AKC DELEGATE REPORT - CLAUDIA FRANK September 2006 Meeting

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NEW DELEGATE ORIENTATION HERDING-EARTHDOG-COURSING COMMITTEE
 OBEDIENCE-TRACKING-AGILITY COMMITTEE CAUCUS DELEGATES FORUM AKC DELEGATE'S MEETING

NEW DELEGATE ORIENTATION - SEPTEMBER 10, SUNDAY, 5:30pm

Apparently the New Delegate Orientation Meeting had been discontinued for some time and this event was the first of its reinstatements. This meeting was attended by 32 new Delegate’s plus numerous Board members and staff.

A presentation was made by several Board members which showed photos of people involved in the AKC both as Board Members, Officers and employees. They also included a photo of their breed of dog and on occasion some very humorous comments. Did you know that there are AKC employees that are dogless but have CATS instead?

There are 450 AKC employees with five Field Staffs resulting in 70 Field Representatives. AKC Programs were also described The RULES are changed by the Delegates, the Board handles the REGULATIONS and GUIDELINES and the Staff implements them both. The AKC’s focus is to present itself as a public ally. Dennis Sprung, President and CEO presents himself as very approachable and has provided a direct phone number for questions or problems.

John Lyns, COO from the Raleigh office documented 52% of the litter registrations are now done on line. There are 18,000 AKC events with over three million entries. There are more performance events than breed, but these events have fewer entries.

• The St. Jude Children’s Hospital is a huge charity event sponsored by many dog organizations including the AKC Coonhound program.
• The Registered Handlers Program produced eleven handling clinics in twelve months.
• The AKC has 15 inspectors whose job it is to education breeders on record keeping practices. They make approximately 4,800 inspections each year.
• There are 939 Legislative Liaisons from the AKC Clubs.
• The AKC CGC Program is open to mixed breed dogs too.
• The AKC web site provides information on needs of the dog breeder/exhibitor in the way of Homeowners Insurance.

The AKC Delegates elect the Board, keep their club informed as to AKC activities and they are a voice for their club to the AKC. The Delegates are the guardians of their clubs and AKC encourages them to "speak up”.

Duties of Delegates…
1. Review AKC publications
2. Review AKC guidelines
3. Review AKC web site
4. Read “Gazette” and “Perspectives” (AKC Delegate magazine)
5. Circulate AKC Press Releases
6. Read Delegates’ Handbooks
7. Attend all Meetings over the two day span of time
8. Attend Committee Meetings
9. Attend social events – make use of unscheduled time for “in hall discussions”
10. Write articles for “Perspectives”
11. Participate in Delegates’ List
12. Participate in new Delegate mentoring program
13. Utilize direct contact with staff and Board
14. Don’t be reluctant to speak up!

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HERDING-EARTHDOG-COURSING COMMITTEE - MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 9:00am - (SEE HEC MINUTES)

Advisors:
AKC Board Liaison – Steve Gladstone (learned that he had requested being the AKC Board Advisor for this committee as he thought it was “interesting.” )
AKC Board Liaison – Pat Scully
AKC Staff Liaison – Bill Speck

New Breed acceptance for performance competition:
1. Make a written request to the Performance Department
2. The request is then sent to the Board
3. The Board approves the request
The requesting Club may provide background information to the H-E-C Committee for their comments but this is not necessary based on above sequence to be approved. H-E-C review would extend time taken for breed to move through steps to approval for competition.
FFS or Misc. Class breeds can obtain titles which appear after the name – no championships.
The Kerry Blue Terrier Club presented a very well done herding DVD in support of their request that Kerry Blue Terriers be included in the breeds participating in the AKC Herding Program.

Clean Up Judges’ List:
1. Performance Judges’ List is reviewed by members of H-E-C
2. Once updated a yearly “update” would be mailed to each judge.
3. Lisa at AKC is an Intern in charge up updating lists.

“Conflict of Interest” Policy:
(Policy & Q&A - http://www.akc.org/news/index.cfm?article_id=2889)
Also see: Conflict of Interest Cover Letter and Committee Recommendation Regarding the proposed Judges' Conflict of Interest Policy

The Judging Policy is the first step in getting AKC recognition & loyalty.
What would we like to see happen? An evidence letter involving the herding, earthdog and coursing should be sent to AKC liaison Steve Gladstone presenting evidence supporting exemption for judges’ typically judging more than one organizations. For herding this would be USBCHA and ASCA. Steve was VERY opposed to any judge judging for more than one organization. He was very surprised to learn that the Herding Program would lose a huge number of judges that have their first loyalty to other organizations rather than AKC. He was also surprised to hear that the herding judges could not very quickly be replaced by newly trained judges in that the judgment necessary for presiding over the herding competition requires years and years of knowledge and expertise with different types of livestock besides the training and competition with the dogs and trialing situations. (Don Smith sent out a wonderful draft of findings submitted to him by the three performance sports. The final letter will be sent to Steve Gladstone and its discussion will be added to the Board Book for the next Board Meeting.)
AKC wants to move toward uniform policies.
To be present in the Board Book for the October meeting the letter will need to be sent two weeks before the meeting date to Jim Crowley

Publicity for the H-E- C Committee:
Very few AKC member clubs know of the existence of the H-E-C Committee. Don Smith suggested we develop a YAHOO internet “LIST”. The address for this list would be sent to all the AKC member clubs. This groups could ask us questions where they may need assistance. (One point that consistently arises over my attendance of these meetings is exactly WHAT is the PURPOSE of this committee? They do not have any actual authority.)  Gerard Baudet will assist with the mechanics of list development.

COMMITTEE REFORMATION:
There wasn’t a need for an election for committee members. Those that self nominated earned a position on the committee. Gerard Baudet stepped down as Chairman as he currently is working on the AKC Herding Advisory Committee as Chairman. Don Smith took over the Chairmanship. He is a lure coursing person and my feeling is that he will be a very good person in the position. He has suggested that we have three subcommittees so where each of the performances will be represented – herding, earthdog & coursing.

** Several members of the H-E-C Committee continued the meeting discussions very informally through lunch. Don was very interested in herding and asked many questions about the other BC organizations and how they all worked together or apart.

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OBEDIENCE-TRACKING-AGILITY COMMITTEE - MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 12:30pm

• I was able to attend about half of this committee meeting.
• Rally jumps are set up for 4” – 8” – 12” – 16” (no 6”)
• On the AKC web site for these sports emphasis needs to be brought back to a mileage limit so a specific breed would have their entries protected.  It is important that the Events Calendar list which breeds are allowed to enter.
• There was a lot of discussion about non-purebred dogs being allowed to compete in AKC events. Some clubs have clauses in their Constitutions and/or By-Laws that would prohibit them from allowing mixed breeds to enter events that they produced.
• The Mars Company now has a DNA test that can tell which breeds are in the background of a mixed breed dog. Currently a ILP dog is only evaluated if there is a specific complaint.
• AKC has a NEW mission statement that says they are “for all dogs”!

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CAUCUS - MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 4:30PM

Limited Registration:
Now you can register all the puppies in a litter - single tier registration. The use of this type of registration made it difficult to tell which pups would be registered as “limited”. Cases of fraud could easily develop though the Limited Registration process where the dogs registration could be manipulated so that they would be bred and their offspring would end of AKC registered again.

There is a continuous problem between RULES and REGULATIONS. There was some discussion about the Delegates adopting all current rules as regulations. At the current time many of the hunting dog sports have changes voted upon by the Delegates while herding is voted upon by the Board.

Examples of restrictive legislation was presented by several different clubs showing how widely these problems are seen. Financial support was requested to fight a particularly bad situation – ORDINANCES, Rio Grande KC, PO Box 25672, Albuquerque, NM 87125. Other areas of extremely bad legislation was in Independence, MO and Louisville, KY.

An address to review is the www.dogsdeservebetter.com. It is the Animal Facility Inspection Act.

Dog spots need to ally themselves with the livestock industry, farming communities and hunting fanciers. All animal rights moves need to be investigated and fought.

A Masters Junior Showmanship class was suggested for youngsters who have had more than 15 wins in a year.

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DELEGATE'S FORUM - TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 9:00am

The AKC Veterinary Outreach Program was presented by Keith Frasier 

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AKC DELEGATE'S MEETING - TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 10:00am
Also see (http://www.akc.org/news/index.cfm?article_id=2889 PETLAND p.19)

Registration dollars are used to promote “Responsible Dog Ownership” days (RDO).

Number of registrations on the decline. AKC must meet needs of customer groups.
1. Litter registration coupons
2. Veterinary exam certificates
3. www.Dog.com coupons

On-Line Breeder Classifieds
1. $30 for 60 days – one renewal
2. Increase percentage of individuals being registered
3. Educate the public
a. Homes for pups
b. Generate revenue
4. Encourage breeder contact – 3.6% more registrations
5. Help people find breeders
6. Education-3% of litters were on OBC
7. Generate income
8. Breeder profile & parent club membership – verified

Archivist – Norma Blake
The initial installment of the portion of the AKC web site devoted to the archives is now live. The possibilities for future expansion are limitless. If you go to the home page and click on " About AKC" in the left column and on the next page "AKC Departments", again on the left side of the page, you will get a list of departments with links, the first being the AKC Archives.

Conformation trends – decrease in number of dogs & increase in the number of entries.

Strategic Planning:
1. Make specialty clubs more attractive
a. Entrants will travel farther
b. Hold in clusters
2. New Exhibitor/Breeder awards
3. Public education
4. Registered Handlers workshops

Petland Registration Initiatives:

The Board brought to the Delegates’ attention that the Petland Initiative would find the AKC training the staff to sell the AKC puppies. Puppies sold would then be registered in the store with the registration fees being paid to the store and later sent along to AKC. In the course of discussion it was pointed out that the AKC was approving the paper work behind the puppies and the living situation for the puppies so that would then make them “AKC approved puppies”. The Delegates objected on a number of fronts including the fact that clubs’ Code Of Ethics eliminated pet shops as sources of sale for pups bred by reliable breeders. There was quite a heated argument. A vote was called by the Delegates that asked the Board to rescind the Petland Agreement and it was a very near 100% in favor of the Board rescinding the contract.

Just as a little history… having been active in AKC for 40+ years BUT not paying a lot of attention to politics of it all until recently ... most of AKC's income came from registrations. Probably over 90% of that registrations were "high volume breeders" (aka puppy mills) and one time breeders. What we call "reputable breeders" took only a small fraction of the total registrations. At that time the AKC was the ONLY game in town generally for registration. Now there are 23 registering bodies. When the AKC started checking on the accuracy of paper work, turning in awful facilities to local humane groups and fining or pulling papers these companies/mills turned to other sources for registration. The other sources often were much cheaper, did not check records or show up on the doorstep to examine facilities. Registrations by the AKC dropped noticeably. It seems the AKC has made an issue of "courting" these companies/mills to get their business back as part of their Strategic Plan to increase income. Some attention was given to other sources of revenue... credit cards, sales of supplies, pedigrees, etc. but apparently that direction wasn't enough to cover the income needed by the AKC. The most notable expense is AKC event records where they say they lose with each exhibitor entry... but I think that is stated as a "pinch" to those objecting as we don't want to lose the availability of events & titles earned.

My question is why does the AKC NEED the income it says it does?
At the Delegate meeting the general consensus seemed to be that the "reputable breeders" didn't mind paying double for registrations if needed rather than lower standards to increase registration volume. The Board commented that they didn't want to be elitist but the delegates didn't know why that wouldn't be a good idea ... keeping HIGH standards. Also, why does the income need to be that high... didn't hear any mention of lowering salaries for Board, lowering company portion of saving, health, etc. plans at all. That is what other companies do to save money? AKC has only dropped bottom level performance experts as far as I can see which were needed in the field to guide groups producing events.
After the Meeting Delegates went home and there were many discussions about the Petland Contract. Very clear letters were written to the AKC… mostly in support of rescinding the contract. Some offered constructive alternatives.
I was very pleased and surprised that the following statement was sent out shortly thereafter showing that the AKC Board was open to the demands of the Delegates.

9/28/06 –
At the September Delegates Meeting AKC reported that we had reached an agreement with Petland in order to facilitate the registration of dogs that are already AKC registerable. Precedence: bulk AKC's Board of Directors and management believed that this agreement would have helped to further the mission of the AKC. Promoting responsible dog ownership to new puppy owners, implementing our care and conditions policies, and exposing more dog owners to AKC educational programs and services would have had even greater reach.

In the past few weeks we have received many comments about this agreement, both positive and negative. We have listened to the concerns and because this issue has become so divisive, we believe it is in the best interest of our sport and the American Kennel Club not to go forward with this initiative.
Ron Menaker, Chairman of the Board
Dennis B. Sprung, President and CEO

New Rules:
1. “Day of” entry fixes
2. Owner/Handler Classes
3. Create Owner/Handler Rankings
4. Encourage new exhibitors

VOTING:
All changes requested for the hunting program were passed.
Article VI: Delegates – Section 5 Charter & Bylaws- who can be an AKC Delegates is more strictly defined. Both Board & Delegates had to agree on the meaning of the term “significant interest” before the item would be voted upon. It was passed.

REQUEST FOR ACTION:

1. I haven’t been able to get a copy of the BCSA letter to Jim Crowley at AKC regarding the “Conflict of Interest” Policy from Laura. It should have requested that the herding, earthdog and coursing judges be exempt from the “Conflict of Interest” Policy. I am REQUESTING that I have the Board’s approval to write a letter to the AKC supporting the exemption of USBCHA and ASCA judges from the policy. See the H-E-C Committee’s first draft for support of exemptions to the “Conflict of Interest” Policy.

2. I would appreciate the BCSA writing to the AKC and thanking them for being responsive to the member Club’s desires in not going forward with the Petland Contract.

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