The meeting was opened by the Chairman at 12.14.
Those present.
Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, Assistant Secretary
Lancastrian Midland North Western
OES Scotland OES Wales South Western South Eastern
Apologies. The Vice chairman, K.C.L.C. Breed rep. and the East Anglian.
Minutes of meeting held on 4 April 2004.
These had been received and read by the members.
The Scottish delegate commented that not all the officers mobile telephone numbers had been included in the list with the agenda.
Acceptance of the minutes
Proposed by Scotland Seconded by the Welsh club. Passed by the meeting.
Matters Arising.
Champions class:- The secretary reported that the view of the K C was that General Championship shows and exhibitors did not want these classes.
Correspondence.
The Secretary had forwarded copies of all correspondence which he felt the clubs should see prior to the meeting.
All routine items had been dealt with and the list of these was read to the meeting.
The secretary outlined the action undertaken with the breed liaison rep over the allocation of C C’s in 2007. The three breed clubs not members of the breed council had been advised of the review, and a letter from the Greater London club thanked the breed council for notifying them and enclosed a copy of their letter to the K C. No comment had been received from the other two clubs.
The Midland said their understanding was that the allocation was based on registrations. The letter from the K C stated that it was now based on entries.
The secretary confirmed that it was the East of England show which would lose it C C’s in 2007. The point was made that from 2007 there would be no Championship shows in the East or South East corner of England.
It was suggested the secretary write to the K C and copy the members of the general committee stating that the current arrangement does not give a even geographical spread which is one of the stated aims when doing the allocation.
Members also felt that the breed was in a no win situation with some of the shows with the worst entry record keeping their C C’s at the expense of the shows with better entries. This will result in entries falling again next year.
Judging Lists.
A3 This list will require amending next year to include the new hands on examination.
The Midland outlined the form of the examination as it had been run at Darlington this year. The secretary confirmed to the meeting that the pass mark was a minimum 46 out 50.
Breed Council Constitution.
The Chairman outlined progress on the third revision of the new constitution.
The Midland club had written to express concern over a number of points and these were each discussed by the meeting and where the need arose a vote was taken.
The Scottish delegate was concerned about disruption to meetings if clubs could join without prior notice.
The Lancastrian raised the possible problem of no cover for the Treasurer and felt that an assistant should be included in the list of officers. The Scottish delegate thought there was not a need, as the other officers could cover until the next scheduled meeting. At this meeting the delegates could then appoint a replacement.
The meeting agreed that the officers should include a post of assistant Treasurer
that should be up for election at the same time as the treasurer.
The Chairman noted all the suggested changes and it was put to the meeting that a vote be taken to approve this final revision. All delegates voted in favour of the new constitution and it was agreed that it would now be sent to the K.C for approval prior to taking a formal vote at the next AGM.
The Lancastrian told the meeting that the constitution had been an agenda item in the passed and it was agreed to include it in future.
Breed Liaison Council.
A letter had been received from the breed liaison rep which was read to the meeting by the Chairman. A discussion followed on Docking and the suggested proposal that breed clubs register a working group. The South western had also received an e-mail and understood proof would be required of working dogs. The Midland felt that the breed would have faired better if it had been left in the working group.
The view that dogs trained to the gun did not start their training until a year old would allow whole litters to be docked as selection was not possible at 1 – 2 days.
The meeting failed to see how it would be wrong to dock domestic animals yet o k for Farm animals. The Scottish club felt it would be very difficult to prove a dog was working.
The Chairman suggested that the proposal should be taken back to the clubs to discuss and put forward possible suggestions on a way forward.
The Midland club told the meeting that the USA was proposing to refuse entry to undocked dogs.
Website.
The secretary told the meeting that visits to the website are running at about 450 a month. This had increased following a report in the dog press giving details of the site.
A letter from the South Eastern suggesting that the breed council have its own Domain name had been sent to the member clubs. The secretary asked the club if they could give some more details on the costs involved. The cost of the South Eastern site was about £40 a year, and was hosted by Speedy.uk,net.
The Chairman gave details of the Scottish site which is hosted by Freenetname.co.uk and is run on a pay as you go option. It was agreed that the secretary would look for a suitable option and transfer the council’s site.
Breeder’s scheme.
A copy of the K C Breeders scheme had been sent to the member clubs with a view to having hip scoring included in the requirements. The Scottish club held the view that a maximum score should also be included. The existing details do not give a limit for any breed. Several members expressed the view that many other factors needed to be considered when breeding including diet and housekeeping and that some new owners disregarded the advice give to them and then complained if things went wrong.
The Scottish club felt it would be better to include hip scoring even if no limit was set as this would insure that puppy farms could not claim that they meet the K C criteria.
It was agreed that the secretary write to the K C and ask that hip scoring be included in all future documentation.
Venue.
The secretary had received several suggestions of possible venues for future meetings. A list supplied by the Midland club had a number of possible locations but on investigation none had a separate meeting room which was suitable. The Welsh club had sent two suggestions and one of these The Walton Inn at Stone will supply a room with coffee at a cost of £25. Meals or a Buffet are available and if members eat on the premises then there would be no charge for the room. The Welsh delegate made another suggestion (Rodbastin College) but there would be no food available.
It was agreed to have the next meeting at the Walton Inn Stone.
Items Reserved.
The secretary had received a letter from the Welsh club suggesting that the breed council run a seminar (hands on), possibly in March. The meeting agreed with the suggestion and after some discussion agreed that the best time would be to combine it with the breed council meeting in October 2005. Member clubs would be asked for helpers and these would be used to release the officers and delegates for the meeting. It would also allow the participants to sit in on a breed council meeting if they wished. The Secretary would contact the Walton Inn about taking dogs into the venue
A.O.B.
There were no items raised.
Date of next meeting.
A suggested date of the 24th of April was agreed in principal subject to the assistant secretary confirming that this did not clash with any show. (Now confirmed)
The meeting closed at 15.40.