Members
Learn how the fancy unintentionally aids AR groups and what breeders and clubs can do to protect the sport through education.
Heidi Lindblom Kilgore, MPSY
The Weekly Brief
The best of SHOWSIGHT editorials, weekly wins, and breeder commentary — delivered to your inbox every Sunday morning.
In a world where there is judgement at every turn and opinions are based not on fact but on passion, we inadvertently give our opponents fodder in which to build arguments, take us to court, and annihilate us in public and on social media. This is unfortunately true in all aspects of life, from our job and family interactions to our hobbies and free time. We are judged on how we speak to others, and how we interact with others. We are judged by our brothers, our sisters, our parents, our friends, our colleagues, and ourselves. It is the foundational base of our societal interactions, public and private.
Here we focus on just one set of judgements: the judgements that the Animal Rights (AR) groups use and how we feed them.
In July of 2025, an AR group filed a suit against the American Kennel Club (AKC) for the Designing, Promoting, and Profiting off Deformed Dogs. The organization’s primary position is that the AKC, through its business practices, promotes the breeding of brachycephalic breeds with the idea that these breeds are deformed. In a quick Google search, there are several articles found in favor of the plaintiff’s stance and not a single one against it. Discussions on Facebook, Reddit, and other social media are included in the Google search. There are no formal articles in response to the suit, no official stance by any within the fancy to protect our sport, our ethics, or our breeders. This means that the first way we provide AR groups fodder is through our silence. When there is no voice to promote, support, educate, and create a haven or positivity for the participants in the sport of dogs, then AR benefits.
How do we counter this? We have some of the most highly educated individuals in our sport. These people can create groups of individuals who write educational information, historical perspectives, and real-life experiences with decades and generations of information. This needs to be done not only in the breeds under attack but for the entirety of the fancy. What do we write about? Just go to any of the DNA testing sites and look at the health items they test for. Start at the top of the list and work down. Counter the negativity of the AR groups with factual and positive information about a breed, and dogs individually, not the fancy as a whole.
Social media drama is the second way AR garners benefits from fanciers. We dog people are very passionate about our breeds and most of our posts are public; our opinions are the “only” answers and everyone must see them. This pits us against ourselves and provides additional fodder. Are AR groups following our public posts, our passionate and sometimes infantile comments of disrespect, our disparaging comments? Yes, they are. Social media drama fractures the fancy and undermines any solidarity we have to offer a reasonable and educated response to the AR groups. These public social media platforms present a toxic and caustic culture that they exploit for their own goals.
How do we as individuals counter social media? First, set your profile to private! Take it off public! Go over your security settings. Even the most benign post can be corrupted and skewed. Keeping posts directed to the audience to which it is intended will remove a great deal of fodder. Also, be ethical, kind, and honest. Follow the guidelines of being a mentor:
Recently there was a great uprising of AKC breeders against dogs on limited registrations being shown as equivalent to those on full registration. Limited registrations have been a breeder’s tool to allow the best representations of their breeding program to be eligible to promote their breed. The AR groups loved the idea of showing limited-registered dogs as it removed the need to keep our dogs intact. We would be showing to show, not for the purpose of protecting our breeding programs, thereby allowing that mandatory desexing could be written into code. Animal shows such as those we find at our local county fairs were created to judge breeding stock. Showing dogs that can no longer breed undermines the integrity and purpose of shows. Breed clubs may have events or classes that include altered animals, with restrictions and expectations. Showing desexed dogs openly in our sport will not be allowed, but think of how these ideas can grow, and also think about how they can be corrupted to work against us no matter how good or positive their original intention.
The AR groups have a field day with picking apart how we care for our dogs. “Dogs should always be leashed.” If so, how are hunting dogs, herding dogs, terriers, guardian dogs, or any breed expected to do the job they are born to do; the job genetically built into them centuries ago? It is a waste of energy and time to combat the opposition’s mandate. So, let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot by not cleaning up after our dogs in public. Let’s not have it posted that, as exhibitors and keepers of our sport, we are not respecting our venues, not taking care of our animals, and not taking care of our spaces. Recently, a letter from a national club was posted publicly on social media threatening a bench committee due to people not picking up after their dogs at their National Specialty. That post gives the idea that if we can’t pick up in public, what do our kennels look like?
How do we combat misinformation about our treatment of our animals? Every moment of every day, be vigilant in the care of your dog and in the impression that you leave. If you see something out of line, an open crate, a dog needing water, an extra pile of poop, pitch in, lock the crate, add some water, and pick up an extra pile.
Our greatest defense weapon has been put on a shelf and allowed to be covered in dust—our breed clubs. Let’s talk about breed and all-breed clubs and the control of information to their members and to the public.
Many of us sit around and moan and groan about our aging sport and our aging population. What is anyone doing about it other than complaining? What types of educational and support materials does your breed club offer to its members and share with the general public about your breed and all the wonderful things you can do with your dog? Is your board of directors as aged and tired as the rest of the population? Have they been in that position for so long that they have grown roots that cause your club to stagnate; without passing the baton from one person to another? Perhaps there are “new” candidates for those positions each election, but the same people…?
What to do? Be proactive and educate yourself. Ask tough questions. Does your club have term limits? What are some of the responsibilities of the board? What are the expectations of each board member? What are the club’s committees and subcommittees? How do they disseminate information? Can I find the basics on the website, like the bylaws, and procedures and practices? How hard are they to find? When was the last time there was an election that wasn’t just a nod to the nominating committee? This is not about taking a position yourself, but you can’t understand the power and purpose of a breed club if you don’t understand its inner workings.
Breed clubs have the most information to use for education, about breeding for a purpose and about health concerns. Do you have the research and resources on your breed club’s website about the genetics associated with your breed? Do you understand how color affects health, or why a scissors bite is more acceptable than a level bite? Do you have the resources to back up your opinions?
I recently interviewed several breed parent club and regional breed club members to learn why their club works. Breeds you wouldn’t expect are at the top of the membership statistics, even though their registrations aren’t as large as Golden Retrievers, French Bulldogs, or Dachshunds. The number one answer I received was that their clubs are successful because of their membership. Their membership works together to create an inclusive and inviting atmosphere and culture. Their board members do not grow roots in a position, but they move onward and upward within the organized structure. They have a health committee that is always posting new research, new health trial studies, and new discoveries. They have a board that relies on the membership to show them what direction is next, how they can serve their membership better, and they invite members to participate in the process of running a membership-based club.
Successful clubs have an education committee, or multiple committees that provide information about the breed: Breeding to Purpose, Breeding for Health, Breeding for Longevity, Breeding for Temperament, Breeding a Better Dog. They withhold judgement and allow for new ideas and new methods. Unfortunately, there are several clubs where the complaints voiced included the “Old Guard” supporting the existing power structure. This makes a membership-based club about those who are in power and not the members they should be serving.
AR groups will always be here, never understanding what we do as breeders or how the fancy works to preserve and improve the legacy of our ancestors and the amazing canines we serve. To fight them, we start with our passion to preserve, improve, and teach.
Moral of the story: It is about the community you build. The education you bring. The team you build. Working together. Those things will protect our dogs and our sport.
American Kennel Club (AKC)
The AKC has introduced a new policy and disciplinary measures aimed at protecting dogs and strengthening safety standards at AKC events.
