A common reaction of Americans attending Crufts or the World Dog Show for the first time is probably awe. Awe, not only for the sheer number of dogs at these shows, but for the different breeds seen there that aren’t seen at dog shows at home. The AKC has been on the fast track of catching up, but interestingly, there are breeds that are accepted by the AKC and/or the United Kennel Club, but not by the FCI, or Fédération Cynologique Internationale, the international federation of a number of national kennel clubs based in Thuin, Belgium.

The Boerboel, or South African Mastiff, was recognized by the AKC in 2015, and a year later by the UKC, but it is currently not a member of the FCI family of breeds.

The American Bulldog is another breed similarly omitted from FCI breed recognition, but while it isn’t recognized by the AKC, either, it was recognized by the United Kennel Club on January 1, 1999, a year after it accepted the Akbash Dog.

As for the Akbash Dog, that’s an interesting topic because there is so much conflicting information out there.  The United Kennel Club formally recognized the Akbash Dog as a breed in 1999, but many other kennel clubs worldwide have been wavering, and while some sources indicate that it’s been recognized by the FCI, we haven’t been able to find evidence of that so far.  The breed is growing in popularity throughout in North America, and we found that Akbash Dogs International was formed as an alternative (or rival) to the Akbash Dog Association of America.

The American Pit Bull Terrier, for those in the know, has a deep history with the United Kennel Club. It was the first registry to recognize the breed, in large part because of UKC founder, C. Z. Bennett, who assigned the UKC registration number 1 to his own APBT, Bennett’s Ring, in 1898.

From a distant perspective, the world’s dog breeds are no less “breeds” because of their recognition – or lack of – by different registries, and there is more that goes into recognition that, we’ve come to decide, is above our pay grade.