AKC wants your dog to be a PAL

I never know from day to day which American Kennel Club I'm dealing with, the one that drives me insane with its inability to perceive that we live in a new millennium and they need to change with the times, or the one that does things that make sense -- and make the lives of dogs and their owners better, too.



Earlier this year, the AKC board seemed to think it would be a good idea to make common cause with pet store chains that sell puppies to anyone with enough room on their credit card, only to be told in no uncertain terms by an outraged room full of parent club delegates that they didn't think so, thank you very much. Delegates 1, Board 0, and the idea was scrapped -- but not before the board let the delegates know that the club was having some financial problems related to decreasing registrations, and if they didn't want to start paying forty billion dollars for show entries, they needed to come up with some other ideas.



I don't know who came up with this one, but I like it. A lot.



For many years now, the AKC has had a special registration program for dogs who were recognizable purebreds but didn't have registration papers. It was called, unimaginatively, the "Indefinite Listing Program," or ILP. This listing enabled dogs to be entered in AKC performance events -- obedience, coursing, hunt tests, agility, and all the rest.



The only two things it didn't do was allow the dog to be shown in conformation, and allow the offspring of the dog to be registered. In fact, one requirement is that the dog be spayed or neutered.



Well, the AKC finally jazzed the program up with a new name and a snazzy new outreach program. It's now the Purebred Alternative Listing, or PAL. Dogs will now get their PAL number, along with most of the perks of AKC registration. From their media release:

PAL enrollees will receive a copy of Family Dog Magazine, a subscription to AKC’s e-newsletter “Your AKC,” a flyer from the breed’s Parent Club and an attractive certificate denoting their dog’s place in the PAL program. Also included will be information on AKC Pet Healthcare and AKC Companion Animal Recovery enrollment.



“We currently enroll over 3,000 dogs per year in the ILP/PAL program. It is our hope that we can expand this number and the overall appeal of the program by offering added benefits and renaming the program with this more creative and friendly acronym,” said Assistant Vice President of Customer Service, Mari Beth O’Neill. “Welcoming more ILP/PAL dogs to the world of AKC events and privileges can only benefit both dogs and owners by providing educational resources and also exposing them to the joys of competing with your dog.”

Sure, it's designed to increase revenue. I have no problem with that. I have my issues with them, but AKC does a lot of good work, too -- including funding the AKC Canine Health Foundation, which is supporting research into canine diseases that have affected my own dogs. And doing it by bringing people into the world of purebred dogs in a sense of fun and inclusion, which can also only be good for the sport.



The full release is here.

Comments

[nancy freedman-smith]

I have to say I am disappointed. After the AKC's survey regarding mixed breeds I thought for sure Pal was going to stand for something that would include my mixed breed dog. -Nancy

[Christie Keith]

Nancy, I'm thinking that is yet to come... and believe me, when it does, I'll be applauding madly!

[Susan Fox]

I have always regretted giving the AKC money for a limited registration for my companion rough collie because the breeder thought I should keep the option open to participate in AKC events like agility.



The AKC has driven me crazy too, not the least because they have allowed the public to believe that a registration is somehow a "good housekeeping seal of approval" that implies something about the quality of the dog, of which it does nothing of the kind. But this PAL program sounds like a real move in the right direction.



Three cheers for the parent breed clubs that said "No way, Jose" to the idiotic idea of being connected with pet store chains and, therefore, puppy mills!