PUREBRED DOG DETERIORATION: Part 2

Carol Hawke, Former AKC Judge

If you missed Part 1, click here

The lack of ethics in dog breeding today is failure to work with actual canines and make the extra effort which made the dog so preciously useful in the past.

As an AKC Judge, I witnessed the degradation of many purebred show dogs, including seeing hunting dogs split into two factions of type; working dogs and those bred for conformation. It has not always been this way – dual championships were not uncommon a few decades ago and were the gold standard of correctly made dogs.

The French Bulldog breed departed from emphasis on a sound, happy, healthy dog to become the love child of the “greeders”, i.e. the puppy mills. Like the miner 49er’s rush for gold, the puppy millers love child (once c-sections became more affordable) became French Bulldogs and began with a single-color deviation, “blue, blue, blue!”

Blue is an illicit, disqualifying coat color in the French Bulldog breed standard. This coat color was designated simply “mouse.” Dull, gray…mouse. In some breeds the coat hue seems relatively safe but not in the bull breeds overall and certainly not in Frenchies where it is strongly associated with alopecia skin and immune system issues.

From there, the emphasis turned to producing black and tan, black, and various dilute shades and patterns of no health or price value except to brainwash buyers. The ignorance of the naïve public was on full display as the greeders moved at lightning speed creating these ‘new’ colors such as blue merle.

As if that was insufficient, (and the latest color hues had faded into buyer boredom) the greeders back-peddled into creating disastrous mini-bulls and long coated Frenchie-pekes. None of these canine crosses are healthy, sound or functional canines and obviously not purebred by any stretch of the imagination or DNA. Tragically, many of those cross-breeds were registered as purebreds.

The latest fad I’ve seen is an additional cross which I suspect is a mix with Staffordshire Bull Terriers. They have brought the longer muzzle, mixed ear types and straight, long tail into what is left of the “AKC’s most popular” breed. I have seen these subtypes in movies, commercials and yes, on the streets with today’s city dwellers.

It is hard for me to comprehend which is more foolish; the ignorance of today’s dog buyers or the grotesque appearance of their spendy, trendy dogs.

AKC has done a dreadful job of representing the value of the purebred dog to the public. The goldendoodle, labradoodle and puggle is so engrained in our minds that buyers are convinced they own a “breed” of dog!!!

Tragically, most of those disqualifying breed colors and crossbred Frenchies tend to live shortened lives packed with suffering. Many such breeds balanced upon the pinnacle of type exaggeration and the greeders pushed them straight over the edge. These destructive genetic trends were often initiated by so-called, conscientious dog club members who were “greeders” on the side.

Before me today is a ‘true’ purebred French Bulldog specimen of middle age. Perhaps one of the last remaining for all I know. AKC is requesting his semen. Their rather dire letter warned me the breed is not far from extinction. Purdue University wants DNA of as many specimens as breeders can provide so they can study the degradation of this once healthy and sound dog breed. Photo Courtesy: Carol Hawke, This is a top winning French Bulldog (right) BIS/BISS Ch.Sonlit Golden Rule - cream color.

I hope they find what I learned from a brilliant scientist two decades ago but it is unlikely as many breeders are petrified about submitting their dogs DNA. You can guess why after reading the state of deterioration of French Bulldogs and other breeds.

How naïve I was promoting the sport of purebred dogs as an AKC judge for over four decades!

The simple truth was that I cared more about the breed than the clubs that espoused the breed standards and ethics. So, I have the satisfaction of knowing the genuine ancestry of my French Bulldog and I have DNA tested everything I could on this dog for my own reasons and purpose. He is exactly the type, soundness and temperament of the breed I began with 35 years ago. Larger in scale or on the medium end of the size range - which I don’t like but I take great delight that his type and soundness of body and mind can still exist.

This information may not matter to anyone in the breed or the purebred dog world as it exists today, but it matters a great deal to me. I ended up where I started. Preserving and protecting the breed for nearly four decades. I did so in breeding, exhibiting AND judging. I kept my personal vows to the dog world. I didn’t make money on dogs because I was taught you pour yourself into your breed, not the other way around.

It was a disgrace to earn income raising purebred dogs in my generation.

Too bad the dog show world incentivized the purebred dog show, turning it from a sport into a game. I warned them not to do it but was ignored. In fact, many AKC judges warned those in charge at AKC.

Breed clubs also lost the sport by abandoning their purpose of preserving purebred dog breeds.

As a judge, a breeder and purebred dog fancier, I truly tell you, the AKC sport has lost the ethical purebred dog enthusiasts in the process of taking money from greeders…They are not purebred dog breeders, they are the enemy, the very nemesis of the purebred dog.

© May 2026 https://www.thejudgesplace.com/Judges-view/purebred-dog-deterioration2-c26H052.asp

If you missed Carol Hawke's Part 1:

Purebred Dog Deterioration

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