@pacificNWbasenji:
Pat, I believe spay/neutered dogs can be used as get in stud dog/brood bitch classes. A breeder can easily include their altered progeny in other events to showcase the well rounded diversity of their breeding program by being able to title their dogs in different venues. I don't think it is a shame for a registry to have a program specifically designed to assess breeding stock, and require that the dogs actually be breedable. As I said before, conformation judging is the only event where spay/neutered dogs are excluded. That seems pretty fair to me. But, that's just my .02?
I totally disagree and the use of stud dog/brood bitch classes are IMO, pretty useless. I have placed many a Basenji that could have easily finished their championship, however the family didn't want an in-tact animal… but would have shown if spay/neuter was available. IMO, there should be separate classes and awards for spay/neuter. The only place that you can show spay/neuter in the classes is at an independent specialty where there is no competition past Best of Breed. And why should a breeder be able to show case the breeding that they spent many hours deciding on the best cross possible to improve the breed with good conformation along with other performance titles?
Why is a spay/neutered dog not a representive of breeding stock? In my book, it most certainly is, while you might not breed that particular dog, the sire and dam it represents is the breeding stock