Part Five — AKC Recognition and the Registry Divide

By the early 1990s, the Border Collie already had everything required to exist as a fully developed breed outside the American Kennel Club.

It had working registries.

It had organized sheepdog trials.

It had generations of documented pedigrees.

It had internationally connected bloodlines.

It had established breeders, handlers, ranchers, farmers, obedience competitors, and performance enthusiasts.

What it did not yet have was full AKC recognition for conformation competition.

That became one of the most divisive issues in modern Border Collie history.

The disagreement was not simply about whether people liked dog shows.

It was about something much larger:

What should determine the future direction of the Border Collie?

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AKC Knew the Border Collie Long Before 1995

The Border Collie did not suddenly appear on AKC’s radar in the 1990s.

AKC records state that the breed entered the Miscellaneous Class in 1955, forty years before full recognition. Full AKC recognition came in 1995. American Kennel Club

That distinction is essential.

Miscellaneous status was not the same thing as full recognition as an AKC breed eligible for regular conformation championships.

Border Collies could also participate in certain AKC performance activities before full breed recognition through earlier administrative mechanisms, including Indefinite Listing Privilege — ILP numbers. AKC’s own historical material confirms that Border Collies were among breeds handled through those earlier systems before the modern Foundation Stock Service was developed in 1995. American Kennel Club

So for decades there was a workable middle ground:

Border Collies could participate in portions of the AKC system without becoming a conventional AKC conformation breed.

For many working Border Collie people, that arrangement was preferable.

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The United States Border Collie Club

The United States Border Collie Club — USBCC — was founded in 1975.

One of its central purposes was protecting the working identity of the Border Collie.

According to USBCC’s own historical account, the organization specifically opposed:

• adoption of an appearance-based breed standard

• conventional conformation showing

• awarding championships primarily on appearance

USBCC believed that the defining characteristic of the Border Collie was its ability to work livestock and that formal conformation selection could shift breeding priorities away from that purpose. All About Border Collies

That philosophical position became central to everything that followed.

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AKC and USBCC Were Not Always Adversaries

The later conflict can make it seem as though AKC and the working Border Collie community were always opposed to one another.

They were not.

USBCC’s historical account states that for many years AKC itself had expressed reservations about bringing the Border Collie into conventional conformation competition.

During that period, AKC treated USBCC as an important breed organization, referred public inquiries about Border Collies to it, and worked with it on issues involving ILP numbers and performance participation. All About Border Collies

That is an important part of the story.

The dispute was not originally:

AKC versus Border Collie people.

For a period of time, there was substantial agreement that the Border Collie was unusual because its identity had historically been defined primarily through performance.

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Why Working Border Collie People Were Concerned

The opposition to conformation recognition was rooted in selection pressure.

Working breeders understood a basic principle of animal breeding:

Whatever breeders repeatedly select for will change a population.

If generations of breeders select primarily for livestock ability, the resulting dogs reflect those priorities.

If generations of breeders select primarily for appearance in the show ring, that population will eventually reflect a different set of priorities.

Working Border Collie people feared that once conformation championships became prestigious and economically valuable, breeders would begin selecting increasingly for:

• silhouette

• coat

• head type

• movement favored in the show ring

• presentation

• visual uniformity

rather than primarily for livestock ability.

That concern was not about one dog show.

It was about what could happen over generations.

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The Australian Shepherd Precedent

The issue became much more urgent after AKC recognized the Australian Shepherd in 1991. AKC’s own historical records confirm 1991 as the year of recognition. American Kennel Club

USBCC’s historical account states that the recognition occurred despite opposition from the Australian Shepherd Club of America, which had long functioned as that breed’s major registry and club. All About Border Collies

For Border Collie people who opposed AKC recognition, that sent a clear message:

A breed could potentially become AKC-recognized even without unanimous support from its established working community.

Rumors immediately intensified that the Border Collie might be next.

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The Border Collie Society of America

At approximately the same time, another Border Collie organization was forming.

The Border Collie Society of America — BCSA — began in the fall of 1990 as a small group of Border Collie owners in Louisville, Kentucky.

According to BCSA’s own history, those individuals believed AKC recognition would eventually happen and wanted Border Collie owners involved in shaping that process.

BCSA incorporated in April 1993.

At incorporation, it had only ten members.

By the end of 1993, it had grown to fifty.

During 1994 and 1995, membership expanded dramatically into the hundreds. BCSA

This group took a substantially different view from USBCC.

Rather than attempting to prevent AKC recognition, BCSA wanted Border Collie people to participate in the system that appeared to be coming.

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Two Different Strategies for Protecting the Breed

This created an important philosophical divide.

USBCC essentially argued:

Protect the working Border Collie by keeping conformation selection out of the breed.

BCSA’s position developed more along the lines of:

If AKC recognition is going to happen, Border Collie people should participate and attempt to preserve working ability, structural soundness, health, and versatility within that system.

BCSA today explicitly describes preservation of herding instinct, working ability, structural soundness, health, conformation, and performance as parts of its mission. BCSA

Both organizations were talking about preservation.

They disagreed profoundly about the mechanism.

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The Early 1990s Opposition Campaign

As concerns increased, USBCC organized opposition to full AKC recognition.

Its historical account describes a major letter-writing campaign in which hundreds of Border Collie owners contacted AKC.

USBCC representatives also met directly with AKC officials. All About Border Collies

At this stage, working Border Collie organizations were attempting to preserve the existing arrangement:

performance participation without conventional conformation recognition.

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The 1992 Understanding

The dispute appeared, briefly, to have reached an accommodation.

Historical correspondence from the period records that on July 31, 1992, incoming AKC chairman John S. Ward gave Border Collie representatives assurances that AKC was not then planning full recognition.

Donald McCaig, representing the working Border Collie community, later described the matter publicly as having been settled amicably.

For many opponents of recognition, that appeared to close the issue.

It did not.

By 1994, the question had returned.

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The Pressure Changes in 1994

USBCC’s historical account says that in early 1994, AKC began signaling that Border Collies might not indefinitely be permitted to participate in performance events without becoming fully recognized.

That placed some owners in a difficult position.

People who competed seriously in:

• obedience

• tracking

• other AKC performance activities

could oppose conformation recognition philosophically while also fearing that refusing recognition might eventually cost them access to the events in which they already competed. All About Border Collies

According to USBCC’s account, several well-known obedience competitors who had previously opposed recognition changed their position during this period.

The issue was no longer merely theoretical.

Participation rights were involved.

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The American Border Collie Alliance

Another pro-recognition organization also emerged during this period:

the American Border Collie Alliance.

USBCC’s historical account describes the Alliance as a faction that separated from BCSA and advocated more strongly for conformation recognition. All About Border Collies

Importantly, this organization is not simply folklore from one side of the dispute.

The AKC Library & Archives contains a specific 1994 portfolio and presentation from the American Border Collie Alliance, as well as a separate 1994–1995 archival file containing material from:

• American Border Collie Alliance

• Border Collie Society of America

• American-International Border Collie Registry

Those archival collections include correspondence, proposed standards, constitutions, parent-club material, pedigrees, and documents related to breed recognition and establishment. American Kennel Club Library

That archival record confirms that several organizations were actively involved in the recognition process.

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AKC Asks the Clubs Directly

According to USBCC’s historical account, in June 1994 AKC formally contacted three Border Collie organizations and asked whether they wished to pursue recognition and parent-club designation.

BCSA said yes.

The American Border Collie Alliance said yes.

USBCC continued to oppose recognition. All About Border Collies

USBCC states that major working registries and working Border Collie organizations also opposed the move.

The divide was now unmistakable.

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USBCC Proposes Alternatives

USBCC did not simply say no and stop negotiating.

Its historical account describes several alternatives it proposed to AKC, including:

• a performance-only registration category

• continuation of the existing system with higher ILP fees

• a binding vote of Border Collie owners

• other arrangements that would allow performance participation without adopting a conformation standard

USBCC says it offered to share the cost of a breed-wide vote. All About Border Collies

The central condition was consistent:

USBCC did not want the Border Collie defined through an appearance-based conformation system.

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December 1994: The Decision

In December 1994, the AKC Board voted to proceed with full recognition of the Border Collie.

BCSA’s own history confirms that AKC announced its decision to fully recognize the breed in December 1994. BCSA

USBCC’s historical account gives the more detailed implementation schedule:

• December 1994 — AKC Board vote

• February 1995 — AKC registration scheduled to begin

• October 1995 — Border Collies scheduled to become eligible for regular conformation showing All About Border Collies

AKC’s own records list 1995 as the year of full recognition. American Kennel Club

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AKC Recognition Did Not Create the Border Collie

This point deserves repeating.

When AKC recognized the Border Collie in 1995, the breed already had:

• more than a century of organized sheepdog-trial history

• ISDS pedigrees

• NASDS pedigrees

• AIBC pedigrees

• ABCA pedigrees

• established American working lines

• established British imports

• working championships

• an organized livestock community

• decades of obedience and performance participation

• an international population

AKC recognition added a new registration and competition system.

It did not create the breed.

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No Parent Club Was Immediately Selected

Usually, an AKC-recognized breed has a national parent club closely involved in the standard and development of the breed within AKC.

The Border Collie situation was unusual because more than one organization wanted that role.

BCSA states that AKC therefore did not immediately appoint a parent club when recognition was announced.

AKC waited while evaluating the interested organizations. BCSA

During this period, AKC itself moved forward with the breed standard and recognition process.

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BCSA Becomes the AKC Parent Club

In August 1996, AKC selected the Border Collie Society of America as the official parent club for the breed. BCSA

That decision permanently established BCSA within the AKC system.

BCSA today represents Border Collies across a broad range of activities, including:

• herding

• conformation

• obedience

• agility

• tracking

• companion and performance sports

• health programs

• rescue

• versatility recognition

Its stated philosophy specifically emphasizes retaining the breed’s herding instinct and work ethic while also addressing structural soundness and health. BCSA

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The Border Collie Defense Fund

Opponents of recognition did not simply accept the AKC decision.

USBCC had established the Border Collie Defense Fund, supported by contributions from Border Collie owners opposed to AKC recognition.

According to USBCC’s historical account, those funds were used to pursue legal action. All About Border Collies

The objective was significant.

The legal effort sought either:

• reversal of AKC recognition

or, failing that,

• a requirement that the dogs developed under the new conformation system be identified by a different breed name

The second proposal reflected the working community’s fear that a future show-selected population could eventually become substantially different while continuing to use the same name.

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The Legal Effort Ends in 1996

USBCC states that the legal effort ended on May 20, 1996.

Its historical account specifically says the effort was abandoned for reasons unrelated to the merits of the underlying claim. All About Border Collies

The important historical point is therefore:

The dispute did not end with a court ruling deciding which philosophy of the Border Collie was correct.

The legal effort ended.

AKC recognition remained.

And the two selection systems continued.

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Recognition Immediately Changed the American Breed Landscape

Once Border Collies could earn AKC conformation championships, a new incentive structure existed.

Breeders interested in the show ring could now select for dogs they believed best represented the written AKC standard.

That encouraged increasing attention to:

• consistency of type

• movement

• proportion

• head and expression

• coat

• overall balance

• ring presentation

At the same time, working breeders continued selecting dogs primarily around livestock performance.

The populations were still connected.

But their selection pressures were increasingly different.

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Working Border Collies Did Not Disappear

AKC recognition did not replace the older working system.

ABCA continued registering working Border Collies.

NASDS and AIBC continued to exist.

USBCC and working stockdog organizations continued supporting working-bred dogs.

Sheepdog trials continued.

Ranch and farm work continued.

The Border Collie therefore entered a period in which multiple definitions of success existed simultaneously.

A successful Border Collie might be:

• a working ranch dog

• an open sheepdog-trial competitor

• an AKC conformation champion

• an obedience dog

• an agility competitor

• a herding-trial dog

• a tracking dog

• or a dog successful in several of those areas

That diversity would become one of the defining characteristics of the modern breed.

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The Registry Divide Was Asymmetrical

An important feature of the modern registry relationship is that the systems do not operate in exactly the same direction.

AKC today provides registration pathways for qualifying Border Collies from recognized working registries.

The older working community has generally been much more restrictive about accepting dogs whose pedigrees are based solely on conformation-registry ancestry.

That difference is rooted in the same philosophical dispute that drove the recognition fight.

One system broadly asks:

Does this dog qualify genealogically for AKC registration and the activities available within AKC?

The other asks:

Does this pedigree remain rooted in recognized working Border Collie populations?

Those are not identical questions.

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The First AKC Border Collies Did Not Come From Nowhere

The earliest AKC-registered Border Collies necessarily came from dogs already existing within other Border Collie populations.

There was no separate ancient “AKC Border Collie” population waiting to be discovered.

Foundation dogs entered from established pedigrees and existing working or international registry systems.

That point is essential.

The conformation population developed from the broader Border Collie population after AKC recognition.

The registry label changed.

The ancestry did not suddenly begin in 1995.

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Registration Statistics Show How Quickly the New System Grew

AKC registration statistics for 1995 recorded 704 individual Border Collie registrations, placing the breed 88th in AKC registration rankings that year. AKC Images

That was the first year of full recognition.

The breed therefore entered AKC with an already substantial owner and breeder population available to participate.

Again, this was not a rare breed being created from a handful of foundation animals.

It was an established breed entering a new registry system.

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The Debate Was Really About the Future

Looking back, the argument over AKC recognition can easily be reduced to personalities, clubs, lawsuits, or registry politics.

But underneath all of that was a legitimate breeding question:

What happens when the selection criteria change?

Working Border Collie people believed livestock ability had created the breed and should remain the primary test.

Conformation supporters believed structural evaluation and standardized breed type could coexist with preservation of working instinct and versatility.

The disagreement was therefore not merely over whether a dog should walk around a show ring.

It was over whether conformation selection would eventually change the Border Collie itself.

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History Shows That Selection Matters

There is no mystery about whether selection changes populations.

It does.

Working selection changes dogs.

Conformation selection changes dogs.

Sport selection changes dogs.

Selection for temperament changes dogs.

Selection for coat changes dogs.

Selection for color changes dogs.

Selection for speed changes dogs.

Selection for extreme traits changes dogs.

Over multiple generations, breeders produce more of what they choose to reward.

That fact is central to understanding why the recognition debate became so intense.

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The Conformation Ring Tests Some Things Well

Conformation competition can reveal useful information.

A judge can assess:

• proportion

• structural balance

• movement

• soundness

• breed type

• physical condition

A dog moving around a ring cannot hide every structural weakness.

Movement frequently reveals problems that are less obvious while standing.

That is one reason conformation evaluation can have legitimate value.

But it evaluates only part of the Border Collie.

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The Conformation Ring Cannot Test the Entire Border Collie

A conformation judge cannot determine from several minutes in a ring whether a dog possesses:

• natural stock sense

• a useful outrun

• correct balance on livestock

• sufficient pressure

• appropriate eye

• problem-solving ability around sheep

• stamina over hours of work

• ability to read difficult stock

• willingness to work at distance

• judgment under changing livestock pressure

Those characteristics require different tests.

That was the foundation of the working community’s concern.

A Border Collie can be evaluated structurally in a show ring.

But the show ring cannot independently verify the complete working dog.

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Nor Does a Working Trial Evaluate Everything

The reverse is also true.

A working trial does not automatically measure every aspect of:

• orthopedic health

• genetic disease

• longevity

• reproductive health

• structural detail

• temperament away from livestock

• suitability for companion life

• performance in other disciplines

No single venue measures the entire dog.

That realization becomes particularly important in the modern Border Collie.

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One Breed, Several Measures of Success

After 1995, the American Border Collie increasingly developed multiple communities.

Some breeders remained focused almost entirely on livestock work.

Some specialized in conformation.

Some concentrated on agility, obedience, flyball, disc, or other sports.

Others attempted to maintain dogs capable of succeeding across several disciplines.

That is the modern Border Collie world.

It can be divided.

But it also overlaps.

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Versatility Becomes Another Measure

The Border Collie’s remarkable trainability and athletic ability made it successful in almost every canine performance discipline available.

That eventually encouraged another philosophy:

Rather than asking whether the breed should be only a working dog or only a conformation dog, some breeders and owners began emphasizing versatility.

BCSA itself now recognizes broad participation and operates versatility-recognition programs alongside herding, conformation, health, and performance programs. BCSA

That idea becomes especially important when we reach JBK.

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The Historical Divide Still Exists

More than thirty years after the recognition fight began, the philosophical divide has not completely disappeared.

Some Border Collie people continue to believe livestock work should remain the primary or defining selection criterion.

Others believe conformation, health, working instinct, temperament, and performance can be evaluated together.

Still others specialize heavily in particular sports.

The important historical fact is that all of these modern populations descend from a breed that existed before any of those modern divisions.

That older Border Collie remains the common foundation.

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1995 Was a Turning Point — Not a Beginning

AKC recognition was unquestionably one of the most important events in modern American Border Collie history.

It changed breeding incentives.

It changed competition opportunities.

It changed the public visibility of the breed.

It created a formal American conformation population.

And it intensified debates over what should define a Border Collie.

But it was not the beginning.

The breed was already established.

The registries were already established.

The working culture was already established.

The arguments over preservation already existed.

1995 added another path.

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What Came Next

After recognition, American Border Collies increasingly occupied several worlds at once:

working stockdogs

conformation dogs

obedience dogs

agility dogs

herding-trial dogs

sport dogs

family companions

and dogs capable of moving between several of those roles.

That modern versatility brings us to the final major section of this history.

Because the Border Collie did not stop evolving in 1995.

And JBK did not enter the breed after that transition.

JBK Border Collies began in 1994—before full AKC recognition—and therefore spans both sides of this history.

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Historical record established through 1996
By Jodie Keener, JBK Border Collies
JBKBorderCollies.com

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