G.R.C.A. Sweepstakes Rule Change

Hi Everyone, This petition is to get the attention of the Golden Retriever Club of America and our cause to get the Sweepstakes rules changed. We want to change the current rule to state one of the following:

1) Any Breeder, Co-Breeder, Owner, or Co-owner can exhibit in puppy or veteran sweepstakes.

2) Any Breeder or Co-Breeder can exhibit in sweepstakes regardless of ownership.

3)Sweepstakes is open to anyone regardless of breeder or owner.

We also want the Best in Sweepstakes rules changed to the following: If an entrant wins one or more classes, then anyone may take the second dog back in for Best in Sweepstakes (similar to the Bred by Exhibitor rules).

THE PROBLEM

As the rule is currently formulated, some enthusiasts are being unfairly excluded from Sweepstakes competitions. Sometimes the exclusion is based simply on what a would-be exhibitor does for a living. I’m talking about serious hobby breeders who happen to make their living by handling dogs. Currently, if you are a serious hobby breeder who co-owns a dog from a litter you produced, you can show that dog in Sweeps, unless you make a living as a handler. If you are a serious hobby breeder who co-owns a dog from a litter you produced and you keep a roof over your head by showing dogs for others, you are prohibited from showing your own co-owned puppy in Sweeps. This simply is not fair. There is no rational basis for excluding a breeder from exhibiting her own puppies and veterans simply because she handles dogs for a living. No other employment status is excluded from showing in Sweepstakes, not even dog show judges or members of the GRCA Board of Directors. The rule is arbitrary, capricious and inequitable. For instance, under the current rule, a person who is also a handler and who buys a puppy under a co-ownership agreement, cannot even show her own puppy in Sweepstakes!

While this rule may have been enacted to curb past abuse, that is not how it is working now. The rule is not having its intended effect, and is unintentionally harming good people who just want to exhibit their own dogs. The current rule unfairly excludes certain hobby breeders from showing their own co-owned puppies and veterans, based solely on career. The breeder who pays their bills by being a "professional handler" has just as much of a right to show dogs that they breed/own/co-own as anyone else. Singling out and forbidding those breeders, alone, from entering the ring based on their career choice is arbitrary and unfair. Excluding only these serious hobbyists from the exhibition of their own puppies, out of all the others who may have advantages, relationships with Sweepstakes judges or conflicts of interest, is insupportable and does not further the GRCA’s interests in promoting the breed and the fancy.

Other breeds do not have this restriction on Sweepstakes competition, without detriment to their breed or sport. No legitimate GRCA goal is furthered by denying a breeder of Golden Retrievers from participation in Sweepstakes simply because that breeder earns a living as a handler. Certainly, there are breeders that possess just as much talent and skill as a pro handler, who are not forbidden from showing their co-owned puppy in Sweeps. Neither are friends of the judge excluded, or even owners of puppies bred by the judge. Only the breeder who makes his living showing dogs is disallowed the opportunity to show off his own lines in Sweepstakes. That’s not fair.

OTHER INEQUITIES

The problems with the current rule are not limited to handlers who want to show their own dogs. There are also other problems that work to exclude deserving exhibitors, and reduce entries and fees paid to host clubs. For instance:

Owners with disabilities who are physically unable to exhibit their own dogs are excluded unless an immediate family member happens to be available and skilled enough to show the dog.

Those afflicted with mental disabilities that may cause the exhibitor anxiety and/or mental episode at the thought of exhibiting their own dog are likewise often unable to participate.

Owners who simply lack the requisite ring skills or do not like to show their own dogs do not enter and compete because of this rule, thereby reducing the number of overall entries and denying clubs the entry fees. This also depresses the sport across the board and discourages new participants at a time when entries are generally down and every effort at promotion should be encouraged.

There are many long-time breeders now unable to show their own dogs due to age or physical limitations, who have people working alongside them that have accepted pay for handling dogs in the past. Those breeders cannot have their dogs exhibited by the people working for them, and are thereby excluded from participation.

Breeders who have made their living as handlers and who foster future handlers by co-owning dogs with junior handlers cannot show those puppies or veterans in sweeps. We need to promote the future of the sport, and this rule is preventing that.

A professional handler who purchases or co-owns a puppy with a friend is ineligible to show her own dog in sweepstakes.

Owners who cannot be present at a distant specialty are deprived of the opportunity to show off their puppies and veterans in Sweepstakes, including in some of the most important and influential venues in the country (such as the GRCA National Specialty). The ability or inability to show a puppy in Sweeps at the National can affect that puppy’s career and the breeder’s reputation.

These are just a few of the scenarios that work to unfairly and arbitrarily exclude exhibitors from Sweepstakes, which in turn serves to harm the sport at a time when it is declining and in need of promotion. The current form of the rule affects our sport negatively. It negatively impacts entries at local specialties and on a national level. If sweepstakes were open to all, or at least to the handler who is a breeder/owner/co-owner, entries would go up, in turn raising more money for the clubs and the American Kennel Club, and the sport would recover some badly needed vigor. In this economy and with the current depressed state of our sport, turning away entries and money is something we do NOT need! Our sport is dwindling as it is. We want to encourage people to get those entries in, and support our clubs!

By maintaining and enforcing the rule as-is, we are taking money AWAY from the GRCA to verify ownership with AKC when the money would be better suited going elsewhere, such as the Golden Retriever Foundation.

The GRCA is one of only a few clubs (possibly the only one) with rules this extreme for sweepstakes, and it is destroying camaraderie and creating a separation among breeders, owners, and handlers. We want to unite - not fight.

PLEASE, join me in this petition, so we can all exhibit our puppies and veterans, harrassment free, and to understand this is PUPPY and VETERAN Sweepstakes. It's all about the DOGS! :)

THE SOLUTION

The rule must be changed to make Sweepstakes rules more equitable and to remove arbitrary and counter-productive barriers to participation, thus encouraging and promoting the sport, and increasing entries and entry fees. Every breeder, co-breeder, owner and co-owner of a puppy or veteran (or a member of the immediate family) should be allowed to show that dog in Sweeps without limitation. In order to do that, we propose the following change in the applicable rule:

THE CURRENT RULE

ALL SWEEPSTAKES CLASSES INCLUDING VETERANS AND BEST IN SWEEPSTAKES

HANDLER: The handler of a Sweepstakes exhibit must be either the owner, co-owner, breeder or member of their immediate family as they are listed on file with the American Kennel Club as of the closing date for the show for which the Sweepstakes entry is being made. Immediate family is defined as husband, wife, mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter or legal domestic partner. Step children and legal wards are also included in this definition. In-laws and grandchildren are not considered to be immediate family members. No other individual may take the entry into the ring during judging or check-in.

The following individuals are excluded from showing an exhibit in sweepstakes unless they are the sole owner registered with the AKC or co-own the entry with a member of their immediate family (as defined above) or a legal domestic partner:

Any individual listed as an agent on any dog in any regular or non-regular class at this or any other show in the previous two years.Any individual with an Agent number including, but not limited to an AKC Registered Handler Number or Professional Handlers Association (PHA) number.

To avoid confusion or question, it is recommended that a photocopy of the registration certificate be included with the entry for a co-owned exhibit.

Disabled or physically challenged handlers are encouraged to show their own dogs and every effort will be made to accommodate them. Some things which might be done to assist them are: making sure the ring gate opening is wide enough for a wheel chair; making sure the surface is as level and smooth as possible; placing slower handlers at the end of the line or having them gait their dogs together; allowing someone else to push an exhibitor’s wheelchair, providing they do not handle the dog; making sure stewards and judges face a handler who is hearing impaired when speaking to them; permitting the use of crutches or canes.

Best in Sweepstakes Classes. It is required that the same person who showed the dog to a first place in a Sweepstakes class will also show the dog in the Best in Sweeps class. However, if that person should have more than one dog in the Best in Sweepstakes class, someone else is permitted to show the additional winner. That person should meet the handler definitions above. Only in cases where there is not another owner, co-owner, breeder, co-breeder or immediate family member available, should another person take the dog into the Best in Sweeps class. It is understood that there would be no financial benefit to that individual. Individuals who have an AKC Handler number, a PHA number or are listed as agent on any dog in the regular or non-regular classes may not show a sweepstakes entrant unless they are the sole owner registered with the AKC or co-own the entry with a member of their immediate family (as defined above) or a legal domestic partner.

THE PROPOSED RULE

ALL SWEEPSTAKES CLASSES INCLUDING VETERANS AND BEST IN SWEEPSTAKES

HANDLER:1) Any Breeder, Co-Breeder, Owner, or Co-owner can exhibit in puppy or veteran sweepstakes.

2) Any Breeder or Co-Breeder can exhibit in sweepstakes regardless of ownership.

3)Sweepstakes is open to anyone regardless of breeder or owner.

We also want the Best in Sweepstakes rules changed to the following: If an entrant wins one or more classes, then anyone may take the second dog back in for Best in Sweepstakes (similar to the Bred by Exhibitor rules).