From The Publisher

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10 – August, 2025

By Tom Grabe

Most of you have either heard or read about the challenges the American Kennel Club is currently facing. Whether it’s plummeting registrations, declining participation at dog shows, internal conflict, or being sued by PETA, they have serious problems that would seem to require an all-hands-on-deck search for solutions. Yet, somehow they seem to dwell on minutiae that, in some cases, exacerbates these issues.

A couple decades ago, AKC developed and released the Code of Sportsmanship. The intent was to reaffirm how registrants and participants should behave when interacting with each other, club officials, and AKC. I assume AKC refers to staff and board officials. A few years ago, AKC released its AKC Policy on Social Media Complaints which used the Code of Sportsmanship as its basis but applied it to social media posts, conversations, etc. I believe the intent of these rules was to promote civility, fairness, and good sportsmanship amongst those who operate in AKC’s ecosystem. Whether it worked or not depends on who you are. The old adage, “Beware of unintended consequences,” comes to mind.

The problem with rules and regulations is they are promoted as being the remedy to a particular situation that is assumed to be a common problem. Sometimes, that’s true, but other times the ‘situation’ is anecdotal and may not need a rule to correct it. Nevertheless, the rule is implemented and, in theory, the problem goes away. But it doesn’t.

Sometimes, the rule becomes a weapon others use to go after someone they don’t like. Other times, that rule is applied to those without power or who are out of the favor of those in power. Justice is applied swiftly and severely to those previously mentioned, while those who curry favor or hold power somehow have their transgressions overlooked.

Click here to read the complete article
10 – August, 2025

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Posted by AnthonyA on Aug 3 2025. Filed under Current Articles, Editorial, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.