In football, real American football, there is a play called the "Hail Mary" play. It's name is probably at least politically incorrect, it hardly ever works and it usually comes in the moment before the agony of defeat.
When you are down seven points and there are ten seconds left in the final game, and salvation is sixty yards down the field, sixty yards you have been denied all afternoon, then you take out all of your running backs and replace them with receivers. On the snap the quarter back fades back to buy a couple of seconds and throws the damn ball as far and as high as he can. The defenders no doubt have a better shot than your receivers and only in the rarest circumstances does the ball get tipped up in reach of your man, bringing victory from the jaws of defeat.
But it's not really about victory. Its about leaving it all on the field, its about being able to walk off knowing that you struggled, that you are defeated, but that they were not able to make you quit.
An empty, childish distinction ? Perhaps. But history does not say so, for many of our most revered men, such as Hannibal and Lee, were defeated in the central struggle of their lives, yet they are remembered, they hold a place of honor because of the way they conducted themselves in defeat.
As a working dog, the Bouvier is at the edge of extinction, and every organization in the world, with the possible exception of the French national club, either does not care or is an active participant in the emasculation. Emasculation is in fact the policy of the American Kennel Club, and, therefore, the American Bouvier Club, and the regional clubs fall into line. The Belgian club is an empty shell, mouthing the words of work but unable to comprehend that the breed has become a shell of its heritage in their hands, abandoned even by Chastel in the last meaningful act of his life. The Raad van Beheer is little better than a Dutch AKC and the Netherlands Bouvier Club is rendered powerless and pointless because they do not have the will or desire to live by the working heritage. NAWBA is an east coast remnant, pandering to the pet owners and play trainers, strutting its final hour on the stage, truly signifying nothing.
For those who believe in the working Bouvier, dogs who can and must attack and defend as well as obey and use their olfactory capability, there is only one remaining act of honor.
Given the realities of today, IPO and Schutzhund are the world wide standard, and the one available, viable arena in America. KNPV is a better test, but it exists only in the Netherlands. Belgian and French Ring are comparable sports, but not truly a factor outside of their homelands.
Were we to make one final effort, then we would need to abandon all existing organizations and begin one open to anyone in the world who believed in the traditional protective working heritage. Anyone could be a member, but only those who have trained a dog to IPO I or Schutzhund I would be allowed to vote. We would be accused of elitism, and it would be true, but it would empower and focus our efforts. Let those who believe in a herding renaissance go their own way, and if they really succeed, that is, produce real working dogs, we can borrow some of their breeding stock.
Let the Ring people, who think they and their sport are so superior, be free to prove it, to chart their own course.
There are still a few people in every country making an effort. Fred and Carla have a toehold in America, there are still a few IPO trainers in Belgium and even more in the Netherlands. But we are all drifting and alone, with no real support, with no real plan.
Will it work? Probably not, it is to late for anything but a long shot. Defeat may be certain, but honor is within reach. And, small as it is, there is perhaps one small possibility of resurrection.
Jim Engel March, 2000