Welcome to 2010 and what an exciting year it should be. In my last report I told you of the ANKC National Conference in Melbourne. Due to the minutes not being ratified I could not divulge any information. This has now been done so I can tell some of the decisions that were made.

For the last 3 or 4 years your Council has been pushing for Neutered dogs (and bitches) to be given more opportunities in the Conformation Ring.  We have tried several different approaches, but could not gain the support to have them implemented.  At the 2009 conference our latest proposal was met with overwhelming support.  So I am pleased to announce that as of 1 July 2010 Neutered exhibits will have their own Conformation Championship Title available.

This title will operate on the same 100 points system currently in place for the Australian Championship title. Points will only be allocated in “Breed”, as Best Neuter in Group (or Show) is only a Class the same as Junior or NT Bred etc which do not accumulate any extra points. There will be NO Grand Champion Neuter title available.
Trialling members have not been forgotten in this as the accepted proposal included allowing the Neutered Champion Title to be used as required “Conformation Title” for gaining the coveted Dual and Triple Championships.

The race will be on, who will be our first to gain points towards this title and who will be our first “Neutered Champion”?  I am so excited about this new title I will personally donate a  trophy to the exhibit that is the first to gain this title in the Northern Territory to celebrate their achievement.

If you would like more information on this new title please send me an email or give me a call and I will send you further details.

Another item we had approved was the changing of the declaration on the Official Entry Forms. Presently this declaration asks you to sign that your dog has been vaccinated with in the previous 12 months. This vaccination protocol has been debated hotly for years, but recently the AVA has changed its own protocols. In line with this the new declaration will ask you to confirm your dog is vaccinated in accordance with the current AVA vaccination protocols. The wording of this means we do not have to change the entry forms if such protocols are altered in the future. Announcements will be made when the new forms are put in to effect.

Trials Qualification Certificates are being revised and a National Qualification Certificate for each discipline will be available. These new certificates will ensure standardisation throughout the country and be instantly recognisable as an Official certificate. This has been a problem for data input staff nationally as some club issued qualy certificates were not up to the expected standard.

The minutes of the conference are several hundred pages long, a copy will be available in the office if you wish to look through them and a Conference Summary will be posted on the ANKC web site.

This is the first electronic edition of the TDW without Yvonne van der Horst at the helm as Editor. I would like to thank Yvonne not only from myself, but also on behalf of Council and the members for the sterling job she has done as editor. You will be missed.

Don’t forget the Dogs NT AGM 28 April at 8pm on the grounds.

Until next time, good luck in all of your endeavours

Graham
dogznorth@bigpond.com
0428 248 103