USCA & WDA: Irreconcilable Differences

Jim Engel, July 2010

In most serious aspects of life there are fundamental and crucial philosophical and practical distinctions that one must recognize in making personal choices.  In matters of faith there are irreconcilable differences between Catholicism, Judaism and Islam and the serious person must make a decision and hold allegiance to only one, for to pretend belief in more than one is to become a shallow and manipulative person believing in nothing and seeking only transitory gain and advantage.

Whether working dog affairs rise in importance to the level of religious belief is of course a matter for the individual, but those of us taking the breeding, training and deployment of such dogs seriously must evaluate the operative principles and priorities of the various organizations and commit to personal allegiance accordingly.  Where principles and priorities conflict one must discriminate and choose, just as one can not be a good Jew and a good Muslim at the same moment, one can not endorse canine organizations in fundamental conflict in terms of purpose or philosophy. 

The emergence of the United Schutzhund Clubs of America in the later 1970s was in retrospect a tipping point for the protective heritage working dogs in America .   Prior to this the canine protection potential was neatly divided into several carefully constructed  and contradictory myths.  While the Shepherd and Doberman communities on one level created and propagated the man stopper myth, as in the promotion of the Dobermans as "Devil Dogs" for Marine Corps service, in reality the Americans were breeding ever softer dogs as commodities for the pet market.   Rin Tin Tin and Strongheart were useful promotional images in the movies, but Americans on the whole were not perceived as ready for real working dogs and the breeding community was without a clue as to the breeding, training and deployment of such dogs.

The Schutzhund movement struggled in the 1970s, with several national organizations emerging and then quickly fading.  Out of these conflicts USCA emerged as the predominant organization, but like so many things conceived in haste there were inherent contradictions and we were thus predestined for strife and conflict.  The United States as a nation is a prime example of such things, for while in the beginning there were noble words about democracy and all men created equal America was in fact a nation founded on slavery over large regions, and only a gut wrenching civil war two generations later would begin to resolve this founding contradiction.

The founding contradiction of USCA is that while in the beginning it was a German Shepherd organization - in order to appease the Germans and obtain judges and credibility - in the moment of birth it denied it's heritage and emerged with a name not including the words "German Shepherd."  This was of course a vain attempt to be all things to all people, to gain the support - and money - of those with other breeds and to perpetuate the illusion of inclusiveness.  Just as the avoided issue of slavery predestined America to a century of internal conflict, the emergence of USCA as a German Shepherd organization too conflicted and insecure to include the words "German Shepherd" in the name predestined us to conflict which is well into it's second century.  Our newfound German benefactor was not without its down side, for SV pressure for vanity registration, conformation evaluation and beauty shows would in effect tax the rank and file of American working trainers in many ways, ranging from burdensome administrative expense to providing the cash for American vacation jaunts for SV judges and officials.  This and the ongoing power struggle are a major part of what is driving up national USCA operational costs.

None of this escaped the attention of the long established, AKC affiliated German Shepherd Dog Club of America.  The Schutzhund trainers may have been oblivious to the implications, but these people immediately recognized that the German Mother, the SV, had conceived and brought forth another sibling to compete for favor and privilege.  Is it too cynical to believe that the SV did this on the principle of divide and conquer?

The  GSDCA reacted by almost immediately creating their own pseudo working dog entity, the "Working Dog Association" or WDA.  Had these old line Shepherd people been honest or had good intentions they would have reformed their breeding practices, gone back to real working lines and instituted Schutzhund clubs in the place of their numerous show and play oriented local and regional GSDCA clubs.  But these people were neither honest nor well intentioned, and the WDA was from the very beginning a sham organization for propaganda and political purposes, a way of playing both ends against the middle in the heady world of international German Shepherd politics.

Many WDA local clubs were essentially paper organizations, the same set of people involved in USCA clubs with the desire to play politics and seek short term advantage.  Imagine a state such as Michigan or Montana wanting to become a province of Canada as well as a state within the union.  Which nation's laws would apply?  Who would they go to war with?  And Canada is by and large a friendly and compatible country, suppose a state had wanted to join the old USSR ?   The whole concept is absurd, and duel individual memberships are equally absurd.  In the real world people pretending loyalty to both sides are traditionally sought out as conspirators or spies and hung on the spot or put before the firing squad.

The rupture in the GSD world in the Motherland between the working values of the founders  and the evolving show dog values of the SV establishment is the root cause of the incessant conflicts in America . For many of the early years we all believed that the SV was the fountainhead of the working dog world, that in order to prosper it was only necessary to learn German ways and adopt them as our own.   But we were deceived, or rather deceived ourselves, for those at the top of the SV administration were increasingly in tune with the values of the AKC show dog establishment, concerned about ever more stylish and ornate beauty dogs rather than gut level working aptitude and desire.  The Martin boys and their ilk were the driving force, and their loyalty to the principles of Captain von Stephanitz was rapidly evolving into shallow lip service.  The Schutzhund trial rules, procedures and judging were being compromised to pass ever more fragile and inadequate German Shepherds so that they could seek glory in the Seger show.

Clearly the WDA was not founded for any admirable or honest principles, is essentially a parasitic entity conceived in the most base political manipulation to suck sustenance from the vigor of stronger, more honest organizations.  It was founded and continues to exist at the pleasure of the GSDCA, basically AKC oriented dog politicians,  in furtherance of their beliefs and values, which are in direct conflict with those of USCA and the vast majority of the founding and long term members.  

While the concept of evaluating structure and type as well as trial field performance in order to solidify and maintain a working breed is a sound principle, the beauty pageants up to and including the SV Seger show as they exist today have become malignant ends in themselves rather than means to the end of better over all working dogs.  All of the evils of current German practice have extended to America , in both the WDA and USCA conformation  events.  This is not advancing working dogs in America , but simply putting money and personal power to manipulate in German hands.  USCA needs to not only isolate and contain GSDCA / WDA influence, it needs to revitalize conformation evaluation so that only truly excellent dogs in terms of working character, performance and physique rise to the top rather than continuing the evolution of the GSD beauty show system where barely good enough in ever weakening character and performance evaluations is the gate way to show ring glory.

To be effective, every organization needs to be made up of those who embrace and endorse its fundamental values and principles; including people actively in opposition only weakens and dilutes the organization. To these ends it is entirely appropriate for USCA to exclude people, such as WDA members, who openly embrace ideals and principles contrary to our core values. 


Jim Engel, Marengo    © Copyright