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We can all agree that more venues where we can show the great temperament and hunting ability of the Bracco Italiano is not necessarily a negative prospect. However, I believe the timing of entering our breed into the AKC is crucial to the direction the breed takes in the United States.
I think it's important that there is a united front on the ideas of where this breed is going in the U.S. The only way we'll be able to maintain control is if the numbers of dogs stay relatively small and people who are breeding are careful about the intentions of their new owners' with the dogs.
Not everyone is going to follow the rules of a breed club, but the rules must be reasonable enough for most people to follow. If our breed does become AKC recognized, it is up to the club to keep the idea of the standard from becoming fractionalized and to keep the breed from becoming overbred.
We need to keep them "rare" to a certain extent. Otterhounds, Beauceron, Pharoah Hounds, the Neopolitain Mastiff and other rare breeds have become AKC recognized and stayed relatively small in numbers, thanks mostly to conscientious breeders and a club who is close knit enough to keep tabs on their membership. The question at this point is what do we gain from becoming an AKC recognized club and would those benefits be worth the vigilance necessary to keep the breed the way we want it ? I do not believe there are enough people in this country interested in the sanctity of the breed at the moment to amass the kind of brainpower it would take to control how the growth and public image of the breed plays out in the general pet-owning population.
AKC recognition should be used as a registry and as a way to enhance the ability of all Bracco Italiano owners to have their dogs judged and tested against an agreed upon standard. It should NOT be used as a way to propel the dog into a measure of popularity in order to further ones' personal ambitions as a breeder. If a breed is more popular, the puppies are easier to place which is an invitation to breed a lot more frequently and carelessly. We have seen this cycle in Weimaraners repeatedly. At this point, there is only a tiny fraction of Weimaraners AKC registered who are bred by people who are also Weimaraner Club of America members. This is not an ideal situation for such specialized dogs. Not only does that kind of popularization demean the gene pool, it also allows the dogs to have a poor reputation stemming from poor breeding.
The ultimate consequence of poor breeding practices in the United States will be that no Europeans will send us dogs or any quality or consequence for breeding purposes. With that genetic dead-end in mind, people are left with a smaller gene pool. Concentration of closely related genes over time creates problems. I have line-bred my Weimaraners and am acutely aware of the rules of recessive expression of negative genes. Genetically, you always need a place to find new genetics. Without out-crossing, problems, and lots of them, are evitable. Keeping good relations with European Bracco Italiano breeders should be of paramount importance in any decisions the BI club makes.
Entering the breed into the AKC at this juncture, in my opinion, would only serve the purpose of promoting the breed and encouraging people to breed the dogs, perhaps not responsibly. AKC is not a non-profit organization. They encourage breeding because they make money on litter registrations and on individual dog registrations. They are a valid registration entity but they are not without their legislative and monetary ambitions.
AKC has repeatedly defended the right of puppy mill and high volume breeders to carry on business because they profit directly from those registrations. AKC has no vested interest in controlling breeding or the quality of breeds. It will be entirely upon the shoulders of the national Bracco Italiano breed club to steward the breed and clean up the messes other people make.
On the positive side, they also defend the individual breeders’ right not to be impeded by government or by animal rights activists, especially those who have hunting and hound breeds. The amount of land available for hunting, hunt tests and field trials has been severely reduced over the last 30 years due to local and state regulations. AKC is in our court in preserving places for people to hunt with their dogs and preserve the traditions of hunting competition in the United States. While NAVHDA is an outstanding organization, they do not possess the same powers to lobby the government as AKC. They are a powerful ally and should be considered an asset in this regard, when the time is right.
Before we join the AKC, we should careful and thoughtfully grow our numbers into an intelligent and self sufficient club. Relying on AKC to be our “organization” at this point, I believe, would give up a lot of control we have over the direction of the breed in this country. We should, as a club, be a force to be reckoned with instead of a fledgling organization with a lot of important decisions still undecided.
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