I think that the first course of action in regards to solving all that ails the PCA is to take a cold hard look at the board.  We can look at the membership and tighten up the standards of membership but that will really achieve nothing because we have so few members.  The board must be reorganized and each board member must have a constituency that they report to.  Right now a board member is voted on an at large basis, and they are really not accountable to anyone; except maybe friends, family, and factions.  Since board members are elected at large the easiest thing for them to do is to go along with the board because for all practical purposes that is their constituency. One of the reasons the framers of our Constitution divided our government into three branches, with one of the branches being divided into two parts was to ensure that everyone had a voice and yet there were checks and balances.  That is what the issue is with the PCA, not everyone has a voice and there are no checks and balances (outside of lawsuits and or running to the AKC…oh, and lambasting others on the forums).  If we were to start with the board and totally change the make up of the board we could solve quite a few problems easily.  First off, we need to divide the USA into six sections geographically and each section would have one board member who would serve a two year term.  The elections for this board member would occur among the PCA members who live in that region.  They in effect would be electing “their representative” to the board and that board member would have to report back to them from time to time.  Since everyone would be from the same region the opportunity to improve the communications between board members and membership would be greatly improved. Then we need to give the regional breed clubs representation on the board.  Since we currently have 18 breed clubs and some are active and other are not then we need to develop a system to rate the breed clubs.  One of the things that they need to be rated on is number of members within their geographical region.  Then we need to rate the clubs on the number of events they hold every year.  Then the top 8 clubs from whatever rating system is devised would then be offered one board seat per club that would be up for vote every year. This would give the individual regional clubs an incentive to grow and become active.  It would also empower the regional club members to become more active in their clubs and tie these regional clubs to the parent club in a “win-win” relationship.  Then you would have six board seats that would be voted on by the membership as a whole and these would be the “at large” board seats.   This would give you a board of 20 and then it would have to be determined how long service would be for the regional board members and the at large board members.  The club board members would only serve for one year since each club has its own elections annually.  You would want to stagger the length of service so that you have adequate turnover and still board continuity. This would then give you a broader representation on the board and allow for direct communications between the board, the board members and their constituencies.  This would also develop a sense of community within the regions and their board members and the clubs and their board members which is solely lacking today.  It would also give the club greater accountability because of the issue of constituencies. It would also be envisioned that then these groups would become competitive in attempting to reach out to more members, new members, and create the type of environment where new ideas come to the board in a more logical fashion. Of course this would also open up the board’s operations to more people and give more transparency.  Needless to say there would have to be term limits on all board positions and there would have to be some system to allow for recall votes. Then once all the board members are known the membership would then have to elect a President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer from the recently elected board members and that would be on vote of all members. This also means that the voting process would have to be staggered.  Then the by laws would all have to be reviewed and some things would not be allowed to happen or take affect until a new board takes over and some other things, like the breed standard would have to be the domain of the membership as a whole. This is a very cumbersome system and quick action would not be as readily achieved; but realistically a little less action and a little more thought just might be what our club needs at this time.

Having been a member of the Pekingese community for over 15 years during which time I have looked at all the activity as a newcomer and I have also had the opportunity of looking anew at everything as the owner of the top winning owner handled dog of all time for our breed.  I have also had the honor of breeding, out of my first litter a bitch that went on the win Best of Opposite Sex at the 1996 PCA Roving Specialty and a dog that went on to be a top winning Pekingese in Japan. 

I have also bred over 20 Pekingese champions of which quite a few also went on to win Group Placements. All of this was accomplished as owner handlers; which meant we had full time jobs, and we were not showing 50 weekends a year.  We always took off from June to September to escape the heat of shows in our area and we never showed between November and January because of the holidays and the weather.  We very seldom ventured to shows more than a six hour drive from our home and we never double entered shows.   While we worked very hard to ensure that our dogs were presented and shown as professionally as we could possibly show them we actually saw ourselves as breeders foremost.  All of the Pekingese we ever showed were our breeding and or owned by us.  We also never became members of any local breed and or all breed club.  During the ten years that we were active in showing and or campaigning Pekingese it became very obvious to us that something was very wrong with our breed. We also showed Shih Tzu and during the course of the same ten years we noted lots of new people and increased entries at shows.  While during the same 10 years we noted that with the Pekingese breed it was always the same people at the same shows and we noted a dwindling of entries.   Whenever we had the opportunity to discuss this with other Pekingese owners and or PCA board members the response was always, “Who Cares” and a shrug of shoulders…  But there always seemed to be a lot of activity within the PCA but none of it seemed to benefit the breed.   Anyone who knows the history of our breed realizes that up to a point our club has always been run by a very heavy handed person:  A person who controlled the board very tightly and dictated every decision that the board made. That system worked very well for the breed as this person oversaw the glory days of our breed.  Sadly, we have never found another person to hold such tyrannical sway over our breed while at the same time ensuring that everyone benefitted as during this period and thus, the slow but steady decline in our breed.  It is almost as if time has stood still and everyone aged as the PCA squabbled and hoisted imitators to its head.   It almost seems as if the PCA is very similar to some third world country; we sought democracy only to replace it with less than adequate tyrants or worse.  Thus, now we have squandered the treasury and we have divided ourselves amongst the varied “warlords” who have sprang up amongst us.If you watch the news and you see clips on Sudan, Pakistan, and or just about any other third world country do you ever wonder, “…what in that country is worth fighting for?”  Or maybe, “…why do they fight all the time…over what?”    Well, you have to wonder, “…what is all the fighting over within the PCA?”  Everyone claims they want to “…open the club and make it more welcoming…” or that, “…they have the breeds best interests at heart…” You just cannot help but wonder that if this was true then it would seem quite obvious, that if everyone shares the same reasons for wanting to run the PCA, then it would be real easy to find a compromise and bring everyone together.  If another club springs up that claims to be a “social” club that was established for people who love the breed to socialize and share then why not open the membership to everyone who loves the breed and wants to socialize?  Why do they feel that they have to pick and choose who they invite to become members of their club?

I am actually thankful that I left the PCA in 2002 and lost touch with the club and all the troubles until I joined once again in 2008.  In between the thefts, the lawsuits, and the stupidity on all sides, I believe that I would not have been able to ever venture back into the breed having experienced all of the shenigans on a day to day basis, live! It would have been too embarrassing, too humiliating, and too frustrating to watch humans do what they have done especially when all sides of the debate that incurred claimed the same values. No, it is obvious that what people were fighting for was more than what they said they were fighting for and more than what meets the eye. But, reality is, that is the past…and the issue for all of us is:  WHAT IS THE FUTURE?

Now, some people will claim that all that is wrong with the PCA has always been wrong with the PCA but I believe that change can occur.  There will always be people who will find comfort in the past but lets be realistic, our lives have changed dramatically since the past; and whether that past is five, ten, twenty, or fifty years ago, change has occurred and can occur within the PCA.  To move forward you have to quit looking to the past. 

So, rather than continuing to go through a beating in the various forums I want to establish this blog as a way to begin the process of looking forward.  I will post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.   We will have guest columnists from time to time and everyone is more than invited to join in the conversation by posting their own comments.  Thank you for stopping by and reading and I hope that over the next few months we find a way to face the future so that we can begin to move ourselves, our club, and our breed to a new future… 

Carl J. Mistlebauer