There was an interesting discussion full of drivel on a dog forum filled with dog-mommies entitled “Does AKC Support Crossbreeding?”; however registering to respond to it seems to be a major drag. So instead, because countless of Europeans question why Canadians and Americans have so many dogs outside the major registries, perhaps it is better to explain why in the land of the free, people are free to make their own choices and why the American and Canadian Kennel Clubs, while they do not endorse nor recognize cross-breeding, lack the sufficient means to corral the general population.
It is quite understandable why someone who recently immigrated to the country has a hard time grasping the American way. After all, the continent is quite vast and Europe and Australia are tiny compared to the seemingly endless land. However there is a reason to all of this madness.
First off, do not focus on a subset of breeders. Consider the audience as a whole. A great number of pure-bred breeders are living out in the rural area; and with that there are events in life where pure-bred dogs cannot always fill in the niché, especially in the realm of working and performance dogs. Not everyone who is operating outside the registry are breeding “designer dogs”.
There is a reason why there are so many mongrels in North America. Firstly, it is actually quite common for ranchers and hunters to utilize cross-bred dogs. So it is unfair to ask everyone who manages cattle for a living, courses coyotes or pursues feral hogs to give up his or her hobby of showing and breeding pure-bred dogs because they have vested interests in other aspects of their lives. Whether it is mixing Catahoula Cur with Pitbull to improve their ability to physically hold a pig, or crossing in a Greyhound or Saluki with an American Staghound for managing coyotes as pests, or back-crossing a cattle dog derived from a Border Collie to Blue Heeler to work a new strain of cattle, many people have a practical reason for producing performance-bred mongrels. In addition, it is becoming quite common for dog-sports to be the arena of inventive nature with flyball opening way to winning Border-Jacks [Border Collie-Jack Russell Terrier mix] and Border-Staffies [Border Collie-Staffordshire Bull Terrier mix] leading while aceing the Frisbee championships; or Whippet crosses stealing the diving competitions where static breeds lacking innovations within the last 150-years are losing.
If the AKC or the CKC do not allow people to breed crosses outside the registry or even sell unregistered, then anyone who has serious investment in dog sports, agriculture, hunting et cetera will be pressed to forefeit either showing their purebred dogs or working alongside their crosses. The Kennel Clubs know they cannot afford to lose memberships, so the registries do not bother rocking the boat by forcing people into the “either or” position. It is both political and financial suicide for the Clubs to become anything more than being just a registry.
It is actually much wiser to enable people to have their little showing hobby on the side with FCI-recognized breeds, while allowing them to participate in other cruicial life matters which also involve dog-ownership. Otherwise, the registries will just collapse.
Just because someone is operating outside a registry, it does not means they will commit pedigree fraud or engage in other illicit activities; nor does it mean they are being unethical. If cross-breeding is regarded as unethical because of a few bad apples, then in the fairness of tits for tats, one might as well ban dog-breeding altogether since there are just as many horrific examples of pure-bred breeders committing great sins. Bad cases make for bad laws.
‘Dog mommies’, hee hee.