Titles, pedigrees, and choices.
These seem to be some sticking points. AKC only recognizes AKC titles on its pedigrees. AKC does not have intermediate FT titles. So individuals tag QAA dogs with *** or QAA, or AAQ or some such, on hand-typed documents, because AKC does not provide this information, even though these are AKC events. AKC also does not formally recognize those animals who have had multiple completions of a Master National event. Both of these pedigree omissions could be corrected by the FT or HT Advisory Committees. Those committees are made up of US, the retrieverites. The committee is not AKC telling us what to do, it is us telling AKC what we want.
CKC only allows CKC titles on THEIR pedigrees. AKC titles will not show up on CKC pedigrees. Does this make the CKC FT & HT games less valuable to the enthusiast? In my mind, no. What is far more damaging to the percieved value of titles earned in Canada is that there are NO shot flyers allowed in retriever games, by law, nationwide. CKC does have a derby-level title (JFTR) and an all-age title (QFTR). These involve more than just getting a ribbon. For the JFTR, a dog must earn placements and five or more Junior (Derby) points, however a win is not mandatory. For the QFTR, a dog must have a win in Qualifying, plust a total of ten points in Qualifying, OR ribbons or placements in Open or Amateur stakes.
UKC/HRC claims to be working on recognizing any titles a dog has earned on that dog's pedigree. It remains to be seen, when I register Yankee with UKC, if this is so, as she holds both AKC and CKC titles.
AKC, UKC and CKC all have reciprocal agreements with each other as far as registration is concerned. You can register a dog with all three of these organizations. Yet the titles will not transfer, even though the titles are listed on the registration slip when it is sent in as part of the documentation to cross-register.
Championships. There are no less than ELEVEN different agility Championships available for any dog to earn. NONE of these requires a dog to defeat one single other dog to earn it. Yet I have had an agility person tell me with a straight face, that one of these agility Championships is harder to earn than an FC title! Perceptions, again.
I don't see the AKC, CKC, or UKC games going away, or merging, any time soon. All three of these are supported by strong registries, where the bulk of these organizations' revenues come from. NAHRA has no registry to support its programs, neither does NFRA. Therefore, revenues come directly from those who participate in the activity.
Aside from the money issue, there is the communication/support issue. AKC is a republic, meaning that representatives from member clubs vote on changes to rules and regulations. However, the Retriever Advisory Committee is where change initiates. In most cases, if the RAC recommends a change, the AKC delegate body will rubber-stamp it. It behooves anyone running in one of the AKC games to know who is on the advisory committee(s), what the issues are, and to let them know if you have any ideas for changes. This can be done directly, or through your AKC retriever club.
From what I have seen so far, UKC operates in a similar fashion.
CKC is a direct-member organization. Anyone can join the CKC, and if they are a Canadian resident, they can propose rule changes and vote on those changes. CKC has a pretty nifty experiment going on right now, called "publish for comment". On their website, proposals are posted, and members may post what they like or dislike about the proposals.
NAHRA has not published their by-laws, nor yet their rulebook (yet they claimed eight months ago that it was at the printer's). There seems to be little input from the membership, either directly or through their local club's representative.
NFRA was just born yesterday, and I look forward to looking over their by-laws.
I don't know that any of this will "dilute" anything. A lot depends on the region where you live. In Central NY, things are spread out, and there are not many folks participating in ANY of the retriever games. That makes any event hard to put on, because of lack of bodies, etc. Add to that the fact that there are only so many viable weekends to run tests in, and the summer calendar gets pretty full. Where a person chooses to spend their time/money really boils down to what game gives them the most personal satisfaction and/or helps them meet their own self-devised goals. In any event, at least in this neck of the woods, it seems to be the same crowd manning the tests, be they AKC or NAHRA (no HRC events here as of yet). So I doubt that there would be much conflict insofar as an AKC event on the same day as a UKC event, a NAHRA event and an NFRA event. Just wouldn't happen.
It's all interesting, anyway!
Lisa
