2006 ABC Annual Board of Directors' Meeting Highlights

1. Elected to the ABC People Hall of Fame for 2006: Wade Haines, Joan Donnell, and Gordon Theilen.

2. Elected to the ABC Dog Hall of Fame for 2006: FC/AFC Ajax VII & NFC/DC/AFC Tequila's Joker

3. Officers Elected: lst VP Tom White, Secretary Mary Jo Trimble, 3rd VP Nancy Anderson.

4. Directors Elected: East: David Smith, East-Central: Marvin Stout, Central: Jim Brigham, Midwest: Bob Rankin, West: John Henderson.

5. 3rd VP Show Policy:
1.) Any judge selected for the national specialty conformation competition would agree to not judge ANY Brittany Classes within six (6) months prior to the national specialty show. No Brittany solely owned or co-owned by the judge many be exhibited at the national specialty show in any class or classes.
2.) Any judge selected for the national specialty sweepstakes competition would agree to not judge ANY Brittany classes within four (4) months prior to the national specialty show. No Brittany solely owned or co-owned by the sweepstakes judge may be exhibited at the national specialty show in any class or classes.
3.) No judge will be allowed to judge more than once within a ten (10) year period at the national specialty show in the same capacity. (I.E. a judge hired to do sweepstakes shall not be hired for a ten year period to judge sweepstakes but could be hired for conformation, obedience, rally and/or agility and vice versa.)
4.) The show chairman may select judges three (3) years in advance of the national specialty show in order to be able to have well-qualified judges available and under contract.
5.) A judge selection committee comprised of qualified and reputable Brittany breeders and exhibitors, with input from the general ABC membership should select the judges. There should be no restrictions imposed upon this committee with regard to whom they choose to nominate.
6. ) Procedure for selection of judges for the national specialty show:
a. A short announcement will be placed in the magazine and on the club website with the names of the judges selection committee along with their e-mail addresses and mailing addresses. The announcement will advise all ABC members that they can submit proposed judges' names to members of the committee. All names submitted must have a brief statement of the person's qualifications for judging at the national specialty show.
b. A separate committee of people who compete in obedience and/or rally shall nominate judges for the national specialty show in these areas. Names of judges for obedience and rally must be able to judge both. The procedure for selection shall be the same as indicated in # C Below.
c. After the deadline for submission as set by the show chairman, committee members will send to the show chairman a list of ten proposed judges along with qualification statements. The show chairman shall compile a list of the top ten judges and send the resulting list to the committee for "ranking" from one to ten with the top person being asked and on down the list until a judge is secured.
d. After approved by AKC, announcement of judge and bio will be on the ABC Website and in the magazine.
e.Delete section on judge's corsage.
f. Decision to make the Field Trial Class at the National Specialty Show open to dogs who had adult placements only was deferred to committee, Nancy Anderson, Chair, to submit a written proposal for BOD consideration after allowing time for constituent input.

7. Voted to accept the Black Prairie Club as an ABC Provisional Club pending AKC recognition.

8. Qualifications: Change qualifications for National Championships in regard to hour stakes. 13 dogs in an hour stake will qualify 1 dog, 15 dogs qualifies lst & 2nd, 17 dogs qualifies 1st - 3rd, and 20 dogs qualifies all four placements.

9. Dual Dog Motion: Sent to committee for further study. Voted to approve the addition of the Amateur Gun Dog Nationals to the point system for the Dual Dog award.

10: Site of AA Nationals: Voted to keep the All Age Nationals in Booneville from 2007 - 2009.

11. Birds at Booneville: Approved release of additional 1000 birds at Booneville in the same timeframe as this year. (Side note: entry fees were not increased in 2006 to pay for these birds but for general expense increase in both the AA and GD nationals of which the latter was in the red in 2005.)

12. Approved a set of procedural guidelines for clubs hosting ABC Regional Classics. These will be in the policy book and sent to Clubs & Associations hosting ABC Regional Classic/Championships.

13. The International AAA Championship was approved as an ABC Regional Classic.

14. Policy Book: Unless otherwise requested by a club, the ABC Policy Book will be available in full on the ABC Website for download and not distributed individually to clubs.

15. A proposal submitted by members of the Tarheel and Southeastern Club: "That dogs qualified to run in the National Amateur Gun Dog Championship be allowed to run either in the Walking National Amateur Gun Dog Championship or the riding National Open Gun Dog Championship" was defeated.

16. Approved list of Ex. Sec's Housekeeping Changes in Policy Book to reflect current practices.

17. Increased donations to Bird Dog Foundation to $2000 a year, Marv Nelson Fund $2000 a year, and Sportsmen's Alliance to $3000 a year.

18. BOD consensus on what date should be put on futurity patches was to use both the year of whelp and the year of running: i.e.: 2005/2007 or 05/07.

19. BOD authorized new futurity chairman Marvin Stout to revise futurity policy in consultation with a committee of his choosing to be presented to BOD as soon as possible

20. Granted a one time exception to the 90 day futurity rule. Any litter denied entry in 2006 due to the 90 day rule may apply and be allowed to enter with a late fee of $90.

21. Approved guidelines for NFP publicity in the ABC magazine as well as ad space promoting regional trials in Classic Ads. (the latter will be limited to 1/4th of that page) Those regional clubs hosting ABC events are responsible for submitting photos and write-ups for publication in ABC magazine. Approved an upgrade of program software for managing editor to be compatible with new magazine publisher's software.

22. Policy book changes on pages 82-83 should be reviewed by the policy book committee as a whole, clarified with more specific wording before being submitted for BOD approval.

23. Approved Skyline Club to host the 2009 Summer Specialty and Central New England to host the 2010 Summer Specialty if they so desire.
24. Approved a donation of $1500 from the Gun Dog Grounds Fund and $1000 from the ABC General Fund to the Ionia Fund to put new fencing along Riverside Drive.