Vicki Seiler-Cushman, Judges Education Chairperson

DPCAEducationJudges@dpca.org

DPCA through Judges Education has developed an excellent team of seminar presenters, mentors and instructors to add an important new dimension to breed awareness and your Specialties.

DPCA now requires Doberman Chapter Clubs to conduct an educational event once a year. This communication is sent to provide you with the support your club needs to meet this worthwhile goal.

As chairman of Chapter Club Education I am responsible for providing the advertising and publicity and coordinating the appearance of mentors, instructors – presenters.

1) Your club incurs no expense for mentors or instructor- presenters, advertising and travel as we use local authorities. Your club may incur expenses for duplicating handout material and possibly for providing AV equipment.

2) Your club determines the date and time of the event with the understanding no other events will be held in conflict with the seminar. We strongly recommend the seminar be scheduled after BISS judging. If judging begins at noon, you may wish to consider starting the seminar at 10 AM.

3) Your club selects from a menu of three two-hour presentations.

Judges Education Workshop. * Judging is a process of prioritizing positives and penalizing deviations while applying the standard, which is constant.

Workshop Agenda

0 – 10 minutes – Breed History.

20-40 minutes – Master the Standard

40-80 minutes – Four Stations: Heads, Structure, Gait and Temperament

80-120 minutes – ‘You Be the Judge’. Compare your evaluations with DPCA mentor/experts.

Breeders Education Workshop. * Topics include Breed History. Master the Standard. Genetic Strategy. Choosing the breeding pair. Care of the bitch. Whelping. Feeding. Ears.

Litter socialization. Early Training. (Leash and housebreaking)

Temperament testing. Matching puppy with new owner. Show home? If possible someone to provide a litter for group evaluation (takes a lot of courage). If not consider video or photos.

Q&A

Exhibitors Education Workshop. * Show training is a major challenge especially as positive attitude and temperament can be reinforced. One on one ‘hands-on’ demonstrates proper techniques for show training. Topics include. How judges see your dog. Chronology of training (puppy to special). Prepare your dog for competition, mentally, physically and nutritionally. Positive attitude and temperament. Mechanics of stress free show training.

Hands-on clinic – individual instruction.

*All registered students

Receive a recommended list of home study articles to be downloaded from the DPCA JEC and Breeders web sites. Partial list includes: ‘A Judges Perspective’, ‘In Defense of Judges Education’, ‘Breed Trends’. ‘Gait ‘. ‘Ears – Cropping and Maintenance’. ‘Temperament’. ‘Structure’. ‘How to Raise a Healthy, Happy, Confident Puppy.’ Illustrated Commentary.

Mentoring of registrants by DPCA approved mentors at a ringside, reserved area.

Advertising (if we have 90 days lead time)

1) A full page ad and flyer will be prepared with your approval for use in the premium list and the judging program and for e-mailing to local all breed clubs. If there is time perhaps an announcement ad can be placed in Pipeline, DD and / or DQ and on the Chapter Club web site. And also on the Chapter Club’s Specialty site.

2) A publicity release combining your specialty event with the educational program for release on Cyberdobes, Showdobes. The judge’s event will require a separate release for judges list. If there is time we can release to Gazette, Pipeline DD and DQ.

3) Please note the promotion for the judge’s and the fancy require different advertising approaches.

The program developed above will increase interest and attendance and should increase entries. The club must identify the area at the show site where the ‘classroom’ can be located. Other decisions involve registration fee, refreshments and a possible tie in with entrants. It may be a good idea to consider charging a $25 seminar fee but allow all Dobe entrants a 50% discount or perhaps a straight $10 discount. This will accomplish two things. It will make the entry more attractive and generate a good attendance for the workshop. Fee for AKC judges might be $10. Something to think about.

Traveling around the country doing Doberman and AKC Institute seminars I had an opportunity to observe what makes a great workshop. Besides enthusiasm and knowledge of the breed, audience participation such as hands on, you be the judge and a lively q & a, make the difference. DPCA has the talent and the desire to make it work. The only ingredient needed to bring it all together is you.

It begins with your assigning someone who is comfortable with e-mail and .pdf (Adobe acrobat files) and providing me with their name and e-mail address. Once we have established communications you can decide which event you wish to schedule at what specialty. It would be beneficial to our breed if you would schedule an educational event at each specialty, rotating the menu. But that is all up to you.

We will coordinate all events so there is no duplication where there is geographical exposure.

I am enclosing an article, which will be part of the breeder’s kit. You may wish to share it with your members. Please have a computer capable coordinator from your club contact me.

Sincerely

Vicki-Seiler Cushman, chairman
Chapter Club Education for JEC
dpcaeducationjudges@dpca.org

Re: Summing up Chapter Club Education.

From: Faye Strauss previous Chairman

For those of you still unaware of the program each club has three seminars to choose from: Judges, Exhibitors and Breeders. We have developed a crack team of seminar presenters, mentors and instructors who are in your area. The clubs do not pay any fees or expenses for our team. Outside of some nominal amount for handouts, clubs will not incur any expense. The benefits are many:

1. new dimensions to breed awareness (sign up new members)

2. extra publicity for your show

3. positive involvement by your members

4. chapter clubs can charge a seminar fee and also provide a discount to exhibitors.

5. coordination of advertising, publicity and internet provided by me.

How do you get started:

1. assign someone from your club who is comfortable with e-mail

2. select a date and topic

3. confirm local presenters

4. and you are ready to go.

I recently attended the Exhibitor Education seminar at Puget Sound. Michelle Santana was the presenter assisted by Elaine Hopper and others. It was well attended and the response was excellent. It is my fervent hope that all of you will sign up and get involved.

Michelle Santana noted several ways to improve attendance.

1. Schedule the event with no conflicts such as judges dinner.

2. The announcement of the event MUST appear in the premium list, the judging schedule communication to exhibitors.

3. The club should make the announcement in their club communications.

4. Flyers at host club table.

5. PA system should announce the seminar three times during the judging.

Michelle said, “The Puget sound event response was excellent.” The President of the Detroit club told me he was receiving good response to the publicity.

Every chapter club is urged to schedule an event.

Please contact me.

Q: Are chapter clubs required to hold at least 1 independent specialty each year?

A: Chapter clubs are required to hold a specialty show every year it can be an independent specialty or a designated specialty or supported entry.

Q: Are clubs required to give a silver medallion for BOB and a bronze medallion to the breed judge or is this just a suggestion?

A: The DPCA offers a best-of-breed, high in trial, and high in trial agility medallion to each chapter club for each specialty show in addition if you have Best Junior handler you can get a best Junior medallion. These have to be ordered using the medallion order form in the chapter club forms area. These are free to the clubs so it doesn’t make sense not to order them especially when people expect to get this when they win.
The judges medallions are $30 apiece and those are given at the discretion of the club. We think it’s important to give these to Doberman Judges.

Q: How many WAE are required?

A: Every chapter club needs to do a WAE test every three years. The Northern California clubs and all five clubs in Ohio do this every year together so all clubs get credit. Just need to have three club members minimum from each club to help put on the event to get credit. New this year is smaller clubs being able to put on the WAE at the nationals. If a club wants to do that you need to have three members there and contact the national show coordinating folks. I know Las Vegas is helping out putting it on this year because they can’t fire a gun at their show site.

Q: How many education programs are clubs required to do each year? Any specific types?

A: The AKC has a requirement that each club that has a show event has to do an educational events during the year. If you go to club requirements on the AKC website they will list qualifying educational events. Some suggestions are having a meet the breeds booth at an all breed show or another dog events, having a guest lecture covering a topic like cardiomyopathy, grooming, how to put on a Holter monitor, what dog shows are about, an outline of obedience events or juniors pretty much anything. You need to invite the public and some other dog clubs in your area to these events. Last year we had a veterinary cardiologist lecture on cardiomyopathy diagnosis and drug treatment and invited our local Boxer club to join us. This year we just had a demonstration of how to apply a Holter monitor using a service Doberman who could come into our local restaurant where we hold our meetings. We’re also planning a demonstration of dog grooming and nail trimming and ear taping at one of our members homes.

Q: Do you have any data that shows how many chapter clubs still have independent specialties vs designated vs supported? Have you heard any feedback from clubs (good or bad) that have done this? Some of our members want to replace our independent specialty with a designated specialty. Some members feel it may have long term negative consequences for the club and the breed.

A: I lean towards staying independent so you have your own event number however some clubs are so small that joining an all breed club and being a designated specialty works better. If you’re part of an all breed you usually have to pick up their panel and can’t bring in specifically Doberman judges or provisional Doberman judges but sometimes with limited resources and people that’s the only way to get it done.

The minutes of the Chapter Club National meetings are available in the Members Only section of this website.