Proposed AKC Group Realignment

ayk

Circulating on the lists is the AKC's new proposed group realignment. It has not been accepted yet. There may be some omissions as this seems to be a rough copy.

------------------------

The Groups - projections with breeds currently in the Groups, Miscellaneous
Class and Foundation Stock Service (numbers based on inclusion of new
breeds and some movement within the groups, as some breeds are recommended for
reassignment)

Group 1: Sporting - Pointers & Setters (18 breeds)
Bracco Italiano
Setter (Irish)
Brittany
Setter (Irish Red & White)
Drentsche Patrijshond
Small Muenstenlander Pointer
Pointer
Spinone Italiano
Pointer (German Shorthaired)
Stabyhoun
Pointer (German Wirehaired)
Vizsla
Portuguese Pointer
Weimaraner
Setter (English)
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon
Setter (Gordon)
Wirehaired Vizsla

Group 2: Sporting - Retrievers & Spaniels (21 breeds/varieties)
Barbet Spaniel (Clumber)
Koolkerhondje
Spaniel (Cocker) ASCOB
Lagotto Romagnolo
Spaniel (Cocker) Black
Retriever (Chesapeake Bay)
Spaniel (Cocker) Parti-color
Retriever (Curly-Coated)
Spaniel (English Cocker)
Retriever (Flat-Coated)
Spaniel (English Springer)
Retriever (Golden)
Spaniel (Field)
Retriever (Labrador)
Spaniel (Irish Water)
Retriever (Nova Scotia Duck Tolling)
Spaniel (Sussex)
Spaniel (American Water)
Spaniel (Welsh Springer)
Spaniel (Boykin)

Group 3: Scent Hounds (21 breeds/varieties)
American Foxhound
English Foxhound
American English Coonhound
Grand Basset Griffon Vendeen
Basset Harrier
Beagle (13 in)
Otterhound
Beagle (15 in)
Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen
Black & Tan Coonhound
Plott
Bloodhound
Portugese Podengo Pequeno
Bluetick Coonhound
Redbone Coonhound
Dachshund (Longhaired)
Treeing Tennessee Brindle
Dachshund (Smooth)
Treeing Walker Coonhound
Dachshund (Wirehaired)

Group 4: Sight Hounds (15 breeds)
Afghan Hound
Italian Greyhound
Azawakh
Pharoah Hound
Basenji
Rhodesian Ridgeback
Borzoi Saluki
Cirnecco dell'Etna
Scottish Deerhound
Greyhound
Sloughi
Ibizan Hound
Whippet
Irish Wolfhound

Group 5: Working-Utility (19 breeds)
Anatolian Shepherd
Greater Swiss Mountain Dog
Appenzeller Sennenhunde
Great Pyrenees
Bergamasco Entlebucher Mountain Dog
Bernese Mtn. Dog
Komondor
Black Russian
Kuvasz
Dalmatian
Newfoundland
Doberman Pinscher
Portuquese Water Dog
German Pinscher
Saint Bernard
Giant Schnauzer
Slovensky Cuvac
Standard Schnauzer

Group 6: Working-Molosser (20 breeds)
Boerboel
Great Dane
Boxer
Leonberger
Bullmastiff
Mastiff
Cane Corso
Neapolitan Mastiff
Caucasian Ovcharka
Perro de Presa Canario
Central Asian Shepherd Dog
Rafeiro Do Alentejo
Chinook Rottweiler
Dogo Argentino
Spanish Mastiff
Dogue De Bordeaux
Tibetan Mastiff
Estrela Mountain Dog
Tosa

Group 7: Working-Spitz (24 breeds)
Akita
Karelean Bear Dog
Alaskan Malamute
Keeshond
American Eskimo Dog
Kishu Ken
Chinese Shar-Pei
Norrbottenspets
Chow Chow
Norwegian Buhund
Eurasier Norwegian Elkhound
Finnish Lapphund
Norwegian Lundehund
Finnish Spitz Tosa
Samoyed
German Spitz
Schipperke
Icelandic Sheepdog
Siberian Husky
Jindo
Shiba Inu
Kai Ken
Swedish Vallhund

Group 8: Terriers ( 31 Breeds/varieties)
Airedale Terrier
Manchester Terrier (Standard)
American Staffordshire Terrier
Miniature Bull Terrier
Australian Terrier
Miniature Schnauzer
Bedlington Terrier
Norfolk Terrier
Border Terrier
Norwich Terrier
Bull Terrier (Colored)
Parson Russell Terrier
Bull Terrier (White)
Rat Terrier
Cairn Terrier
Russell Terrier
Cesky Terrier
Scottish Terrier
Dandie Dinmont Terrier
Sealyham Terrier
Fox Terrier (Smooth)
Skye Terrier
Fox Terrier (Wire)
Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier
Glen of Imaal Terrier
Staffordshire Bull Terrier
Irish Terrier
Welsh Terrier
Kerry Blue Terrier
West Highland White Terrier
Lakeland Terrier

Group 9: Toy (23 breeds/varieties)
Affenpinscher
Miniature Pinscher
Brussels Griffon
Papillon
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Pekingese
Chihuahua (Long Coat)
Pomeranian
Chihuahua (Smooth Coat)
Poodle (Toy)
Chinese Crested
Pug
English Toy Spaniel (B& PC)
Russian Toy
English Toy Spaniel (KC & R)
Shih Tzu
Havanese
Silky Terrier
Japanese Chin
Toy Fox Terrier
Maltese
Yorkshire Terrier
Manchester Terrier (Toy)

Group 10: Non-Sporting (14 breeds/varieties)
Bichon Frise
Lowchen
Boston Terrier
Poodle (Miniature)
Bolognese
Poodle (Standard)
Bulldog
Peruvian Inca Orchid
Coton de Tulear
Tibetan Spaniel
French Bulldog
Tibetan Terrier
Lhasa Apso
Xoloitzcuintli

Group 11: Herding (30 Breeds/varieties)
Australian Cattle Dog
Collie (Rough)
Australian Shepherd
Collie (Smooth)
Bearded Collie
Czechoslovakian Vicak
Beauceron
German Shepherd Dog
Belgian Lakenois
Lancashire Heeler
Belgian Malinois
Mudi
Belgian Sheepdog
Old English Sheepdog
Belgian Tervuren
Pembroke Welsh Corgi
Berger Picard
Polish Lowland Sheepdog
Border Collie
Puli
Bouvier des Flandres
Pumi
Briard
Pyrenean Shepherd
Canaan Dog
Schapendoes
Cardigan Welsh Corgi
Shetland Sheepdog
Catahoula Leopard Dog
Spanish Water Dog

CrimsonO2

Wow..4 of the 6 Nihonken are circulating as part of the working-spitz group? Yay?

Jesse

NotoriousScrat

I think these are much better than the old ones. "Working Spitz" seems to me to be a way better description of most of the Nihon Ken than how I've seen then categorized before---so for the ones that have been put there, I think it's fantastic.

Losech

Huh, that's interesting. It'd be neat to be able to say I've got a "Working Spitz" rather than a "Non-Sporting" dog.
I wonder if it'll be accepted. If it is, does that mean that the Kai and Kishu are going to be AKC recognized?

tjbart17

At least the NK are in the working group and not non-sporting.

shibamistress

Does it look like it might go? Because I've heard a rough version of this plan a couple of years ago, but nothing happened. It would be nice if they made this change. It makes much more sense to have these groups and judge similar types of dogs together. The non-sporting group was the most ridiculous group ever, and while this change still has a nonsporting, it at least takes out some dogs that clearly belonged elsewhere (like the Shiba, for example, and the dalmation).

Is the Schipperke a spitz? I never thought of those little tail-less dogs as spitz! (But funny, I just saw one today at the grocery store). I don't really get why it is "working spitz" though as opposed to just "spitz." Are there nonworking spitz?

eta: nevermind. I see it's just another category breakdown from the working breeds.

Calia

@shibamistress - Schips are a type of spitz, very intelligent and independent (almost like the NK). They even have the curly tail if left on and do come in other colors than black outside the US:



EDIT: Schipps were ratters and used on the barges and boats. Dubbed the little captains of the sea, there was a story explaining their tail removals which had something to do with a butcher throwing a knife at one.

Calia

I think it would be great if they actually did the group redesigns instead of just talking about it for years, then I'll only have to look for one group instead of two since both my guys (shiba and Siberian husky) will be in it

Asheaka

While this does look much more organized and makes more sense, it would really suck for me if they did this in the next two years. I'm taking a course right now that has us memorizing all of the AKC breeds and groups, and this would really screw my class up. Though I already know that stuff, this would be a huge change. At least the German Shepherd is in Herding, I heard a rumor that they wanted to put them in Working because of their popularity as Police Dogs. The acceptance of the Kai and Kishu does have me a bit worried, too.

@ayk - Could you post a link, please?

tjbart17

@ayk Please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm addressing you because you probably are more familiar, but isn't a "working" breed one that has one function, ie to hunt with NK.

Non-sporting breeds can do multiple jobs or do not just have one function.

ayk

@Asheaka - No link from the AKC yet. As I mentioned, it's just circulating on the dog lists. I got my notice from HVOC which got theirs from SCDOC. I wouldn't panic about a change in the groups just yet. It was maybe 4 years ago that they thought they would create a Northern group, split the sporting group, and split the hound group but it didn't happen.

@tjbart17 - I'm going to have to pull a quote from the Westminster website for your question:

"The AKC originally registered dogs as either Sporting or Non-Sporting. Hounds and Terriers split off the Sporting Group, Toys and Working from the Non-Sporting, and later, Herding from the Working Group. The remaining dogs, with a great diversity of traits not fitting any of the above, comprise the Non-Sporting Group."

Nekopan

I like this list. It makes a lot more sense than the current groups.

shibamistress

Thanks Beth for schip info. I actually do know them....Toby's breeder also bred them, and actually got out of Shibas to focus o them. It just never occurred to me, for some reason, that they were spitz breeds. I didn't know they cut off their tails!!! Why would they do that?

I did spend some time looking this up last night, and I couldn't find much newer than 2009 about this proposal--Ann, do you have more recent updates on it? All I saw was old stuff, a lot from 2008, so I'm wondering if this is ever actually going to happen?

@Asheaka....it's not actually that hard to memorize, or won't be in the new grouping if it goes through, because it's so much more clear and obvious in the new groups. It's easy to remember spitz, and herding dogs, pointers/setters, etc, so it might actually HELP you learn them!

jan3t

Well, I am certainty out of the loop. I used to know all the AKC breeds and tons of rare breeds, but so many on the list are new to me.

For example, I know what a Chinook (which was so very rare after Perry Green died) is and I know what a Rottweiler is, but what the heck is a Chinook Rottweiler? A google search did not provide me answers...

ayk

@jan3t - it's actually chinook, rottweiler. Some format errors were included in this rough draft.

Calia

http://www.akc.org/events/conformation/group_realignment.cfm

ayk

The version Calia posted was rejected because of complaining breed clubs. I know at least one breed did not want to lose the "working" designation because it would lull puppy buyers into thinking the dogs are low drive/easy keepers.

shibamistress

Yeah, I saw that older version (the one Beth linked) but that's 2008. So I'm still trying to figure out if this is actually going to happen anytime soon?

and as far as I can see, not all of these breeds are currently AKC breeds...the catahoula is not, as far as I know. So that's even more puzzling.

Asheaka

@shibamistress - I know. I know all the AKC breeds and many others, and the groups. Thanks to Asperger's Syndrome, memorizing things (at least with animals) is probably my best skill. But if this happened, and by some insane chance it happened tomorrow, we'd have to restart our curriculum. I'd actually love to see the spitz become a group, that way people would maybe know about them, and I wouldn't have to explain what one is every other day. It'd be awesome to see most of my favorite dogs in one group, too.

lindsayt

NSCA has approved the designation for Shibas, as I am given to understand.

jan3t

@Asheaka, what class?

BradA1878

I wonder why they split the TM and CO off of group 5 but left the Anatolian Shepherd, Great Pyrenees, Komondor, Kuvasz, and Cuvac... I'm not arguing with the placement of either, I think they could all fit in either group, I just wonder why they split them aprt (especially if you consider the all those breeders are essentially members of the same land race - excluding the TM and GP).

shishiinu

I was really hoping the kishu would not get recognized...

tjbart17

@brada1878 I was wondering when you would comment on that.

@shishiinu I'm surprised it took them this long to put in all the foundation stock. I'm not surprised at all to see Kishu and Kai on the list. I guess it's evolution, and sometimes we need to roll with it while also being mindful of taking care of our breeds.

shibamistress

The thing is, a LOT of dogs on this list have not yet been recognized by the AKC, and I don't think their inclusion on the list means they are going to necessarily suddenly do that. I thought it took awhile, and needed a parent breed club to actually get a breed accepted?

Overall, I'm finding this whole thing quite puzzling, given that I don't know where they are in the discussions (which seemed to begin in 2007/8 but haven't really gone anywhere, though thanks Lindsay for noting that NSCA has approved this--that shows some progress) and there are so many dogs on these lists that are not AKC recognized. So while this makes much more sense to me, I'm not convinced we're going to see any changes any time soon.

BradA1878

Word on the street is that the AKC is planning a move to recognize all FCI breeds whether they go through FSS or not.

CrimsonO2

AKC must be hurting for money.....

ayk

They already have a reciprocal agreement with FCI in which they will recognize FCI registered dogs with AKC.

Asheaka

@jan3t - The Spitz Group. I love wolf-like dogs and large dogs. I'm liking all of the Working Groups in general too, though.

sjp051993

They have been talking about this for years, but AKC has not moved forward with it.