Facts About the ABCA
Did you know that one ABCA Board of Director is also president of the USBCHA and moderator of the Border Collie
Boards?
Did you know that the Border Collie Boards is quite often a place to bash breeders?
Welcome to the BC Boards. We hope you will find the answers to any questions you may have here,
as well as an opportunity to get to know and exchange views with other border collie owners. These Boards are a part of the
website All About Border Collies, maintained by the United States Border Collie Club, Inc. (USBCC).
You might want to read a bit to get the flavor of the Boards before posting. While all views are welcome,
the overall philosophy which prevails on the Boards is in line with that of the USBCC. Basically, it can be summed up as follows:
We who love and value border collies are concerned about both the welfare of individual dogs, and the welfare
of the breed as a whole.
For the good of the breed, border collies should be bred only for working ability. The border
collie breed was created by farmers and shepherds who wanted to develop a dog which could help them manage their livestock.
They bred only to produce good workers, and that singleness of purpose created the breed we love. Changing the way border
collies are bred will change the breed itself. Therefore, breeding dogs who have not proven themselves as useful herding dogs,
or breeding for appearance/color, or breeding for sports or for "good pets," or breeding for anything other than working ability
(which includes the health and temperament necessary for working) is harmful to the breed.
Border collie owners who don't
use their dogs to work livestock are not second-class citizens.
Because border collies have been bred for a very demanding job, they have the physical, mental and emotional
traits to be good at almost anything a dog can do. They generally don't make good pets for people who have little interest
in a dog and little time to spend with it. But for people who are prepared to devote a lot of time and attention to their
dog(s), border collies can be excellent companions, and excellent partners for a variety of activities, both formal and informal.
If you love your border collie, and give him/her a good home, you are doing right by your dog. Just leave the breeding to
those who do train and work their dogs on livestock, and who have the knowledge to breed to the working standard.
Border
collies should not be registered with the AKC. The AKC recognized the border collie in 1994, over the protests of the vast
majority of border collie owners and organizations in the US. (For more details about the AKC takeover, read this ). But the
AKC defines breeds by their appearance, and encourages and rewards breeding for appearance. This is okay for some breeds,
but is detrimental to a breed like the border collie, which has always been defined and shaped by its work. Because the AKC
is so influential in the dog world, our only hope to preserve the integrity of the border collie--to keep it a useful working
dog, in contrast to the many AKC breeds which were once useful working dogs but are no longer--is to keep it separate and
apart from the AKC.
Response: The poster of this message is a member of the parent club of the AKC. Quite a few of
these members are AKC breeders and members.
The best place to get a border collie for livestock work is from a reputable breeder of working dogs--not
someone who merely breeds "from working lines," but someone who trains and uses his/her dogs on stock, and is breeding to
produce the utmost in herding ability.
Response: Is this wise when you will only be getting a pup from people who know nothing about breeding
but only working their dogs?
The best place to get a border collie for companionship or for dog sports is from the same kind of breeder,
or (preferably, in most cases) from border collie rescue. Buying a pup from breeders who register with the AKC is bad for
the breed. So is buying a pup from a pet shop, or from a breeder you know only through an internet website, and in such cases
you run the risk of supporting a puppy mill and getting an unhealthy, temperamentally-unsound pup besides.
We take border
collies seriously. We try to take good care of our own dogs, learning and sharing knowledge about their health, feeding, training,
work and general welfare. And we do our best to look out for the interests of the breed as a whole, by supporting the measures
that will keep them the world?s premier herding dog.
We're glad to have you with us. Feel free to ask any questions you may have, and to share your experiences
with your dogs. Advertising puppies or dogs for sale is not allowed, and while we are comfortable with robust debate, courtesy
is expected at all times and flaming is not permitted.
Response: It is permitted, and it is a daily ritual on these boards.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Did you know that Patty Rogers makes $3.75 out of every $8.00 Registration Fee?
Did you know that the American Border Collie Association is actually a trust which operates much like
a homeowner's association? They are able to change the rules at will. Also, they are subject to Anti Trust laws.
Did you know that at least one ABCA Board of Director is a member os the BCSA, the AKC parent club?
Did you know that one ABCA Board of Director sent out pictures from a kennel investigation? Did you
know that violates the Privacy Act of 1074 and the Fourth Amendment?
Did you know that the ABCA investigators want to know where dogs are when in fact they have never required
any member to keep records?
Did you know that the closing of the AIBC was discussed on the Border Collie Boards, and the moderator
said it just faded away when, in fact, all ot the records of the AIBC were damaged in a huge hurricane?
Did you know that the ABC was founded by Peg Brown because people were dissatisfied with the AIBC? This
was not many years ago.
Did you know that in America you have a right to free enterprise and that there are no laws prohibiting suspended
members from the ABCA from selling ABCA dogs?
Did you know that if an organization is collecting data about you that you have a right to see it according
to the Privacy Act of 1974?
Did you know that in America, you have right to know what you are being accused of, and if you do not
know that you do not have to cooperate?
Did you know that the American Border Collie Association actually has another location in Delaware?
This is a state that corporations love to be based in because their laws for corporations are so lax.
Did you know that when we contacted Patty Rogers to see who owned one of our dogs that she said she was
just too busy to locate that information??
The American Border Collie Association posted the results of previous elections of the Directors.
They did not give out that information this time, and quite a few members are wondering why.
The Australian Shepherd Registry did the exact same kind of investigations right before the AKC closed their
books on the Australian Shepherds. Now, it cost $150 to register a dog with the National Stockdog Registry. This
is because they lost their larger breeders to the investigations, and numerous others flocked to the AKC.
