AKC Delegate Report Michael Zarlenga, AKC Delegate From Sunday, September 23 to Tuesday, September 25, 2018, I attended the AKC Parent Club Committee, Breed Sustainability Subcommittee round table discussion, the AKC Delegate Committee Meetings, and the AKC Delegate Meeting in New Jersey. The Breed Sustainability Subcommittee The roundtable discussion was attended by 57 people, most representing a particular breed. The meeting started with a discussion of breed sustainability and how parent club health is integrally linked with breed sustainability. The discussion centered on what parent clubs are doing to expand membership and increase awareness of the breed. A number of larger parent clubs are reviewing the membership requirement sections of their bylaws to see if modifications would benefit the club. There was also a discussion about what services breeders are currently providing to puppy buyers. It was strongly suggested that breeders obtain microchips through AKC Reunites and microchip all dogs before they are placed. The breeder could establish themselves as a second point of contact should the owners be unavailable. Another topic of interest was some statistics on AKC registration. Currently, only 40% of the owners of puppies from registered litters actually complete the AKC registration process. There were many reasons discussed including no need to register the dog (i.e., not breeding or showing), not seeing value in the AKC registration, or thinking that because the owner was provided with a pedigree, the dog is already registered. Suggestions were made that the breeder should collect the money from the owners, get the name of the dog from the owners, and have the owners sign the registration paperwork when they pick up the dog. The breeder would then submit the paperwork to the AKC on behalf of the puppy owner. The sub-committee chair also posed the question as to how many clubs had a committee on breed sustainability. Currently, only the American Water Spaniel Club and the Visla Club have committees examining issues related to breed sustainability. The American Water Spaniel Club is currently in the process of examining the population of AWS to get a better picture of the gene pool and the Visla club is beginning with a health survey. The Visla delegate is going to forward me information on their health survey. The Otterhound club has completed a census and given that there are only approximately 800 Otterhounds worldwide, most of the actions of the parent club are centered around breed sustainability. Committee Meetings I attended 3 committee meetings. These meetings included the Parent Club Committee, Field Trial/Hunt Test Committee, and the Coordinating Committee. Most of the work done in these committee was work carried over from prior meetings with very little new business.
Parent Club Committee. In the Parent Club Committee, the meeting started with a legislative report. Sheila Goffe, AKC VP for Government Affairs made a short presentation. The Government Affairs office has tracked over 2,100 pieces of legislation affecting dogs or the dog fancy. However, most of the legislation is at the local and state levels. Therefore, clubs need to reinforce that members should let their parent s clubs know when local legislation is being proposed so the parent club can notify the AKC. The AKC Museum of the Dog will open in February 2019. The new address for the museum as well as the executive offices of the AKC is now 101 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10178. The AWSC needs to contact the AKC museum archivist to determine if there is anything that is being purged from the AKC library that might be of interest to the AWSC. In addition, the AKC will no longer accept club publications for permanent archiving. The committee reminded the parent clubs that they have a health statement on the AKC Marketplace. As of today, 165 parent clubs have a health statement on the AKC Marketplace, including the AWSC. The AWSC is encouraged to review the health statement and update the statement as necessary. The AKC Rescue Trailer program was discussed. Trailers are built and distributed to cities and counties. Clubs can sponsor all or part of a rescue trailer. In addition, club members are encouraged to contact their local and state emergency management agencies about being trained to work in a disaster zone so that members can assist with rescue trailers when they are deployed. Look for information on the State Animal Response Team or County Animal Response Team. Parent club self-evaluation form information is going to be distributed in the near future. The AKC developed the self-evaluation to assist clubs in determining best practices that might be useful to the club. A presentation was given by AKC Staff related to the changes being tested for the AKC Marketplace. The changes are currently being beta tested with 6 breeds including Vislas and Russian Black Terriers. The changes are intended to provide better information to prospective puppy buyers when they search the AKC Marketplace for information on breeds. Changes will include a link to a parent club s breed rescue for those wanting a rescue, as well as reorganize the order of the breeders on the breed page. There is also now a link to report problems with a listing. The AKC staff reported on juniors programs, including the juniors recognition scholarship program. The AKC is also travelling to various state fairs around the country and partnering with 4-H clubs to give juniors exposure to showing and handling dogs. Most recently, AKC staff was at the Ohio State Fair and worked with 50 4-H club members.
The AKC staff also reported on the Veterinary Outreach Program. The outreach program awarded grants to 3 veterinary interns. In 2004, the Parent Club Committee worked with the AKC staff to create a website for specialty show sites. The website permitted a club representative to complete a survey related to their most recent specialty show location. Clubs can then search the website for prospective locations and read feedback from other clubs. The website has not been updated in 14 years and is underutilized. Most clubs do not even have a representative that has access information. As a result, the Parent Club Committee will again work with the AKC staff to update and modernize the site. Canine College is an AKC online education area on the AKC website that is used for detailed breed information accessible to stakeholders such as AKC Judges. The content of the website is developed by the AKC in coordination with a subject matter expert designated by the breed s parent club. Apparently, there is confusion among some parent club members whether the parent club s board of directors retains control of the final approval of the content. The Parent Club Committee voted to recommend that the material distributed to the clubs reflect that the content on Canine College be subject to final approval from the parent club board of directos. Hunt Test/Field Trial Committee. The Hunt Test/Field Trial Committee started its meeting with a report from the Canine Health Foundation. The grant portfolio is available online from the CHF. The CHF received a 4 Star rating from Charity Navigator. There will be a National CHF Parent Club Conference in St. Louis on August 9 th through the 11 th, 2019. Finally, smile Amazon has the CHF as a listed charity if you plan to do your holiday shopping through Amazon. A significant amount of time was spent discussing statistics related to performance events. Doug Ljungren, AKC EVP of Sports and Events, reported some hunt test and field trial participation figures. Of note, Spaniel Hunt Test entries were down year over year by 8%. Retriever Hunt Test entries were down 4%. Overall, however, traditional field events are down 1.8% year to date. The Hunt Test/Field Trial Committee recommended to the board the approval of a lifetime achievement award for spaniels and pointers. Apparently, there is already a program for retrievers. There is a new AKC program named the Fit Dog Program. The idea is to encourage people to exercise with their dogs. The program is based on an honor system. People meeting the requirements can apply for the certificate. The Committee introduced all the candidates for the Committee. Committee elections were held at the Delegates meeting.
The Committee also recapped the recent detection dog conference and the breed sustainability round table. Finally, the Hunt Test/Field Trial Committee discussed the AKC Museum of the Dog soon to open in New York City. The Museum is currently running a Capital Campaign. The lowest level contribution is $2,500 and will buy a brick in a display. Coordinating Committee. The Coordinating Committee meeting is a consolidation of summaries by the Chairperson of all the committees of the AKC. The purpose of the committee is to update delegates on the other committee meetings that had taken place during the same times as the meeting attended by a delegate. The Coordinating Committee also assigns various aspects of the committee work to the appropriate committee. The Bylaws Committee discussed changing the current Board election process by getting rid of the Nominating Committee. They also discussed electronic voting at the Delegates Meeting, registration issues, and the Bylaws section on discipline. There was no indication that the Committee recommended any changes. The Health Committee began with a presentation by the AKC Canine Health Foundation and an announcement about the CHF Parent Club Health Conference. The Committee is recommending certain requirements for veterinarians at dog shows and for a rules change regarding the health of dogs and dog shows. The Herding Committee spent a substantial amount of its time discussing feedback related to Fast CAT and potential rules changes. There is also an issue in herding field trials related to scratching a dog at the line in order to steer points to another dog. Finally, the Committee formed an Earth Dog sub-committee to examine the requirements gap between the various title levels. The All Breed Club Committee continued its work on Best Practices for legislative intervention by clubs. There is a video available to clubs on the All Breed Delegate Page on how to be effective in influencing local legislation. The Committee is also working on the Welcome to the Dog Show brochure and flier which should be available soon. There was extensive discussion on providing help to novice dog show chairperson. And finally, the Committee reviewed clarifications from the Rules Committee. The Companion Events Committee reported that the Obedience and Rally Subcommittee has been working with a number of all breed clubs to promote Obedience and Rally and to create a best practices document for companion events. The Committee also recommended to the Board that deaf dogs be permitted to participate in Obedience events. There will also be a demonstration and testing for Trick Dog in Orlando in December.
The Dog Show Rules Committee voted on recommending or discussed changing a number of rules. The Committee is currently at odds on a number of changes that would make interpretive language part of the actual rule. The Committee views this as merely updating the rules to plain English. The Delegate Advocacy and Advancement Committee noted there were 12 new delegates attending their first meeting. The Committee also reported that an organizational chart of the AKC was now available on the Delegate Portal. Finally, Board members were given an opportunity to comment. One Board member praised the Museum of the Dog and the staff of the Museum for all their hard work. He also noted the address change for the AKC. The AKC moved into new offices in September 2018. The Chairman reported that registrations were up 4% this year to date compared to last year. He also noted that income was up. Page views to AKC.org and AKC.tv are up and AKC.tv is ahead of schedule in terms of content creation and viewership. The delegates meeting occurred on September 25 th. The first order of business was to vote for AKC Committee members. The meeting was then suspended and a presentation was given on club insurance. When the meeting resumed, the delegates were give one more opportunity to vote and then the polls were closed. The next item of business was the introduction of new delegates by their mentors. Two new clubs were voted into membership: Lawton Dog Fanciers Association. Utah Valley Kennel Club. Both were elected to membership. An update was given on the AKC Museum of the Dog. Other reports were given including a financial report. The next item of business was various votes on rule changes. Chapter 1, Section 4, of the Rules Applying to Dog Shows - Dog Shows Defined, which would allow clubs to limit their event by the number of dogs or by the total entry. This amendment was proposed by the Delegate Dog Show Rules Committee and was approved by the AKC Board of Directors. The amendment was approved by the Delegates. Chapter 3, Section 16, of the Rules Applying to Dog Shows - Dog Show Classifications, which would specify the order in which awards are presented by a judge at an All-Breed Show. The amendment was approved by the Delegate Dog Show Rules Committee and unanimously disapproved by the Board at the February 2018 Board meeting. The Dog Show Rules Committee demanded a vote by the Delegates. The amendment was not approved by the Delegates. Chapter 5, Section 9, of the Rules Applying to Dog Shows - Ribbons, Prizes and Trophies, which would allow a club to offer a three-time win trophy for Reserve Best in Show. This
amendment was proposed by the Delegate Dog Show Rules Committee and was approved by the AKC Board of Directors. The amendment was approved by the Delegates. Chapter 11, New Section 16, of the Rules Applying to Dog Shows - Dog Show Entries, Conditions of Dogs Affecting Eligibility, to address the use of inappropriate collars and leads at dog shows. The amendment was approved by the Delegate Dog Show Rules Committee and unanimously disapproved by the AKC Board at the February 2018 Board meeting. The Dog Show Rules Committee is demanded a vote by the Delegates. The Delegates voted to send this back to committee after a lengthy discussion on amending the proposed language. There were a number of proposals that were read for the first time. They are required to be published and voted on at a later date. A full list is available on the AKC Delegate Portal and I can provide to the Board if desired. The results of the election of Committee members was then presented. Interestingly enough, there was a tie for one committee member and a revote was taken on the floor. The Nominating Committee for the Class of 2023 was appointed. Various other speakers were recognized and gave brief remarks. This was a long meeting and ended at 12:44pm. I will not be travelling to the Winter meeting in Orlando, Florida.