THE AKC!!

jon cornett · Post by **jon cornett** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 10:02 pm

WHATS EVERYONES OPINION ON THE AKC'S DNA PROGRAM AND THE AKC IN GENERAL? ALSO WILL THE AKC'S CONTINUING PRICE INCREASES, DNA TESTING PROGRAM WHICH I THINK WILL EVENTUALLY LEAD TO DNA TESTING ALL BREEDABLE FEMALES, LEAD TO MORE FALSE PAPERING, OR NOT REGISTERING AT ALL?

Big Dog · Post by **Big Dog** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 10:11 pm

The AKC is the big certified record keeper in my book and that is how I look at them. They are only as good as the folks that use them. I don't find their prices much higher than anyone else, so I would say they are par for the course. Any measures that they could put in place to limit paper shuffling would be a plus in my book.

Big Dog

Bopeye · Post by **Bopeye** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 10:59 pm

I'm with BigDog on this one.

kjohns · Post by **kjohns** » Thu Jan 29, 2004 11:19 am

I agree.

J.D. · Post by **J.D.** » Thu Jan 29, 2004 1:27 pm

I for one am happy with AKC. Sure I wish there was a way to guarantee that the papars were always right but can any registery that can guarantee that. As far as a price increases, tell me what doesn't go up. I remember when gas was 55 cents a gallon. Jon how much do you think your dogs would be worth if you were selling them as grade verus AKC. J.D.

daustin · Post by **daustin** » Thu Jan 29, 2004 1:41 pm

You will all love to know that the AKC has been calling Commercial Breeders and other high volume breeders (ie puppymills) lately trying to get their business back. It just goes to show that they are in it for the money.

Dane

WSRandy · Post by **WSRandy** » Thu Jan 29, 2004 2:23 pm

I like AKC and of course they are in it for the money, that's what a business does

Randy

S.M. Beagler · Post by **S.M. Beagler** » Thu Jan 29, 2004 2:34 pm

a business trying to make money?? thats not fair haha!!! j/k however the akc is the most respected kennel club there is. and if they want to evenutally require dna testing on their dogs then thats fine. even if it costs more that would mean more security for peoply buying the dogs and make an akc registered dog even more valueable.
if you guys want to see people in it for the money go to your local pet store and you'll see a beagle/mongrel mix. and it will be like 600 bucks and you'll look at the sticker and it says registered. and then you ask who in the hell would register a mut, and they show u papers from like pugle or something like that!

Steve C. · Post by **Steve C.** » Thu Jan 29, 2004 3:50 pm

Here's a question pertaining to DNA certification. Who's to say that the DNA sample submitted is from the dog certified? It's still an honor system, but another $40 per animal charge. I only use AKC and CKC registrations but I have to ask, for all the additional fees, what has AKC done for me as a breeder? If you only keep a few hounds, these fees and charges are of no real consequence. Neither are they a hardship for those who buy and sell hounds for profit. For those of us who keep a stable of 10 to 15 hounds and breed occasionally for our own use, these costs mount up quickly. Three times I've sent checks to AKC for transfer or importation fees and received letters saying that payment was not enclosed. On receiving my account statement I find the checks were indeed cashed by AKC but all attempts at resolving this were ignored by them. Another example is the listing fees paid to AKC for running a field trial. The per entry charge has gone from $.50 to $2.00 per dog. That's about a $150 INCREASE per trial from last year. With many clubs struggling to stay afloat (taxes on land, insurance and field trial expenses) this is going to create a hardship for some clubs, particularly when today in some areas there may be up to 5 trials on any given weekend which reduces entries. Costs to pay judges expenses, trophies, etc remain the same regardless of entries. There IS some backlash resulting from these increases and more and more I'm hearing people say that they'd like to see a "beagle only" registry where we could continue to hold trials and keep things as they've always been, but have some input into how business is done. My main gripe is that AKC makes mandates that we must abide by, yet they never bother to send reps to the trials to make sure rules are followed. We've been holding trials for 5 years now and have never seen a rep at our club. Official measurements are assigned to dogs who don't belong in the class with no questions asked. In the end I see a product priced far above its actual worth. The only reason I continue to register my hounds is because I enjoy the trials. I know the ancestry of my hounds without AKC's help. There are SO many ways AKC could be assisting us in producing better hounds with the database they have at hand, yet they are completely unwilling to give REAL information on which hounds are really producing at high percentages.

WELLS WOODS · Post by **WELLS WOODS** » Thu Jan 29, 2004 4:08 pm

I agree, AKC could do better and I don't understand all the price increases although we have had AKC reps at our trials several times.
I am glad, though , that they have kept the rule book the same as intended by the author. With all the AKC brace, and misinterpreted rulebook associations, it's a wonder they haven't tried to reword it to suit the people with the most money. This sure wouldn't be gundog beaglers.
Also without thier records over the years, I wonder where our breed would be; probably not as purebred as today. Yes , I know it would be easy for some to put false papers on hounds, but AKC has made progress to eliminate this.

Steve C. · Post by **Steve C.** » Thu Jan 29, 2004 4:14 pm

I guess my feeling is that the very fact that AKC Brace exists in its current state is the single biggest condemnation of AKC's enforcement of its own own rulebook. I think that you could come here and judge our Large Pack trial or I could go to your place to judge SPO and results would likely be similar- yet Brace trials are so far removed from the rulebook that they have no right calling themselves field dogs. I get the feeling that we beaglers are a great pain in the neck to AKC.

blackdirt beagles · Post by **blackdirt beagles** » Thu Jan 29, 2004 4:30 pm

people can say what they want about AKC but they still are the "king of the hill" in registries. it will stay this way til some of the other registries close their doors to single registering dogs. i dont even register with ARHA or UKC anymore. anyone can do that the day of a trial if they like. yes AKC is a bit more in price and in the past have had poor customer service. but their service is getting better and more convienent now. you can register litters online even. i think they are honestly trying to improve (finally) so i will definately stay with them. i would like to see one of the other guys close their registry, that would make akc even more apt to keep improving.

WELLS WOODS · Post by **WELLS WOODS** » Thu Jan 29, 2004 4:30 pm

Your probably right Steve, but at one time there must have been someone in AKC that loved the hunting beagle or they wouldn't have had such an excellent rulebook written. They way I look at it, I totally disagree with the brace trial movement, but I appreciate thier donations to my record keeper , AKC.

daustin · Post by **daustin** » Thu Jan 29, 2004 5:38 pm

The reason they are trying to get better customer service and have gone to things like the online litter registration is because they lost A LOT of high volume breeders due to their "it's not our fault and it will be $$ if you want it fixed" attitude. Some of you know what a PIA it is with 10-15 hounds, imagine if you had 50. That could get expensive. They even did research into the high volume breeder problems (hence the birth of the High Volume Breeder Commitee they started).

Dane

windy hollow · Post by **windy hollow** » Thu Jan 29, 2004 5:53 pm

I think they could use an upgrade on their website!