(reprinted with permission of the author
Most people envision a huge building full of offices, computers, and employees. This may be so with the AKC, but in actuality most "registries’ operate out of someone’s home. This brings us to our next question. What good is a registry? The answer is very simple; ONLY AS GOOD AS THE PERSON/PERSONS THAT RUNS IT! If at any time someone decides to turn the computer off, your papers become worthless. What can be done if that happens? You can start printing off your own registration certificates, find someone to do it for you, or locate another "registry" that will do it for a fee. After all, all you are getting is a piece of paper; does it really matter who prints it for you? Isn’t the registry supposed to do something else? Yes, they are expected to sponsor shows and maintain records of all wins, etc. They are also responsible for compiling accurate "Stud Books" (the ISSR refers to ours as Alpha Listings) that should be available to the general public. Most small Rare Breed registries do not make their records available to the public in order to avoid potential misuse from other individuals that may want to use those records to start "their own" registry. Yes such things have happened many, many times, to a lot of different breeds. Even our ISSR stud books have been used by others (more then once) to produce "papers." The ISSR spent thousands of dollars running ads, for several years, trying to warn the public to beware!These questions have been dealt with dozens of times these past few months, so I felt it was time to share the answers with the entire membership. Many people do not really understand any of this, and don’t care. Some people that just want a good healthy dog, that "looks" like a "Shiloh" for companionship, don’t even bother sending in their registration papers! I found this to be the case even when they were still AKC registered! When I first took my dogs into the "rare-breed" world, most of my customers refused to give up the security of their AKC papers. When the ISSR requested that they join us so that they could show their dogs, and breed them as "Shilohs" the majority declined. It took several years before a small group of people started to feel comfortable with such a drastic change, and rightfully so! Over the past decade I have seen too many breed clubs (that did their "own" registries) come and go! In most cases, after one or more "splits" the remnant would "pull together" long enough to apply for AKC recognition. Just take some time to do your own investigating. It won’t take long, just go to the AKC web page, you can find the entire list of FSS breeds along with their Parent Club contact phone numbers. Call them and ask them why they chose to go AKC, and while you’re at it, find out a bit of truth about "club politics." Is AKC the only solution? For most breed clubs there is no other alternative. It provides them with a lot of credibility and other advantages. No more member turmoil, stud book entry errors, "take-overs", etc.. An "independent" corporation now handles all of their registrations! They have a lot more shows they can go to, with better qualified judges, and no need for collecting win sheetsJ For the Shilohs, I feel that such a move would devastate the limited gene pool we now have. The AKC does not set any guidelines in areas of inbreeding or even x-raying breeding stock. Anything goes! All dogs (both good and bad specimens) would be allowed to (in) breed at will, encouraging puppy mills to spring up everywhere! Most of the popularity the Shilohs enjoyed was due to the strict breeding guidelines established, first at my kennel, and then through the ISSR. Without these strict controls the future of this "breed" could be devastating! After spending 27 years working toward a specific goal in my breeding program, I felt it was time to take the very best dogs that I had developed and separate them. In 1990 only a small group of dogs was selected to form the nucleus of the Shiloh Shepherd™ breed. The next few years were devoted to showing these dogs, and accumulating large amounts of data on their ancestors. I wanted to establish a registry that would operate similarly to the (German Verein fur Deutsche Schaferhunde) SV. After failing to find one that was capable of handling such a complex record keeping system for me, I contracted the TCCP to build a program that would meet these requirements. It took another year before we were up and running smoothly! During that time old (detailed) pedigrees were used, along with boxes full of my old (LMX) notes and records. This information would be entered into the database, and an Alpha Listing would be printed. I would then examine each entry carefully, correcting/adding information as needed. This procedure went on for another 3 years before we felt confident that all errors had been corrected properly. We, both the ISSR & TCCP, feel very strongly that the resulting information in any registry is only as valid as the data input! Anyone using our old (92-95) Alpha Listings could be unknowingly entering corrupt information. For example "Tammy" was accidentally listed as "nun’s" dam in one of our old AL’s. When entering such a large volume of information on so many dogs, there is always a possibility of human error. This error was "caught" and corrected, yet this error was brought to my attention by a member of the "new" registry just a few weeks ago. Obviously their data is based on one of our old ’94 (uncorrected) listings.The integrity of our records is of utmost importance to us. As of 1/99 we have 1,978 (with more being added monthly!) ISSR registered "Shiloh Shepherds™", [Note: as of January 2000, well over 2300 Shilohs have been registered with the ISSR] along with the immediate ancestors used in their development, recorded in our database. We also have access to nearly 40,000 AKC registered German shepherd ancestors of these dogs that we utilize in our RC program. This simply means that if I so desire, I can run a 30 generation Relation Coefficient Report on any of the dogs in our registry, and give my poor printer a heart attack. That is one reason that I prefer to run much shorter reports (40 pages or less) and leave the "big stuff" up to the TCCP, since their equipment is much more sophisticated. Furthermore that number does not reflect just a dog’s name. Each entry consists of many lines of detailed information about that particular dog, all coded. Please read the TCCP reports for more details regarding this system. I compiled all data on dogs born prior to ‘93, from my personal records. Additional information presented by breeders and owners was validated (to the best of my ability) before being forwarded to The Complete Computer Place. TCCP only does data entry, not verification. To maintain the accuracy we all expect from the ISSR, I still continue to examine our records (Alpha Listings) very carefully on a regular basis.In order to maintain the integrity expected by future owners/breeders, it has always been a standing ISSR policy not to allow dual registration except for (individual) show records only. All such organizations (FORB, WWKC, ARBA, etc.) have long ago agreed to provide the ISSR with written contracts to that effect. Any dogs appearing in a show publication, or magazine, etc. that have been registered through another organization have had their ISSR papers revoked. This information has been publicly announced on numerous occasions. In an insert printed by the ISSDCR for their January Quarterly, mailed on 2/12/98 this statement, along with other registry requirements, was presented to and received by all former SSDCA, Inc. members, encouraging them to "switch" over to this "new" registry. We have scanned it, in its entirety as a picture file, in order to familiarize newer members with this document. (Note to view the document at its full size, please double click on the picture below.)
Please take a moment to read this information carefully, and especially note the last line. Even the AKC would not tolerate such a policy! In other words, litters of puppies can be registered to people that do not even fully own the dogs, as long as they are members of this club. This gets even more confusing when such puppies later attend shows. Since they are not ISSR registered "Shiloh," and only a small group of people know anything about their lineage, how are the real Shiloh owners supposed to deal with such a situation at the shows? For this reason many prefer just to stay home, allowing for poorer quality dogs to earn undeserved championships. While others are trying to go "both" ways, sending win sheets to both registries in the hopes that they will do better in one place or the other. The ISSR & SSDCA advisory board both are adamant about resolving this conflict as quickly as possible. Since the "new" group has made their position very clear, page 4 of their Jan ’99 Newsletter states: "REMEMBER, ONLY DOGS THAT ARE REGISTERED WITH THE ISSDCR ARE ELIGIBLE TO EARN GV, NS, BOTY, AND ROM POINTS. If you have not transferred yet, you could be losing out on points" etc. ***Without a doubt, this means that ONLY those dogs that have been registered with this group qualify for their "point" system. Therefore we have no alternative other then to suspend the breeding privileges of any ISSR dog that has transferred over to this group. This has always been our policy, and enforcement of this decision has been under advisement for many months and approved at the ‘98 Homecoming membership meeting. Any dogs whose names are listed with another registry must provide the ISSR Inc. with a statement from that organization validating that this listing was done in error, and in effect the said dog has never been registered with that organization. Without this documentation on file, we have no alternative other then to suspend that dog’s ISSR privileges. If you are in doubt about your dog’s status, please request a letter from the ISSDCR validating that you are not listed in their records.
In conclusion, please be sure to use great caution when selecting a "registry" especially if you have any plans for breeding or showing your dog (s). As we have tried to show you; a "registry" is only as good as the organization that operates it! Most "rare breed" (especially splinter) groups had their "own" prior to applying for AKC recognition. Only the most accurate (and often "longest" standing) groups with the largest accumulated data base were chosen as the representative "parent club" for their specific breed, the "splinter" groups as a rule lost all of their credibility and often dogs that they had been "issuing papers" for were not considered "pure bred." Before you invest a lot of your time & money in such a group, you should carefully investigate the possible consequences that you will most certainly encounter.
Investigate | Home | What's in a Name | ISSR | Confusion For another perspective, please read: About Dog Registries and Kennel Clubs
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