Good afternoon all & Happy New Year!
I've asked John for an updated Canadian membership list, so for now I'll need to go with my last update (late summer), along with anyone that I think may have become members since (if so, congrats). If I have missed anyone, please alert me so that I may forward this to them and include them in future correspondence.
It's been a while since we've had a chance to dialogue, so I thought with Sportsmen a mere two months away that we get an email out to the group and begin some discussion with regards to the upcoming year, and to further some discussion that took place late summer of 2007 to form subcommittees for various projects (shows/specialties, social functions, fundraising events,
etc).
First - Dogs Annual Advertising 2008
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The ISSDC (Ad Guru Jacki Wilde) will likely assist with the orchestration of a collective ad in the 2009 edition of Dogs Annual in Canada. We had a two page spread in 2007, but due to time constraints missed the 2008 edition. We will be on the horn early this year to see who is interested in advertising their kennel name in the 2009 edition.
Second - RBCSWO Shows
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For those not up to speed on the upcoming season, the updated schedule has been posted as the RBCSWO show site (www.rbcswo.com). The first show of course is the Toronto Sportsmen Show (March 15th/16th) which does require pre-registration (due to "assigned" booth space). You can double up with a friend and share a spot, keep your own spot, whatever you feel is needed. As is previous years, I can coordinate the booth layout with Lori Borda provided people tell me if they're going and/if they are sharing a booth/who they would like to be beside, etc etc. It makes life a bit easier for Lori having a central point of contact given the size of the group, but is by no means mandatory - you're entirely welcome to speak directly with her if you so wish.
A *** MAJOR *** topic that needs to be addressed in the next few weeks is the ongoing discussion of having the smoot coats show as the same breed as the plush coats. For those that do not know, this is the way it is with all other show organizations - both coat type are covered by the same breed standard and hence show together.
This topic is a bit sensitive, but is important that we collectively discuss the point and try to reach a resolve prior to the start of this show season (awkward to try and switch mid-stream). From what I have heard so far, there is an overwhelming majority to unity to two coat types as done with Rarities, ARBC, IACBA, etc.
The primary rationale behind having the breeds show together is mainly for the benefit of the smooth coats. As it stands right now, since their population numbers are relatively small in comparison with the plush coats (certainly the case in Canada), when a smooth shows without competition in breed there is zero opportunity to earn Breed Championship Points, and is very difficult to earn Canadian Championship or Grand Championship points. Note that both our coat types are covered under the SAME breed standard which states the breed has two different coat types, not two different "breeds".
For example, if Michelle was to bring out her bitch Hope (as she did on a few occasions in 2007), without other smooth breed dogs in the ring, she could take WB/BOW/BOB and not get a single point towards her championship. Same with Nancy who brought up Francis last year from the states, only one in the ring at breed level so basically just paying for a ribbon.
It becomes very difficult to encourage smooth coat owners to come out, or to drive up from the US, when there really aren't any points to be had. The money basically just goes into paying for a ribbon, which can get pretty expensive.
There are some with a feel that the smooth coats have a tougher time competing against plush coats. Personally, I disagree with this position and think that for the most part our Judges are better than that. And folks like Nancy who have had great successes with smooth coats showing against plush coats would also likely disagree.
For the plush coat types, there is no down side to the two showing together and allows the smooths to have a chance to earn their titles as well.
However, this is certainly not my call. This is something that needs to be decided as a collective (ideally with those that actively show, or have progeny being shown). The RBCSWO has already been approached and is indifferent to the position and have indicated they will follow whatever
preference that we, as a community, chose.
For some history on the subject, the split of the breed within the RBCSWO was originally orchestrated by Tina Barber, who of course is not/and has not been active up here in some time (or at least we haven't seen her since The Skipper and His Little Buddy introduced themselves - inside joke - read her Tillsonburg '06 article for more details). I cannot state why she did this, but rather can only speculate (I would assume it was done to get two shiloh's in group hence increasing the chance of a Shiloh getting to "show").
Third - Christmas Gathering
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The First (hopefully annual) Christmas gathering was held at the Lion Heart Pub in December. We had a great turnout and fantastic hospitality from Lion Heart Pub (Robert had taken care of all the bookings and reservations - THANKS ROBERT!). They even welcomed the group on the big screen TVs.
Hopefully we'll get even bigger numbers to join in on the fun for Christmas 2008!
Fourth - Sub-Committees
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It was discussed last year to seek volunteers to help form some sub-committees to help focus on some of the areas that we all thought were important - some of the ideas were: communications, show committee, social committee, and fund raising. We'll get a second email drafted up and sent out to everyone for hopeful participation.
Fifth - 2008 Specialties
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No formal decisions/discussions have taken place, but the consensus so far has been to keep the same format as in 2007 with a Specialty in Woodstock, and a Specialty in Brampton. This allows for a specialty at an outdoor summer show when we usually have a strong turnout, and have an opportunity to get some more of our American friends up for the show. The Brampton one is nice to end the year, and provide an extra show to pickup some extra Ch points.
We would need to find a Judge again most likely for Woodstock (Virginia did a great job for all of us last year with Mr Fabian)
Sixth - ISSDC Membership Renewals
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Reminder - All memberships (except NEW ISSDC members who joined after July 1st 2007) had their memberships expire on December 31st, 2007. To renew your single or family membership you can go to: http://www.issdc.com/ISSDCap.htm
There are too many reasons to list all the benefits of supporting and joining the ISSDC in this already long winded email. If for no other reason than to support the strength of the collective Shiloh community for the betterment of the breed - which is accomplished by providing a centralized body for communication, regardless of registry or affiliation.
Seventh - Congrats
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Congrats to Claude, Mirjana, and Brad for the successful litter between Aggie and Lexi. This is Phenom Shilohs first litter, so a big congrats is in order! You can read about their updates at http://www.phenomshilohs.com/
Regards,
Dave
