White Shepherd Organizations Mislead Australian Public

One would be fairly safe in assuming the White Swiss Shepherd Dog Club of Australia registered white Swiss shepherds in Australia - wouldn't you?

Well ... if you make this assumption you would be wrong. This organzation does not register white Swiss shepherds or have registered ANKC registered White Swiss Shepherd breeders. Dogs registered through this organisation cannot be registered with the ANKC as purebred White Swiss Shepherds.

This organsation promotes local Australian white German shepherds as a ring in for the fully imported white Swiss shepherd. The Australian dogs, while they may have some imported lines in them, are not purebred if not registered with the ANKC.

The white shepherd oganization also promotes their breeders as being fully registered white Swiss shepherd breeders - they are not. They are registered with this organization but it does not mean they breed dogs that can be registered on the ANKC's main register.

By continuing to call themselves the White Swiss Shepherd Dog Club of Australia they are misleading the Australian public. The only true White Swiss Shepherds in Australia have, currently, full export FCI pedigrees along with their ANKC pedigree. This organisation does not openly publicise this fact or openly inform the Australian white Swiss shepherd buyer the truth about their dogs and that they cannot be registered as either purebred white German shepherds or white Swiss shepherds.

They also do not publicise the fact that they do not represent the White Swiss Shepherd dog as a new breed in Australia as accepted by the ANKC on January 1, 2009. The dogs this organisation registers as pedigrees do not meet the guidelines set by the ANKC for a purebred white Swiss shepherd dog.

This organisation was originally setup up in around 2000 when the founders could not register their white dogs as German shepherds on the main register. The ANKC advised the organisation what it required for them to have their dogs recognised and they chose not to follow that path. Instead they changed the name to White Swiss Shepherd when the FCI accepted the White Swiss Shepherd as a different breed in 2003 (seriously what they should have done was call them was - German shepherd, white coat color as they are not truly a different breed).

They thought that once they did this their dogs would automatically be accepted when the ANKC accepted the White Swiss Shepherd as a new breed in Australia. Wrong. Once again these people failed to follow protocol. The Swiss Kennel Club is the owner of the FCI breed extension and were responsible for applying to the FCI for recognition of the white Swiss shepherd. Any country that wants to have their white German shepherds assessed and reclassified have to apply to the Swiss Kennel Club for inclusion in their breed scheme. The Australian people did not do this, hence the ANKC has excluded all Australian bloodlines from being considered for registration in Australia as white Swiss shepherds.

There is a lot of politics surrounding this issue. But the ANKC did the right thing for a number of reasons:

1. It would set a dangerous precedent by just allowing any dog to be registered as a new breed.
2. The majority of Australian dogs do not come from ANKC registered German shepherds in the first place so have no true, or only a partly, traceable history. Anything else is questionable.
3. It would insult all ANKC members for them to allow the Australian dogs to be reregistered as purebred white Swiss shepherds as they have failed to follow official protocols or train their dogs for the ANKC trial ring (they cannot be shown in conformation shows).
   

Also be aware that any organisation that registers white German shepherds in Australia is not registering purebred white German shepherds. Only the ANKC can do this. If they do not have ANKC papers then you are not buying a registered white German shepherd either ... no matter how expensive they are or what stories you are told or what brilliant imported pedigrees are in them. It does not matter that other countries register white German shepherds as purebred dogs. It is irrelevant here as the ANKC does not recognise those pedigrees and, hence, imported pedigreed white German shepherd dogs are not recognised as purebred or pedigreed dogs in Australia. THERE IS NO SUCH BREED AS A PUREBRED OR PEDIGREED WHITE GERMAN SHEPHERD IN AUSTRALIA ON THE ANKC'S MAIN REGISTER. KNOW WHAT YOU ARE BUYING.

Be aware that anyone, anywhere, anytime can start up an organisation, put up a website and start doing business but it does not necessarily mean that they follow the requirements of the Australian National Kennel Council for purebred White Swiss Shepherds, or any other dog breed for that matter.

While 95% of Australia's white shepherds are bred by backyard breeders it does not mean the dogs have no value. All I am trying to do is let people know the truth about what you are buying, before you buy so you can make an informed decision about whether you want to buy an ANKC registered dog or not.

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If you think you are buying an ANKC registered dog then ask the breeder for a copy of the ANKC Main Register (not Limited or Associate Register) papers - these are the only papers that will tell you if the dog is registered with the ANKC to breed purebred dogs.

I love the Austalian dogs but they will never be accepted by the ANKC. I have two white German shepherds, both bred by backyard breeders - but they cost me less than $500 each with their first vaccinations.

So don't be ripped off and you can only be ripped off if you don't know the truth. Don't stop here. Keep doing your research on these incredible dogs if you have your heart set on one as a family pet or good sport dog.