Ok, I have to comment on why AKC doesn’t adopt Swedish ideas. For one thing, Sweden has a population of 9,316,256 (As of 31 August 2009). The United States is now at 308,725,000. The Swedish Kennel Club consists of a whopping 25 clubs. The AKC, on the other hand, has more than 550 member clubs and more than 4,500 affiliated clubs.
If people are worried about how dogs are bred, they can make a huge difference by insisting on the purchase of pups from litters whose parents have had health checks and which have some sort of history of performance or conformation titles. If people didn’t buy pups from pet shops, the stores would not carry dogs. The consumer must take responsibility and vote with his pocketbook.
My fondness for Border Collies wouldn’t make me very fond of the AKC running anything!
http://www.bordercollie.org/akc.html
You know, over the past 20 years hobby breeders and the AKC have done a great deal of education on just those things. I see a great deal of difference in the sort of people who call me about puppies now compared to when I first started. Unfortunately, I guess you will never get close to 100% of people willing to be educated. The REALLY sad/scary thing is that more and more I talk to otherwise smart people who thinks the government should regulate something as personal as whether or not you have to sterilize your dog.