20 Saber Tails Spring 2017
Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America
AKC DELEGATE’S REPORT
Respectfully Submitted by Anne Gallant
Committee & Delegates’ Meetings 12/15&16, 2016
Cont’d next page
Committee Meetings, 12-15-16
All-Breed Committee
Delegates attending this committee meeting were en-
couraged to review the Resource Section of All-Breed
Committee and post ideas that their clubs have found to
be successful. The Committee reviews these postings and
then puts them online to share with anyone interested.
The AKC Board has discussed the concern that shows are
running longer than before. Among factors mentioned
are fewer judges hired to reduce expenses, inclusion of
special attractions, and the need for better communica-
tions with the show Superintendent/Secretaries regard-
ing scheduling. On the average, the 2015-2016 shows
ran about 9 hours. New rules for NOHS judging will go
into effect April 1, 2017. AKC statistics indicate that NOHS
increases entries for shows that include this event, while
Best-Puppy, Best Bred-By, and Best Veteran are not statis-
tically advantageous to a show. Carl Ashby, AKC Board
member, reported that the 2016 shows were down 29,000
entries (3%) compared to 2015. He said that NOHS may
not increase entries at a show, but it might help slow the
decline.
The AKC Board of Directors approved the territory rule
recommended by the Rules Committee in November,
2016. It defines the appeal process if a club that requests
a show date and location within the territory of another
club is denied permission to hold that show. This vote will
come to the Delegates in March, 2017.
Mari Beth O’Neill discussed National Jr. Showcase events.
A club can offer obedience, rally, and agility for Juniors
only. There is no event fee to the AKC, and the event
doesn’t count against the number of events permitted
per year.
The Club Development Department, led by Glenn Lycan,
was created to assist clubs in their start-up process, help
solve problems of territory or partnering in clusters, assist
clubs who want to add new events to their show, provide
assistance and publicity for Matches, or provide other
help that a club might request.
The Forum
The December Forum is a Question and Answer session
of the candidates running for the AKC Board of Directors.
The March election for 4 Directors will have 9 candidates
on the ballot. Questions are solicited from the Delegates
and are asked of all the candidates in a round robin ro-
tation. The questions were probing, specific, and perti-
nent to the management of the AKC and to the sport of
dogs. Over the 1 ½ hours scheduled for the Q&A, the 9
candidates answered 8 questions. Another opportunity
to compare the candidates will be the extensive question-
naire published by the Dog News Magazine.
Delegates’ Meeting, 12-16-16
Mr. Dennis Sprung, AKC President, introduced the people
seated at the dais.
Chairman’s Report
Mr. Ron Menaker welcomed everyone to the 16th AKC Na-
tional Championship and to Royal Canin from the Mars
Petcare company as our sponsor. This entry is the larg-
est ever with 7,000 dogs across all competitions. AKC has
had significant growth in 2016 with an increase of reg-
istrations of 8%. The AKC Canine College was launched
which is enhancing judges’ and breeders’ education. The
entry-level Agility Course test was introduced as well as
the FAST CAT 100 yard dash and the Junior Showcase
Event. The AKC Government Relations department moni-
tored and responded to more than 3,000 proposed bills