Elaine
Member
From:
Registered: 01/09/05
Posts: 24
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Date Posted: Tuesday, February 21, 2006, 12:11:36 PM
Good Morning Anna,
I would appreciate knowing what the views of these clubs are. If the job is pretty time consuming, a short synopsis would be just fine. Thanks for your time and efforts.
Elaine and Nikalena
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Anna
Admin
From: Houston, TX
Registered: 01/09/05
Posts: 59
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Date Posted: Monday, March 27, 2006, 10:50:15 AM
Claudio,
You are absolutely correct in some points but not all:
Breed is not known in North America... True, almost. But our club is only 3 years old, completely nonprofit and everything you see ANYWHERE in the internet is a work of 3-4 enthusiasts who believe it's important to spend their time and efforts on introducing the breed. I think we have done a LOT? Want to help? J
Breed is not AKC recognized... True. And we really don't have as much interest in it as you might think. AKC registration will bring popularity to the breed, but it is also a guarantee that the breed would split into show and working lines (like with other spaniels), since AKC doesn't require ANYTHING other than papers on the parents of the litter to call a pup purebred. We want to assure our dogs fit the standard and retain the hunting instincts through generations. The solution is UKC. It is in the future but depends on the next point&
There are no breeders in North America... Not entirely true. There have been two US-born litters (as of 03/2006), and there will be more as the puppies RSC imported grow up. We are against the concept "breeder" the way most people see it: someone owns a bunch of dogs and breeds them to each other. We plan to follow the Russian model for as long as necessary to establish good gene pool: breeding pairs are picked through the club, matched on exterior and hunting qualities. Every owner of a female RS is a breeder or potential breeder.
"There is only one website available for buying puppies"... First of all, the puppies are LOCATED through RSC, not bought from us... and that is true. When the next litter is born in the US or Canada, that breeder might choose to create his/her own website. Then there will be more websites, but that litter will still be listed on RSC website.
"Final price exceeds the cost of puppies from high-class breeders from N.A."... I disagree, sorry. Dogs in the US (I don't know about Canada) with dual certifications (conformation and field) cost much more. If you add the general health of the breed that attracts people to Russian Spaniels, the cost suddenly starts to make sense. Final price is VERY reasonable, in my opinion, for the quality of the dog people are getting. Clearly, I am not the only one who thinks so. But most importantly, even if I thought that it wasn't reasonable; there is NOTHING we can do about it. RSC does not charge even a penny for importation assistance. All prices are dictated to us by the market in Russia, and we have not control over that. You can look at the table on the bottom of the Import cost page to see that: http://www.russianspanielclub.org/import.cfm
I tried to answer you the best I could. Now that you know these details, if you know of a way to speed up the extension of the breed in North America, please help us, get involved with the RSC!!!
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Anna
Admin
From: Houston, TX
Registered: 01/09/05
Posts: 59
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Date Posted: Friday, July 07, 2006, 08:23:13 AM
The National (Russian) conference is ongoing right now, deciding the future of the Russian Spaniel. Yesterday they held a vote on petitioning for FCI recognition. Of 23 breed experts, 12 voted against it. Majority decided.
I, personally, have mixed feelings about FCI recognition (and consequently AKC). On one hand, the breed would be "official" -> more people would learn about it, we would be allowed to participate in AKC show and trials. On the other hand, it would eventually lead to the split into show, pet and working lines in US as well as in Russia. The reason Russian Spaniel is interesting is because it is all 3 in 1.
What does this mean for RSC now? We need to get all our information together and petition for UKC recognition. We would get less exposure than AKC breed, but more control over the breeding rules to prevent the split. UKC hold their own show and field trials. IMHO, this is the route for us.
Opinion?
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