Have you been to an all breed dog show lately? If you are like the majority of Bull Terrier owners, your response would be, "No there aren't any ROM points..." I was recently at a dog show in Central Florida. It wasn't one of the larger all breed shows, and none of the major Terrier Handlers were there. This is good, I thought, the Bull Terrier will have a chance of placing in the group. The Terrier Group dogs came in the ring; there was an Am Staff and a Staffy Bull, but no Bull Terrier and no Mini Bull Terrier. As usual, our breed was not represented in the Terrier Group Ring. The Staffy Bull received a Group 2 and the Am Staff a Group 4. There were two Bull Terriers entered at the show but since there were no points they didn't show up. There were no Mini Bull Terriers entered at this show. So what's the point, you might say, who cares about an all breed dog show anyway. I feel that the current mind set among Bull Terrier breeders and owners of removing our breed from the realm of AKC all breed dog shows and AKC standings is not doing our breed any good. I believe that the consequences of the current ROM system will eventually bring about the demise of our breed as a whole.

In the 50's and 60's many breeders, including Raymond Oppenheimer, believed that Bull Terriers suffered from "all-arounderitis". This was the catalyst behind establishing the Silverwood, where Bull Terrier people would judge the merits of their own breed, as "all arounders" were unable to over look such faults as bad mouths, etc. The BTCA also established its own ROM (Recognition of Merit) system where shows with breeder judges received ROM points. In other breeds an animal with an ROM title has produced 5 or more AKC champions, not necessarily from the same litter. So who cares, you might think, those could be cheap champions and totally unworthy. I believe that any extreme in policy XVIII eventually prove detrimental to the breed. Therefore, while only having our breed judged by all-arounders possibly hurt the breed, only having our breed judged by individuals heavily involved in the breed and therefore lacking total objectivity will also eventually hurt the breed. The truth is we need both opinions; the breeder judge who can award type and virtue with conviction, and also the all-arounder who doesn't know any of the exhibitors, but will judge Bull Terriers totally objectively with the AKC Standard of the breed in mind. Only with these two opinions, can breeders courageously proceed into the future. I was at a judges seminar for Bull Terriers. An old-time all breed judge came up to me and said, "How many breeder judges do Bull Terriers have, something like 29? in my experience any breed that has that many breeder judges is on their way out...! Why would is ultimately this judge make that observation? Because without objectivity any judgment invalid. That's why in a court of law, a jury is composed of 12 totally uninvolved people. If the jury were sitting in judgment of Bull Terriers, they would by composed of family members. The six who loved you would vote innocent, and the six who hated you would vote guilty. This kind of a judgment would not be valid or correct, it has far too many pitfalls to be taken seriously. However, this is how we expect our breed to continue into the future as a successful breed

And what exactly constitutes a "successful breed"? A breeder I was talking to said, "Hold on.. we don't want to be like the Dobermans. . ." To the AKC a successful breed is one that has 100 generations of controlled registered pure-bred breedings. The Webster dictionary defines success as being, "prosperous, fortunate... a favorable result". I talked to various Bull Terrier breeders and asked them what their idea of a successful breed was One breeder said that similarity in type, color and structure constituted a successful breed. Also, characteristics that make that breed enjoyable to live with. Another breeder said that sacrificing the health for a beautiful animal and running the breed into the ground along the way would be an example of an unsuccessful breed, so successful would be the exact opposite. I feel that what constitutes a successful breed, is new enthusiastic people coming into that breed and wanting to show and breed their animals. The gray cloud of apathy that has settled over Bull Terriers, is not an indication of a successful future.

There are different types of people who get involved in Bull Terriers or pure bred dogs in general. One type is the pet person who owns one dog, male or female. They get involved in showing, finish their dog's championship and if it's a bitch might have one litter and then spay their animal. I know of many instances where a person such as this has become so disillusioned by the politics and clicquishness of the Bull Terrier world that they have lost interest in Bull Terriers as a breed. One lady that had one of our Bull Terriers got into another breed, Schipperkes, because anyone could win. Then there are the long standing breeders who have bred 5 or more generations on a pedigree. I know of one such couple, who is so disillusioned with the politics of Bull Terriers that they are getting into show horses. Then there is the fancier who buys say a male dog and campaigns that dog for years because they like the atmosphere of the dog show scene. Of course since there are no entries at all breed dog shows, and since this dog wouldn't win at a specialty, either because the person is a nobody or the dog is not good enough, the fancier eventually loses interest and gets into another breed where they can show every weekend, like Am Staffs. Then there are the purely pet people who could care less about dog shows, and just want a Bull Terrier as a net to be neutered. The fact is, a breed needs all of these people to continue on. When new comers and old timers are discouraged by the politics of a certain breed, this is not going to produce a "favorable result". Without new people coming into the breed to carry on there is no future for Bull Terriers.

How does a breed attract new enthusiastic people? One way is attending all breed dog shows. Many prospective pet owners come to dog shows to view the different breeds of dogs. How many perspective Bull Terrier owners have been disappointed when they have gone to a dog show only to discover that "Bull Terrier people don't attend all breed dog shows...'. Another way to attract and involve new people is to offer different and fun events at the local and national level. Many Bull Terrier Clubs have successfully done this on the local level, such as the Washington Club with their "Bully Olympics". The BTCA board has just decided not to persue "Bully Olympics" at the national level. The BTCA could a tract new people by being open to new ideas and encouraging and involving someone who comes along and is enthusiastic about being involved. Currently at the -I national level there are approximately 700 members of the BTCA. The same person needn't be on more than one committee when we have such a vast membership who would like to be included. The feeling at this years Silverwood was one of total and complete apathy Everyone was there, going through the motions but totally lacking in enthusiasm. There was poor attendance at the various events, even the silent auction room lacked excitement. The two specialties following Silverwood had the poorest attendance of spectators that I can remember. One of the board members even commented to me about the lack of participation. Well maybe it's because Silverwood has become the same 6 people putting up the same 4 people, year after year. Maybe because often times you know the winner before you even get there. The BTCA Board should realize how apathetic membership has become by the fact that at the National Specialty they were unable to get a Quorum. with only 10% of the membership required to do s~ 70 people. Out of the 200 or so people that were at Silverwood, 70 of them were not convinced that it was worthwhile to go to the membership meeting.

What is the solution to the problems our breed is facing? There is one answer that would eventually solve all of the mentioned challenges facing our breed. It is the immediate dismantling of the current ROM System, and replacing it with the conventional AKC Recognition of Merit Award for an animal having produced 5 or more AKC champions. This would immediately place the emphasis of our breed back on the sport of all breed dog shows. We would still have our breeder judges, and their entries would be substantially larger than the all-arounders. However, exhibitors would be at the dog shows every weekend to try and finish their ROM animals. Trying to get multiple uninvolved judges to put up 5 separate offspring to complete their championship is quite an accomplishment. Breeders would encourage pet owners to show littermates every weekend at the shows so that the sire or dam could receive their ROM title. Which again would bring more involvement by more people to the sport of showing pure bred dogs. And the quality of these ROM Champions would not be any greater or any less than the current ROM Champions. There would be good ones and bad ones also. There would, however, be more differing opinions, more winning animals, and more excitement at the National Specialty when all of the top winning animals get together in the same ring. Putting the emphasis back on all breed shows whether judged by a breeder judge or all arounder would encourage first timers and old timers to socialize every weekend at the shows. This is how it was when I first started in Bull Terriers in the 70's. New comers are discouraged when they can't win at Specialties because they're nobodies and there isn't an entry at all breed shows. So they just stop showing. We can't desert the all breed dog shows. if not for dog shows, Bull Terriers would have become extinct when pit fighting was outlawed in the early 1900's. Instead of complaining that the all arounders don't know a good Bull Terrier when they see one--possibly because they never see one--lets enter some good Bull Terriers under these judges so they can see the difference.

Let's make it our goal to educate all judges about the Bull Terrier Standard. These are not new ideas, other breeds are already doing this. Many of our own breeder judges are judging other breeds and know that the mind set and attitude of other breeds are different from Bull Terrier breeders. Far from thinking that their breed is a mystery only individuals from that breed can know. Other breeds encourage you to familiarize yourself with, and judge by, their breed standard. Of course these other breeds are actually being guided by their standard, not flying by the force like Bull Terrier people. Our standard isn't printed anywhere handy--not even in the National Specialty Catalogue, and we usually have visiting, judges trying to learn about Bull Terriers.

A successful breed is one that assess the present in light of the future--not the past. While the current ROM system might have been beneficial at one point, it isn't any longer. The original purpose of the current ROM system was to discourage the making of cheap AKC champions. However, because of breeder judges putting up their friends or putting up a judge who will repay the favor at a later show, or politics in general, how many cheap ROM champions now exist? The breed is right back where it started before the current ROM system. It's time for another change. I would encourage you to encourage the current BTCA Board to take action and change the ROM system immediately before it does any more damage to our breed.

Diane Foote
Deslynn Bull Terriers

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