Fantasy people with their fantasy dogs.
The "Native Dog Breeds Trust" in the U.K. is going out of business, and it is trying to blame the Kennel Club and breed clubs for their lack of support.
This is, of course, complete nonsense.
The problem with the Native Dog Breeds Trust was that it was never needed.
The true and desired native breeds of the UK are alive and doing very well in forest, field and fen -- working collies, working terriers, working long dogs, and working gun dogs.
Is anyone saying they cannot find a true working dog in the U.K.?
No!
Which is not to say that anyone is looking for a working dog in the show ring!
They never have, and they never will.
And that was a core problem for the Native Dog Breed Trusts, which was trying to push a series of "failed" breeds which did not serve a purpose, were not very attractive or practical to start with, and which were (too often) notably unhealthy.
It is a simple, if sad, truth that an attractive but generally easy-to-care for dog that has serious health problems can still find a home -- look at the Dalmatian, or any one of the dozens of other Kennel Club breeds beset with heart problems, bone and joint problems, cancer, epilepsy, and routine liver failure.
And, of course, true working dogs like working collies, working terriers, lurchers and gun dogs will always have their place in the world. They are out there right now doing what they have always done.
But a very plain or ugly dog that is also maintenance-intensive and which also has no purpose? That is always going to be an up-hill battle.
When those twin burdens are paired with health problems, the market has a way of working things out. Kick it to the curb. Darwin has a way.
The good news here is that nothing has been lost. All that has happened with the demise of the "Native Dog Breeds Trust" is that the bubble of fantasy has been burst.
So what if the Skye Terrier or the Dandie Dinmont Terrier goes the way of dinosaurs and dodos?
Do we really need to keep every cocked up breed tossed into the air by some Victorian-era show-ring pretender, dog-dealer and fantasy-peddler?
No!
Let market forces rule. At some point, even in the world of dogs, it's time to take out the trash.
- Related Posts
** Danger for Dandies: Market Forces at Work
** More on Dandie Dinmonts -- and a Small Challenge
** Skye Terriers: The Dog's Been Dead a Long Time
** Scotties: The Working Dog That Never Was
** Swedish Kennel Club Lists 54 Breeds in Trouble
** The Kennel Club Protects and Preserves Failure
** The Missing Part of a Cairn Terrier
** "Strong Dog" Trials: Where Fancy Leads to Fantasy
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2 comments:
I disagree with you, but only slightly.
I don't want these breeds to go extinct. I want them to survive as healthy and functional animals.
What must go extinct is this "antique preservationist" mindset that exists among certain breeders of these dogs. It's killing them.
The best example I can think of is the Sussex spaniel, a "working" spaniel that virtually no one uses. In the early days of the fancy, breeding short-legged spaniels was a major fad, especially in the breeds we now call Sussex and Field Spaniels.
The Fields nearly went extinct in the past century. Their breeders realized there was a problem. Their dogs were too short in the leg to do actual spaniel work, so they crossed them with English springers. They began to work them. They aren't exactly common, but they aren't extinct-- unlike the Sussex spaniel.
I have an eighteenth century painting by George Stubbs of a Sussex spaniel. Stubbs was know for his anatomical accuracy in all of his paintings. The spaniel he painted was not short-legged at all. And yet, I hear from Sussex people that their dogs were always short-legged, going back 150 years ago. Well, yes, that's true. But Stubbs was painting dogs nearly a century before that! Thus, the dogs were not always short-legged.
If they wanted to save their breed, they'd lengthen its legs and open up the registry for outcrosses. That would make sense.
However, they still think they are preserving an antique, and for that reason, their breed will continue to decline.
I say this knowing fully well how much Sussex spaniel people dislike me. But facts are facts.
Here's a field spaniel from their short-legged period just for comparison, which looks an awful lot like a Sussex: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Old_Style_Field_Spaniel.jpg
A modern field:
http://www.pupsforsale.net/field_spaniel_puppies_02_for_sale.jpg
One other thing:
I've always thought this "vulnerable breed" thing was a canard.
Endangered status is based on numbers of KC registrations-- that's one European country. Genetic diversity doesn't seem to count. (Well, it never does with those people.)
I don't think world-wide that Smooth collies are on their way out. Same with Irish water spaniels.
And while Field spaniels are on that list, they have enough genetic diversity to last a while. They have been outcrossed with English springers, and they are being worked. They aren't Sussex spaniels, which are on their way to actual extinction, no matter which way you look at it.
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