Saturday - November 11, 20062006 Retriever Field Trial Advisory Committee Minutes
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Wentzville, MO
Nelson Sills brought the meeting to order at 2:05 PM welcoming everyone in attendance to the Retriever Field Trial Advisory Committee Meeting.
Mr. Sills introduced the AKC contingent, Vice President Bill Speck, Field Director Jerry Mann, Manager Performance Events Lisa Carroll and committee member John Goettl. He then introduced professional photographer Ken Andrews and AKC Photographer Robert Young.
Bill Speck indicated staff did not bring current rule books as new updated versions will be available January 1, 2007. Mr. Speck then went on to introduce the latest addition to the Performance Events Field Staff, Wayne Bleazard who brings with him 27 years experience in running Retriever Field Trials and has qualified 2 dogs for the Retriever National Championships. In 1996 he judged the National Amateur Field Trial in Stowe, VT, in 2000 he was Chairman of the Bird Stewards Committee for the National Amateur Field Trial in McCall, ID, in 2004 he was Chairman of the National Amateur Field Trial also in McCall, ID and currently serves as President of the National Amateur Retriever Field Trial.
Mr. Sills indicated Wayne was a welcome addition to our field staff team. Regretfully, Pete Simonds was unable to join us due to recent illness. He is doing better and faxed him points for discussion for today's meeting.
Rule changes passed by the Delegates September 12, 2006 going into effect January 1, 2007 are as follows:
Chapter 3, Section 8...revision intended to actually state the conflict distance between trials, which is being reduced to 200 miles from 350 miles reducing the entry size in the All-Age stakes by providing trials in closer proximity.
Chapter 14, Sections 9 & 10...revisions are intended to ensure the correct identification of the stakes involved.
Chapter 14, Section 10...revision to encourage interested hunting test competitors to enter and compete in licensed field trials.
Chapter 14, Section 11...revision intended to provide authorization for an earlier start and therefore additional time to complete the stake and in certain circumstances for the approving of a third, All-Age trial in a calendar year.
Chapter 14, New Section 18...the addition of Section 18 is to provide rules governing junior handlers.
Ballots on three proposed rule changes brought forth at the June 17, 2006 Interim Retriever Advisory Council Sub-Committee Meeting need to be submitted by December 31, 2006 are:
Proposal Number 1: New Provisions to Give a Club the Option to Reduce Its Open Entry
Proposal Number 2: Provision to Eliminate Pigeons
Proposal Number 3: Allow Handlers to Withdraw a Dog
Mr. Sills then voiced Mr. Simonds comments:
Ignorance or blatant disregard for the rules by judges is inexcusable.
Most clubs are unwilling to reduce entries as the size and financial results outweigh the quality of the trial they put on.
Mr. Sills then read a copy of Dennis Bath's letter to Pete Simonds asking him to comment on it. Mr. Bath indicated that we have to start somewhere to improve the quality of our judges, suggesting that all prospective judges be required to read the Retriever Field Trial Judges Manual, take a test consisting of information from the Retriever Field Trial Judges Manual and the AKC Retriever Field Trial Rule book. Additionally, requiring prospective judges to judge up to 10 minor stakes prior to being approved to judge All-Age stakes. Grandfather everyone that is currently approved to judge that we have now.
Mr. Sills then asked for further questions and an open discussion followed.
National Retriever Club Meeting
At the National Retriever Club meeting it was announced that the 2007 National Retriever Championship would be held in Morgan Hill, California at Mead Ranch (November 11-17). The judges will be Cliff Garland (Central), Lynne DuBose (East) and Jim Cope (West).
It was announced that Purina will hold a dinner Monday night at the August A. Busch Memorial Wildlife Area. The dinner will follow the last dog of the day.
The entry fee for the 2007 National Retriever Championship has been increased to $300. The states of IL and KY have sent a letter requesting that their states be considered for future National Opens. Professional Retriever Trainers Association (PRTA) have made $3,000 donations for grounds improvement for the Jayhawk Retriever Club, North Dakota Retriever Club and Lassen Retriever Club. Additionally, they gave another $3,000 to the California Retriever Trainers Association as those grounds will be used as training grounds for the 2007 National Open.
The first series tomorrow will be a land double with cock pheasants. The test dog tomorrow will run at 6:45am, with the first dog running at 7:10am. Handlers are to be on the mat at all times. When running blinds, both dog and handler must be on the mat. There will be no partial callbacks given at the trial.
The following dog will be the starting dog tomorrow for the 2006 National Retriever Championship.
83. FC Vinwood's Don't Look Ethel - Handler: Danny Farmer
Look for photos later this evening from the cocktail party. Thanks for visiting AKC.org!
Click on image for caption and larger view. Photos by Robert Young/AKC.
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Photos from the Cocktail Party
Click on image for caption and larger view. Photos by Robert Young/AKC.
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