GRD

Federal Restriction of Trade legsislation really limits what can be done in this regard. Rules are in place, but anyone committed to puppy farming pedigree dogs only has to take this to court for these rules to be declared a restriction of trade. I do not believe that there is any support for puppy farming, open or otherwise from within the organisations, but once again they are severally restricted in what they can do about it. The export trade has really dried up with the major exporter closing up shop in Australia due to the downturn in the U.S economy. hopefully it will never go back to the way it was. I would love to see a participation clause being added to the breeding rules, ie you must participate in either conformation or performance events a certain number of time per year to hold a breeder prefix. Responses from legal eagles on this have been that it too is a restriction of trade and could not be legally enforced.

You can not switch a dog from limited to main after 3yo of age. (SIlly rule IMO). This is a state ruling, perhaps you could apply for an exemption from your state control.

Just on this one, agree with Woofen... people laughed at the neuter title... people didn't support it and many breeders wouldn't encourage their puppy buyers to have a go even if they wanted to. The neuter title is for dogs on Main register.... and the limit was brought in to stop people from registering and showing dogs that are not suitable. Where does that leave pet people that might want to have a go? we have a small club with several members who would like to try showing. The first show that has offered neuter this year is in July and we have three members who will be eligible to show their dogs. We have gained permission from their breeders and they are joined and entered. these are people who have ex show dogs but would never have known about showing if we hadn't encouraged them to come down and see what it is all about. From reading the Neuter Title thread both members and clubs are starting to support it, this title has been in place for less than 12 months and it is growing. Given time and pressure from the members it will continue to grow to where it will be considered part and parcel of the show world, not some novelty class. Unless breeders are willing to transfer neutered dogs on the limited register to the main register (and this should only be done if they are good examples of the breed)then unfortunately they can never compete in the show ring as we know it. BUT If a Companion Dog Club or similar was established by the controlling bodies I can see this as an avenue for these dogs to have their own shows. Once again it would be a long process to make it happen, but a couple of determind people in each state could achieve it. We need to look outside of the box to attract new members and to remain relevent, this are the sort of things we need to look at. The person who has a dog on limited register or not registered for that matter may catch the showing bug from this type of activity and their next dog may just be on the main register. Don't be put off by negativity, gather support and keep putting the issue forward. I have to make it clear the thoughts and opinions expressed on this thread are my own and should in no way be construed as those of the ANKC or any member body of the ANKC.

Yes an ANKC media campaign could get the message out to the general public, but it would need the member bodies to actually run it. I believe that Dogs Victoria has started to address this with the formation of the Companion Dog Club (I think that is the correct name), lobby your controlling body to do the same.

I will jump in here with a couple of responses. I would like to see consistent rules/regs nationally. A National set of Conformation Rules (as per all other ANKC disciplines) WILL be an agenda item for the ANKC Board Meeting in October, PLEASE let your State/Territory body know you support it so they will support it. The motion being put forward will include member input and consultation. I really think that the ANKC needs to make themselves bigger and louder. They need to be in the media, they need to have a voice. A national media campaign is being investigated. I would like to see one national body with offices in each state and territory. So no dogsnsw, dogact, dogsvic etc just the ANKC. I don't see this happening in my lifetime, there is to much of a disparity in members and funds for the larger states give up what they have worked for. Also why not a veterinary geneticist on staff? The ANKC only has 1 full time staff member, the current funding from the states/territories does not even cover this. Any salaries for such positions would mean an increased cost to all members. The Health and Welfare committee is chaired by a vet who has been involved in the dog world for many years. To try and bridge the division between showing and other sports. The Neuter Title was developed in part to try and attract exhibitors from the performance disciplines across to conformation, only time will tell if has any effect. I would love to hear some other suggestions on how to achieve this.

Time to bring this back to the top. Only 7 sleeps to go 'til the first show. I have just spent a couple of days in Alice and met with the clubs, everything is looking good for another great lot of shows and trials.

Why join a lobby group? You can personally write to your State/Territory organisation with your suggestions/recommendations. If 20 people did this independently, it would have more influence on them that one letter from a lobby group with 20 signatures on it. The closing date for agenda items for the ANKC board meeting is 12 August, if you have something you wish to be on that agenda you need to get it in to your member body for their July meeting (ie NOW).

Can anyone please tell me what the specific challenges are for WA members? do we pay extra for putting the microchip details on the paperwork or something? The specific challenges relate to the fact that only vets can legally implant M/Chips in W.A, where as in some states Joe Public can do a T.A.F.E course and be acredited to impant them. Or at least that was the message put forward at the conference.

They must be registered as a Neuter on the main register. If you are interested in showing him, can you speak to the breeder about transfering him on to the main register? Graham

If any dog registered to an owner in a state that does not "recognise" the title gains the required points for the title , then you must be permitted to lodge the title application with an ANKC member body who does. The NT will be only too happy to process the title for you. States not recognising the title should not permit clubs to offer the classes for which points can be awarded. It will take pressure from the membership for some to rethink their position. I thought QLD knocked back the Neuter Champion ? I didnt know clubs in QLD were offereing Neuter classes and that they would award the champion through DQ ??

This is so WRONG. Imagine the furore if a club decided that although they had offered X number of ordinary classes, one of those classes would not be eligible for challenge points. It can not be done, if points are available for a class and the judge decides the exhibits are worthy of the certificate the points must be awarded. The Neuter Class is no different, if the "Class" is offered the the points must be awarded as per ANKC Regulation 7.8 Neuter Championship Points System (Added 10/09, 8.9) Points shall be allotted for exhibits six (6) months of age and over exhibited in a Neuter Class as follows:.... Nowhere does it say allocation of points are optional. I am not blaming the club here, If the CCC(Q) approved the class to be offered the they must also offer the championship points. If they do not wish to offer the title then they must not allow the class to be offered. If it was me I would be on the phone demanding that the certificates with the correct points were mailed to me immediately.

Just to clear up a misconception about "The ANKC", it is not an all ecompassing organisation that does everything related to the pedigree dog world. It has only 1 full time employee and does not have a marketing department etc. Apart from National media releases released on behalf of and paid for by the member bodies, they do not normally contribute to any articles in the media. It would be great if we had such a national media department, but getting all the States and Territories to agree not only to the content by also the costs would be very difficult. Articles in dog magazines marketted to the dog loving general public (eg Dog's Life) might help to promote this class and garner entries. This is something the ANKC should be working on, rather than only focussing on show/breeding scene mags, where we all (well, mostly all) know it exists.

I don't want to jump on pglvr personally but I see this a bit, people write on threads that they wished someone else would do or say something to their management board. If you feel strongly enough to put something on a forum, then you should feel strongly enough to write to your Board/Council etc directly with that suggestion. Don't think that the administrators of our hobby search this forum and others like it to see what the members are saying, most of them don't have the time. Even if they did, they can't do much without something being put in writing and on the agenda for their meeting.

There is no ANKC levies, each state has their own. Ours are $2.30 for the first entry in name, this is included in the entry fee (if you have 2 or more dogs entered in your name in a show you only pay the one fee). The prices of certificates vary between states as well, we pay 60 cents each for ours. These are normally ordered after close of entries so that you have an idea of how many you need. We are got our last set of ribbons from showribbonsonline.com, a 36"x6" tri coloured BIS ribbon is only $7.50. They even gave a vochure for genetic testing for BIS and R/Up in Show plus other discounts for everyone entering. name='SwaY' date='5th Apr 2011 - 04:47 PM' post='5239520'] Your ribbons are cheap, And at that price yes I would agree they should be offered. Don't forget you also have to add certificates and ANKC levy fees, I'm not sure on the cost of those.

I can't quite understand you costings here, these would be your normal costs for a show. If you mean the additional costs for the Neuter Class then it would be 7x Class in Group Sash and 1x Class in Show sash. At the cost of the ribbons we provide that would be 7 x $3.80 and 1x $5.20 Total of $ 31.80 per show. You can accuse me of being biased here, but if a club that only gets around 100 entries for an All Breeds show and pays out on average $1000 for the judges airfare and accommodation can afford to offer this class then I can not see how clubs with much larger entries can blame the costs, for the reason not to offer a neuter class.

Once again with the extra points I don't think that we will get to that point for sometime. The reason I have gone for the 1000 points, is that is the system that is in place and the less changes to a system, the more chance there is for it to be accepted. [i think its a natural progression as well. And I agree that there should be at least 4 neuter in Group or 1 Best Neuter in Show in the make up of the points. I also think that the Neuter in Show should gain 25 points or at least 20 points. I'd like to see a Supreme Champion at say 800 points and maybe a Double Supreme at 1500 points! I believe that there is lots of room for expansion for this possible for Neuter awards! after all they have been these awards in the Cat world for many years! so why shoulod dogs be any different!

I have only just read through this entire thread, and I am over the moon with the positive responses. There are still a few states that are not officially recognising the Neut. Ch Title, but hopefully pressure from the membership will change their minds in time. With the list of Neuter Champions growing, I have a question to put to you; Is now the time to take this to the next level? My concern is that now dogs have gained this title they may be lost to the show ring again as there is nothing further for them to gain. I would like your feedback on a new title of "SUPREME CHAMPION" I have used this unique name to differentiate between this title and the Grand Champion title available to entire exhibits. To acheive the title of Supreme Champion an exhibit will be required to accumulate 1000 Neuter points. There would be no further requirements ie no in group or in show wins etc. I personally believe this is a natural progression, but am unsure if it should be put forward now or if it would be better to wait until the champion title has been in for a longer period. What do you think?

Quite few of us in the Territory use different versions of these, the ones I use have a foam insert and you fill them with water. They all seem effective in keeping the dogs cooler, but probably not as effective as the Silver Eagle cool mats (the wet ones) but you don't end up with a soggy dog. We use ours in the trailer as well as crates. With the gel ones I wouldn't recommend them for puppies or any dog that likes to chew things, I'm sure the gel isn't harmful but just the thought of the goop getting in a dogs coat makes me think twice. Graham

Hi The lasting quality of most crates available is very good if kept inside and out of the sun/weather. The size would be more important for a cocker, a PP20 is big enough for a puppy to travel but it will soon grow out of it. A PP40 should fit them for life, whilst there is not much differnce to price of each size there is a hige difference in the transportation costs if the puppy is going as cargo (not accompanied). The airlines calculate cargo in cubic meters, the PP20 cubes out to 8kg and the PP40 cubes out to 20. If the puppy is going as cargo it maybe cheaper to hire a PP20 for the flight and buy your own PP40 for use at home. Be careful when purchasing a crate now as AaE has changed their rules. The crates must be secured all round with bolts, the plastic clips are no longer acceptable. Some craste only have bolts on the 4 corners and clip around the rest, this too is no longer acceptable. Jetpets had a deal going, $140 for a PP20 between any capital cities including crate hire. I have had my own AaE account for 15 years and I could not come close to this price. Graham

Hi Sheena We have a a few yorkies that needed their ears taped, it is a fairly easy job. Here is a link that shows how http://www.yorkieinfocenter.com/Ears.html They have both taped together, this is a personal preference we did the individually so the retain movement of the ears. A couple of tips, shave where ever thepe is going to go, use the off white masking tape, when you go to take the tape off completely soak it in vegetable oil and let it sit for a few minutes. This releases the glue, ripping the tape off without the oil can cause damage, if the tape is still stubborn use some more oil. the puppy may need a bath afterwards but is better than hurting them. A good rule of thumb is 3 days on - 3 days off until they stay erect on their own. Graham