It is absolutely tragic to me that there are still certain people in the AKC MAS community who have no respect for all that ASDR has offered our breed and studbook.
Is it a perfect registry? Absolutely not. Neither is AKC or UKC or any other registry.
I've seen people with highly titled, health tested dogs and perfect breeding practices get called "backyard breeder" because they choose to register with ASDR or show with ASDR (and often these are people who are also dual registering AKC). ASDR is a wonderful organization that not only hosts amazing shows but also puts on tons of seminars for novices and juniors. They have contributed an amazing wealth of genetic diversity to a breed that is in dire straits genetically in the AKC world. They've also taken over guardianship of many foundation lines since NSDR basically become defunct. We must protect and value our history. I was given a wonderful opportunity to meet/visit with Sandy Travis last night and I'm so honored that we have her lines available to us, but a lot of those lines are sitting in ASDR toy registry and haven't made it over to AKC MAS.
Are there poor breeders in ASDR? Yep and in AKC too. Registry is no mark of a good or bad breeder. Many ASDR dogs trace their heritage straight back to Sandy Travis and the other founders of our breed. ASDR also offers a way for valuable farm lines who have lost their paperwork over the years to rejoin the purebred registered dog world. If it were not for ASDR, my UKC Conformation champion with 20+ titles would still be an unregistered farm dog and all her genetic value would be lost to the breed.
I never fail to be amused at people who think it's more prestigious to take Winners Dog at AKC than to take Best in Show at ASDR. How many dogs did you beat for those AKC points? 5? 10? 15 at a BIG entry? That's cute, ASDR had 20 dogs in the 3-6 month male bred by class.
ASDR is an important part of our open studbook project and a huge percentage of your "everyday" MAS owners find their way to AKC via the ASDR mini aussie world. Stop calling people backyard breeders because they come from ASDR. There are top level people in MASCUSA who dual register and show ASDR.
I came from ASDR and will ALWAYS support them as keepers of the true vision of mini aussies and the intended NAME of the mini aussie. Keep in mind Sandy always intended mini aussies to be small dogs (hers were mostly around 12 inches) and those dogs aren't even eligible to show in an AKC MAS conformation ring. ASDR is keeping her vision alive.
How you treat people and how you treat dogs is the FIRST mark of a quality organization. If you don't have kindness, nothing else you do matters.
Comments