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
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
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
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
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
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.