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