Complaint Review: Becky Harstad

I have never said that I was on the Board of the AKC.  That is totally ridiculous.  Nor have I ever said that I was a DCA board/officer.  Again, ridiculous since I am no longer even a member of DCA for my own personal reasons.  I also have never said that I am an Earthdog judge.  I am however a Field Trial Judge and have been since 1991 and I am licensed to judge Bassets, Dachshunds and Beagles in field trials. 

All of this started as a result of two separate people being removed from a dachshund email list of which I am a moderator and they have chosen this method for revenge against me personally when I was not the one who had them removed from the list.  Their removal (at separate times) was due to their own activities on this list which was (in once case) detrimental to the purpose of the list and in both cases due to postings that were flaming and against the list rules.  Additionally, though not due to anything that I had done, both of these people have been removed from several other lists for these same problems.  They just do not play nice with others. One of the individuals has made a point making mulitple posts to this directory using different names but with the same irroneous information and using faux names.  However, nothing pertaining to those removals has anything to do with my reputation as a breeder of dachshunds.

It has been my obsession through the many years that I have been active in the fancy to help the newcomers to the breed as much as I am possible.  I am not concerned about whether they have one of my dogs or not, I am always open to giving advice and assistance when asked.  I have always been ethical in my dealings with those who have bought my dogs and I do not exaggerate the quality of my pups as many others do.  

I googled Ms. Harstad's name trying to come up with an email for her and found this. I'm actually quite glad I did. I would like to add a few things myself.

Ms. Harstad stated to a group once that she was on the board of directors with AKC and on the board of directors with the Dachshund Club of America. I personaly know BOD members on both and asked them about her. One of the BOD's of DCA told me that Ms. Harstad has never been on the BOD. One of the BOD's of AKC told me, quote, "Becky Harstad is a flipping idiot! Don't listen to her".

Ms. Harstad posted at a yahoo group that she is an AKC Earthdog judge and helped AKC develop the rules for AKC earthdog trials.

I looked Ms. Harstad up in the AKC judges directory and she has never been an Earthdog judge. I also contacted a friend of mine that works for AKC and she stated to me that it was Jim Tebbets that worked on the rules with AKC.

Ms. Harstad told me that she lived on the west coast. However I have been told by another breeder that she lives in Tennessee.

Because of this. I honestly do not know if the above statements made by Ms. Harstad are true. However, this Mac that she speaks of may be right in what he says about her spreading false rumors about him.

As far as this Sussie Due? I Googled this person's name and found that she IS an AKC Earthdog judge. Sounds like Ms. Harstad's statements might be jealousy?

My thoughts...for what its worth.

In clarification of Mac's comments, I did not slander her on the internet at any time. I am merely a moderator of an email list to which Mac at one time belonged. She made comments on that list which were lies and some of the other members found her blog and web site and asked her about the differences in what she was saying on the list and what she had said on her web site. At no time did I post comments about Mac on the list. All of my communication with her was done privately and in response to emails which she had sent to me. She became irate when she was removed from the list because her ideals and philosophies did not agree with those of the majority of the list members.

The internet list in question is made up of a group of very serious Dachshund show breeders, handlers and trainers. We take our dogs very seriously. Because of our affliation with the Dachshund Club of America, we are supporters of the AKC. On Mac's web site (which she has since removed but copies of her postings are still available), Mac not only commented on the fact that she did not agree with AKC registration and did not like the AKC, but also that she had bred dogs that she had gotten through rescue (her description, not mine) and had "registered" them in a faux registry which was created and is used by commercial dog producers and puppy mills. Mac also said that one of her dogs had a litter of dachshund/border collie cross puppies which she had "registered" as borderdox. This was her statement. These things along with other comments which Mac made to the internet list lead to her being removed as a member.

Since that time, Mac has made an effort at discrediting everything that I do. She has sent me a multitude of viruses and has put me on all kinds of spam lists. I am continuing to receive posts from various pseudo names that she uses. Her real name is Sussie Due and she lives in Oregon. The list which I moderate is not the only list which has unsubbed her due to her inappropriate comments and actions. I personally know of at least 3 from which she has been removed and within the past few weeks, she has been put on moderation on another list, also due to her bad behavior. I had nothing to do with any of these other removals or restrictions on other lists. This is not a nice person. I have no interest in having anything to do with Mac and just want her to leave me alone and forget about me.

I have been involved in most activities associated with showing, training, breeding, and handling dogs for over 40 years. I teach obedience classes (over 25 years), agility (15 years), handling and performance classes. I also train hearing dogs and have place several in homes where they assist their owners. I just recently trained and placed my first seizure alert dog who has already alerted her new owner to at least one seizure. I participate in rescue and I am a registered foster home for PCA. I currently have two papillion rescues from a Kansas commercial puppy producer that I am fostering and trying to bring them back from the abuse and inhumane treatment which they received. Hopefully, these two dogs will eventually find forever homes and live a much better life than what they have had in the past.