Ok, I’m going to open a can of worms here.
First let me say, I do compete in conformation with my dogs and I do see the value in having *competent* judges assess your breeding stock. However, I limit my conformation showing to UKC and ASDR, two venues who support functional animals who can do the job they were bred for. I’ve seen beautiful functional animals win group at UKC, animals that would get laughed out of an AKC ring for “lacking type”. My own foundation girl Spyro has been accused of lacking breed type, despite looking almost identical to the original 1970s Australian Shepherd breed standard diagrams. What people really mean when they say a dog “lacks breed type” is “this dog doesn’t look like what’s winning in the AKC conformation ring right now”. What they leave out is that often the dogs winning in the AKC ring aren’t true to standard to begin with. They look nothing like the foundation dogs in the breed. This is especially true in standard aussies.
Now, in MAS, I do still see some athletic dogs winning in the AKC conformation ring but this seems largely dependent on what part of the country you’re in. Up in the Midwest, Minnesota, Iowa, etc, I see a much nicer and more balanced type of dog winning than what I see down here in the south. We are a new breed and we don’t yet have a fully developed show line/working line split. However, if things continue as it, it won’t be long before we have the same situation the aussies and border collies do.
While there are some judges who are exceptions to the rule, in general, herding dogs in particular suffer at the hands of AKC conformation judges. One need only look through the history of the Border Collie to see evidence of this. Show bred Border Collies have mutated to the point that they look nothing like the working dogs that FOUNDED the breed, nor do they act very much like them! Take a look at the dogs that are winning. They are too heavy boned, too heavy coated, and too over-angulated to make good working dogs.
This is also true in Aussies. The very dogs that show-line breeders claim “lack breed type” are the ones that look the most like the foundation dogs.
If you go back and look at the original breed standard diagrams and compare them to the dogs that are winning in AKC conformation rings today, you will think you’re looking at a different breed entirely. Most modern judges simply do not appreciate a dog that is bred to work all day. They would rather see huge heavy boned dogs with massive coats and hocks that sit 3 inches behind their body. They would rather see flashy movement than efficient movement. They want to see dogs with huge big trots, not dogs that can turn on a dime and give you back 9 cents change.
The AKC show breeders will argue until they are blue in the face that their dogs have superior structure. They will claim that their dogs are absolutely capable of being great working and sports dogs. They will claim they are breeding for “structure” that is beneficial to sports/working dogs. They say this structure lends itself to athletic ability, soundness and longevity. But where is the proof?
If it is true that the structure being rewarded in the show ring is functional and superior to what is seen in non-show line dogs, this begs a very important question: why are the dogs that are winning in the sports/performance rings built so differently than the ones winning in the conformation ring? Why do so few of these supposedly-superior conformation champions have high level sports titles? And no, novice titles don't count. I could put a novice agility title on anything with 4 legs. In fact, I've heard of dogs with 3 legs getting one. Where are the grand champion conformation dogs with MACHs and NATCHs? There are a few, but not very many. How many of those champions are running over 5.5 yards per second? How many of them are beating border collies? How many of them are making the world team or winning national and world titles?
Take a look at the 2020 Bad Dog Agility Power Score Top 10. This ranks the top 10 dogs in each breed in each jump height. On the entire list of Australian Shepherds, there is exactly ONE conformation champion. One. https://baddogagility.com/Australian-Shepherd-ranking-by-powerscore-for-2020/
How about MAS? There are 2 conformation champions on the list. Border collies? 2.
If show-line structure was superior, we’d see these lists FULL of champions.
To my knowledge there is exactly ONE MAS who has a world championship. Her name is “Sheza Mega Pixel” and she’d be laughed out of an AKC ring. The AKC breeders will tell you she lacks type. They will tell you she has faulty structure. And yet, she’s winning and their grand champions aren’t. What does that tell us? Either the conformation champions structure ISN’T the most functional or else they have completely bred out the necessary drive and temperament to be successful. Or both.
At the end of the day, form follows function. If a dog is winning in sports, that dog has form that aids in those accomplishments, regardless of whether breed judges are rewarding that structure or not.
One cannot claim that they are promoting the best structure in their breed when said structure is not conducive to athletic accomplishment. In fact, many conformation breeders are not even bothering to test their dogs in the sports arena. Why? Because ultimately those breeders don’t really *care* about athletic ability. They talk a good game, but they aren’t willing to put their money where their mouth is. They love to claim their dogs "do well in everything" but what they really mean is "my dogs can dabble in everything..." You know who else is capable of dabbling in everything? Every shelter mixed breed or rescue dog I ever met who didn't have extenuating health/behavioral issues. If I can get a random shelter dog for $50 who can do it, it hardly proves that your conformation champion's structure is in any way superior to that of said shelter dogs and CERTAINLY doesn't prove that your dog's structure is better than proven purebred working/sports line dogs.
The show folks who are actually entering their dogs are not generally being highly successful. Just watch the AKC Agility Nationals. Watch the aussies. The show line dogs are not quick. They are not efficient. They are not keeping up with the border collies. They are overweight, over-boned and lumbering through the course. I don’t want to think about what damage is going on in their joints. Watch their jumping style. They tend to “bounce” over jumps rather than fly over them like a border collie.
At the end of the day, if we want to compete against the border collies in the agility ring, we need to be, well, built more like border collies! This doesn’t mean disregarding the MAS/Aussie breed standard. It means getting back to the original intent of the standard which was to produce athletic working dogs.
When your grand champion MAS starts outrunning the border collies, I’ll believe that show-line structure is “correct” and superior. Until then, I will continue to see what’s winning in AKC as a fad and as breeders pandering to the whims of judges with no actual concern to functional structure.
Picture below: our girl Spyro compared to the original drawings of the Australian Shepherd head
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