in the international community of German Shepherd national entities. Schutzhund USA leadership came to perceive a need for FCI affiliation, which is not possible as a stand alone single breed club. Thus the desire for a larger organization with the potential for FCI affiliation.
The often not explicitly stated common bond among our American working dog community is adherence to the fundamental principle of von Stephanitz, that is, that the foundation of a protective heritage working breed is and must be a comprehensive trial, as a prerequisite to breeding and the acceptance of the progeny into the breed, involving demonstration of the olfactory capability, working willingness as expressed in obedience and, fundamentally, the ability to function as an effective protection dog.
Because of the success and popularity of the German Shepherd, the primary example of such a trial system is the Schutzhund trial, which has over the past century molded this breed into the most successful in the world. Other systems, such as the Dutch police trials and the Ring sports of Belgium and later France have proven capable of playing a similar role.
Thus the two primary purposes for the establishment of the AWDF were the need for a national level, all breed organization dedicated to the growth of protection oriented working trials and local training clubs in support of the evolution of an American heritage and the perceived need for an American organization eligible for FCI affiliation.
The fulfillment of these two purposes is mutually exclusive, fundamentally impossible. For this reason the AWDF and indeed the entire American protective heritage working dog movement is dead in the water.
The most fundamental and relevant fact is that the FCI is not an organization dedicated to the protective heritage, or even work in general, but rather made up of show breeder dominated all breed national organizations. In Belgium the primary Ring dog (working) association is not affiliated with the FCI affiliated, conformation oriented St. Hubert organization. In the Netherlands the KNPV (Police Trial organization ) is separate from the FCI oriented conformation dog entity. This separation has been a double edged sword, allowing for control of the working trials by the working people but limiting direct access to "official" papers and a recognized place in the formal international community.
In Germany the SV is indeed an integral part of the FCI system and, because of it's size and power, has been able with over all success to remain faithful to the working dog principles of von Stephanitz. But this is eroding. We see the weakening commitment to the principles of working functionality first among an emerging set of show breeders and the imposition of the 70 point protection rule and the general watering down of the IPO protection routine. The "golden middle" is a thinly disguised movement to water down the German Shepherd as a working dog, for if a century of experience has taught us nothing else it has shown that working willingness and capability must be the first and primary breeding criteria. Continuation of this trend will result in the Malinois, bred largely on the basis of trial field performance in working communities outside of FCI affiliated organizations, emerge as the preeminent working breed world wide.
These trends in Europe, combined with pressure to mold the AWDF into a form acceptable to the FCI, threaten the integrity and the viability of the protective working dog movement in America. Regardless of the name, the AWDF is most unlikely to achieve meaningful FCI affiliation without the inclusion of representation for other, non working, breeds. This will quickly demote the serious working people to second rate membership within the AWDF, yet again under the thumb of the show breeders.
Perhaps the most negative development over the past decade is the emergence of AWDF member clubs dominated and controlled by people not committed or only weakly committed to the protective culture. What unites us as working people is our belief in the working trial, culminating in a strong protection test, as the working definition of the working dog.
Beyond the Shepherd and Rottweiler clubs, this principle is not the foundation for guidance and decision making in the other clubs. As proof of this statement, we need look no further than the aborted AWDF conformation show planned for the fall of 2001 in St. Louis. In the catalog only the Shepherds and Rottweilers needed a working title for eligibility. The Dobermans and the Bouviers were to be shown, to be eligible for recognition as the "best working dog", on the basis of superficial "temperament tests" and there were virtually no working requirements for the other breeds. The Malinois was not to be included at all.
Was not the purpose of the AWDF to avoid all of this, the glorification of dogs totally devoid of working credentials in the show ring ?
The situation in the Belgian Shepherd community illustrates our dilemma. The AWDF membership is held by the United Belgian Shepherd Dog Association, also affiliated with the UKC, which is in reality just another show breeder dominated organization, doing nothing to advance serious working Malinois. In frustration, the serious Malinois people have formed their own, alternative, working club which has "guest" status within the AWDF.
This is absurd, totally beyond the provisions of the AWDF constitution and by laws. Furthermore, AWDF regulations are routinely flaunted and ignored. DVG judges are not eligible to officiate at AWDF functions, primarily because this organization refuses to abide by the regulations limiting commercial activity on the part of judges, so wisely and admirably instituted by Schutzhund USA and adopted by the AWDF. Yet they nevertheless officiate at AWDF events.
In order to move forward, the AWDF leadership needs to reevaluate direction and policy. The situation in the Malionis clubs needs to be resolved; either the regulations need to be modified to permit any number of breed clubs, or one or the other of these two clubs must be expelled. The guiding principle should to be to select the club which adheres to the breeding principles of von Stephanitz.
In order for the AWDF to become viable, it must become truly an association of breed organizations functioning according to the principles of von Stephanitz, that is, an adequate performance in a working trial, including a serious protection test, as a prerequisite to breeding eligibility. Anything short of this will simply water down our efforts to advance, rendering meaningful progress impossible. This need not be limited to Schutzhund or IPO, inclusion of serious, well established alternatives, similar to or affiliated with the KNPV or the various Ring organizations , should be a guiding principle.
It is unfortunate the AWDF has evolved by including member clubs without any real commitment to the protective heritage, which should be our common bond. Real progress for a working heritage in America requires a rectification of this situation.
Furthermore, the pursuit of FCI affiliation needs to be reevaluated. Beyond Germany, many of the most successful working dog organizations, so successful that they will eclipse the German Shepherd if the SV and World Union continue to lower standards, are outside of the FCI, for good reason. The existence of the AWDF under absolute control of member clubs functioning according to the von Stephanitz principle should be the fundamental, and FCI membership should only be pursued within this context. Opening the AWDF up to non working organizations in order to achieve FCI affiliation would be committing suicide.
Jim Engel, Marengo, July 3, 2002