Potential AKC Program

[summitview]

The survey can be taken by clicking www.akc.org/ad_clubsurvey (http://www.akc.org/ad_clubsurvey) and should take less than 10 minutes to complete. Please forward the link to students, friends and colleagues. When you click the link, you will navigate to a non-AKC website called Zoomerang. This is an official AKC survey. Zoomerang is the tool AKC uses to collect survey data. The survey must be completed by February 18, 2008 per the AKC e-mail I received.

From the survey site:

Dog Owner Survey

At the American Kennel Club, we understand the importance of the bond between man and his favorite family companion, the dog. For centuries, dogs have served humans in a variety of vital roles – protector, hunter, herder – and most importantly, loyal companion.

Today’s dog lovers rarely need their canines to perform any job other than to be their best friend, and AKC knows that is the most vital part dogs play in our lives. AKC wants to help dog owners celebrate the love their canines bring to their families.

AKC is considering a new program, offered by an AKC affiliate, for mixed breed dog owners. The new program, a club possibly named the All American Dog Club, would give members access to an interactive website. The website would include fun features like forums, dog care video downloads, picture contests, multi-media scrapbooks, multi-media games, access to expert advice, and more. Additional benefits would include round-the-clock recovery services to help reunite lost pets with their owners, a free initial veterinary visit, a trial offer of pet health insurance, and the latest information on dog care and training. Members also would have the opportunity to earn the Canine Good Citizen certificate and AKC titles in Rally, Obedience, and the fast-paced sport of Agility!

Prior to making a decision to move forward with this new idea, AKC wants to learn more about you and your needs as a dog owner. This survey should take less than 10 minutes to complete, and the answers will help the AKC better serve you.

Please remember to enable cookies prior to starting the survey or you will not be able to advance beyond the first page. To test whether you have cookies enabled, click here (http://www.akc.org/support/cookie_test.cfm).

Thank you for your time and participation. PS - I checked a few forum sections real quick and couldn't find this posted anywhere else. If it has been, please feel free to delete this post and direct me to the current thread.

[chanda]

bookmarked it! gonna check it later...

[Zoom]

This looks like a ploy to get even more money brought in and gives petstores yet another excuse/way to sell overpriced puppymill dogs. The CGC is already available to every dog on the planet, so that's nothing new. It would be nice for those wanting to compete in the other sporting venues, but that's one small benefit to a program that I'm pretty sure will make the "designer dog" population explode.

[summitview]

This looks like a ploy to get even more money brought in and gives petstores yet another excuse/way to sell overpriced puppymill dogs. The CGC is already available to every dog on the planet, so that's nothing new. It would be nice for those wanting to compete in the other sporting venues, but that's one small benefit to a program that I'm pretty sure will make the "designer dog" population explode.
Then take the survey and voice your opinion in opposition. That's what the survey is for - to get opinions. I didn't post this as a supportive piece. I posted it so others can voice their opinions. I have also voted.

[elegy]

i don't think it's going to make the designer dog market explode. in order to be registered, they'll have to be spayed or neutered anyway. and they wouldn't be registered as "labradoodle" or "cockadoodledoo", they'd be registered as "all american" or whatever they decide to designate mutts as. hardly glamorous.

but it would allow people with mixed breed or non-akc breed (the camp i fall into) dogs to compete in akc companion events (rally, obedience, agility, etc). yes, there are other venues, but depending on where you live, opportunities may be limited.

[Kayla]

What a great oppurtunity for competitive dog owners who have mixed breeds, i just finished the survey in hopes that prehaps the CKC will follow suite if the AKC creates such a club.

[Dekka]

It would be great for resuce dogs, and shelter dogs. The AKC/CKC has finally noticed that all breed venues for agility and rally are very very popular. Here in canada AAC (think usdaa) is more popular than CKC agility (entries, and number of shows wise) I am sure the ever money hungry kennel clubs would love some of those $$$$

[Boreayl_Chinooks]

Thank you Ashley for posting this link. Actually I had already completed the survey and voiced my SUPPORTING opinion and hope others will consider doing so as well. As a purebred kennel, the thought of spayed/neutered mixes competing does not bother me, especially if they have separate classes/titles anyway. It may even help educate more people on responsible ownership regardless of the kind of dog they own. Like it or not, the Doodles are already here to stay and I doubt this would have any affect on their breeders. More importantly, AKC has become very active in legislative issues that threaten the rights of responsible breeders/exhibitors and it's time for all dog owners to come together to fight this crap. AKC opposes breeding permits and mandatory spay/neuter laws and other legislation that restricts the rights of responsible breeders far more than they affect commercial breeders or BYB's.

Debbie

http://www.akc.org/canine_legislation/

[Lilavati]

I'm very pleased. Dog owners need to come together under one banner, and the only organization that has the political heft is the AKC. I'll be filling out the survey and registering Sarama if the program goes into effect.