In the last few years, you may have noticed German Shepherds with increasingly sloped hocks and Boxers with increasingly flat faces at the Westminster dog show, AKC Championship, and other exhibitions. Unfortunately, this is not a coincidence. Despite technically meeting breed standards set by the AKC, many dog breeds are plagued with consistent genetic problems and health issues. As the largest purveyor of purebreds, the AKC plays a large role (arguably the only role) in determining what breeding practices and standards are “good.”
1. The AKC Supports Breed Standard Conformity, Not Improvement
The AKC maintains overarching registries of recognized breeds, studs, dams, and litters. Ideally, breeders will only pull from these registries: they will cross an AKC-recognized dam with an AKC-recognized sire to create an AKC-recognized litter, and so on. However, this creates potential issues with diversity, especially with unique dog breeds and endangered dog breeds, which means the gene pool is also limited.
Additionally, the AKC has rigorous standards to become a recognized breeder, and established breeders typically do not want to cross their lines with less-accomplished lines. This means that there is not often an influx of ‘new blood’ to expand the genetic pool and help weed out recessive genes that otherwise lead to serious health issues.
Further compounding this problem is that these registries were initially small when they were first created. Similarly, breeds that the AKC has only recently recognized often have a limited number of dogs. This means that the vast majority of purebreds today resulted from small gene pools.
Two reasons— a limited initial gene pool and the lack of introduced genetic diversity— are why there are serious genetic issues that plague purebreds today. Heart, eye, and hip issues abound across the majority of the most iconic dogs, including the most popular dolichocephalic breeds and brachycephalic breeds.
As one example, the Laboratory Retriever has notorious health issues and more than 30 inherited conditions that can arise. Despite this, Labs were the #1 most popular purebred dog for more than a decade and still rate among the top five most popular dogs. Another example is the French Bulldog, which has been in the top five most popular dog breeds since 2016 and is predisposed to more than 20 health disorders.
The AKC Breeder Program does require breeder to perform “applicable” health screens, as determined by the corresponding AKC Breed Parent Clubs. For example, the American Cocker Spaniel parent club requires eye and thyroid testing and health screenings for Hip Dysplasia, von Willebrand’s Disease, and Penn Hip. This shifts the responsibility for implementing and upholding healthy genetic practices onto parent clubs, rather than the AKC itself. But these parent clubs are self-governing bodies and can therefore set, change, or rescind screening requirements as desired.
The AKC also offers the Breeder of Merit Program, allegedly limited to breeders “who have gone above and beyond on health issues, temperament, and genetic screening.” However, the Breeder of Merit Program does not have more stringent standards related to health issues or genetic screening beyond those already required by the AKC Breeder Program. Instead of requiring breeders to screen their dogs and litters more extensively, program applicants still only have to comply with health screenings set by the parent clubs.
2. The AKC Does Not Support Modern Efforts to Revitalize Breeds
As noted in the section above, the AKC inadvertently supports unhealthy breeding practices. But because the AKC is committed to purebred dogs, they neither recognize nor support efforts to revitalize issue-ridden breeds. In a nutshell, these efforts involve creating a healthier version of a specific purebred dog by mixing bloodlines with breeds that have desired traits. The goal is to maintain traditional temperaments while improving the dog’s physical and genetic structure.
Brachycephalic dogs are prime candidates for these efforts. Brachycephalic dogs have skulls that are so shortened that it causes upper airway abnormalities and issues, such as Pugs, French Bulldogs, Brussels Griffon, Pekingese, and English Toy Spaniels. The Retromop Pug, also called the Retro Pug, is a great example of breed revitalization efforts. Retro Pugs mix traditional Pugs with Jack Russell Terriers. This maintains the Pug’s friendly and affectionate character but lengthens the snout and expands the skull, resolving genetic respiratory issues.
Notably, the AKC does offer a record-keeping service even for breeds that it does not recognize, called the Foundation Stock Service (FSS®) Program. But the FSS Program does not accept what it calls “rare breeds.” These breeds are dogs that mix two or more AKC-recognized breeds or are “variations” of AKC-recognized breeds, such as Retro Pugs, Goldendoodles, or the Wooly French Bulldog. Because of this, even the AKC’s ‘unofficial’ programs fail to support efforts to revitalize breeds and fix ever-expanding health issues in purebred dogs.
3. The AKC is Limited to the United States
We’ve already discussed how having a limited gene pool is detrimental to the overall health of every breed. Breeders can only register litters with the AKC if both the dam and sire were AKC-registered. Essentially, this means that breeders cannot easily import and mix international and domestic purebreds.
The AKC does have relationships with kennel clubs in more than 200 countries. For example, the AKC has had a reciprocal agreement as far back as 1914 with The Kennel Club, the UK’s equivalent to the AKC. But there are currently less than 100 countries with foreign registries that are eligible for registration in the AKC Stud Book.
There are several criteria that affect registry eligibility, but it is important to note that the AKC and other kennel clubs do not necessarily follow the same breeding standards. This means that mixing an American bloodline with a foreign bloodline could produce a dog that, while purebred, does not meet AKC breed standards. Thus, genetic diversity may require breeders to sacrifice AKC recognition for future litters.
For example, the Brittany has both French and American variants. Both are derived from the same 17th century historical lines, but different breeding standards in the 20th century resulted in different characteristics. While the Brittany is still classified as a spaniel in France, the AKC re-classified the American Brittany in 1982 as part of the pointer family. French and American Brittanys now have distinct differences in breed standard height and weight.
The AKC does have a Certified Export Pedigree program, which helps foreign kennel clubs recognize AKC-registered purebreds. But for an AKC-recognized breeder to use a foreign stud or dam, the dog must meet a list of criteria (including being listed with the aforementioned AKC-recognized foreign registries). Similarly, breeders must complete a Special Litter Registration Application for any litters produced by a mating outside of the U.S.
4. The AKC is Reactive, Not Proactive
The AKC’s core values include a commitment to purebred dogs and protecting the interests of dog owners. Despite this, the AKC is not proactive with regard to legislation regarding dog breeding, selling, import, and ownership. The AKC is the largest (and only) federally-recognized domestic kennel club and sets breeding standards. This imbues the AKC with both widespread public reach and potentially powerful legislative sway. Unfortunately, neither is used to its greatest effect.
The AKC has become progressively more involved in legislation and now even offers legislative alerts about dogs that outline proposed state bills that could advance or hinder animal rights. These alerts include regular updates about each tracked bill and even provide users with information on how to contact their senators. But, again, this is reactive: lobbying to shape the legislative landscape would be more effective in accomplishing the AKC’s core values and mission.
To their credit, the AKC has worked to overturn legislation that is harmful to animals or based on misconceptions. The official AKC history timeline includes several landmark pieces of legislation that the association worked on. For example, in 1914 the AKC helped overturn an ordinance in New York City that required all dogs to be muzzled in public. Similarly, in 2006, the AKC also supported the Pets Evacuation Transportation Standards (PETS) Act.
Additionally, the AKC may change its internal standards in response to political events. For example, the AKC notes on its Special Registry Services page that it “is opposed to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.” As a result, Russian judges are no longer allowed at AKC sanctioned events and dogs born in Russia are no longer eligible for AKC foreign registration. So while the AKC is not necessarily proactive in terms of domestic legislation, they are politically active.
