The Breed Council met on three occasions in 2003, March, June and November. Unfortunately I was not able to be at the March Meeting due to illness and so the meeting was chaired by Mr D King . Apologies for absence were received from NIDC SWDC and SEEDC. At the June meeting nine Clubs were represented, the NIDC being absent, and at the November meeting eight clubs were present with apologies from the SEEDC and the NIDC were absent.

Following several complaints that had been received, it was agreed to write to the Kennel Club regarding their policy and procedure for General Championship Show Judges who did not write a critique for inclusion in the Dog Press. The reply from the KC was that whilst it was covered in the KC Guide to Judges it was not mandatory. but if the writing of critiques is included as part of the nominating societies judging contract, then if a judge does not write a critique they can be reported to the KC for a breach of judging contract. Obviously the Breed Clubs include this in their contracts but the All Breed Societies do not.

Judging Lists During the year the following additions were made to the lists :
One Judge was elected on to the A1 Breed Specialist List and One overseas Judge was elected on to the A1 Non-Breed Specialist List.

Eleven Judges were elected on to the A3 Breed Specialist list plus one Judge who had now completed the criteria required by the KC.
One Judge onto the Non Breed Specialist A3 list
Unfortunately four applications had to be returned to the forwarding club because the applications were not complete or had a discrepancy.
Ten judges were elected on to the B list and Five on to the C list. Two judges were elected on to the Non-Breed Specialist B List and Two Judges onto the Non-Breed Specialist C List. Again some applications had to be returned because they were incomplete.
I would ask that all applicants check their forms very carefully, (asking for help if they are unsure about anything) and remember to include copies of Certificates from the Seminars that they have attended. (KC Seminars and DBC Breed Specific Seminars) This would save time and disappointment.
Breed Standard Docking Clause.
Following a proposal from the Dobermann Club it was agreed that The DBC would write to the KC asking for a list of the Docked Breeds who had actually agreed to the changes made to their Breed Standard regarding docking. A reply later received from the KC informed us that they were not able to provide this information ! In June It was agreed that we write to the Rottweiler Breed Council to see if they knew.
The Dobermann Club reported that they had written to the KC following an item on their AGM Agenda that the “undocked” clause be deleted from the Standard, but the KC appeared to be applying delaying tactics.
As a result of all the Clubs’ AGM agenda item being carried unanimously, it was agreed that a letter be sent to the KC informing them” that we wish to reserve the right to amend the Dobermann Breed Standard undocked tail clause when and if a total ban on docking is made law in the UK”

Health Issues In March, following the many discussions held over the previous two years with Dr Jeff Sampson, it was agreed to go ahead with the testing scheme for Von Willebrands Disease using a Laboratory in Finland. The DBC Health Co-ordinator – Mrs C Smith would operate the scheme to begin with and then it would be handed over to Dr Sampson to operate from the Kennel Club.
At the June meeting it was agreed the DBC should make recommendations to owners receiving results from DNA testing scheme for vWD as a guide to future breeding programmes. Dr Sampson had advised this be done.
It was also agreed that Rescue Dogs can also be done even if their KC details are unknown so that their owners can be aware of the facts should an operation or accident happen.
Litters of puppies can be tested but the identification of each puppy must be clearly made and maintained until they are sold. The responsibility for this is solely with the Breeder.
It was later agreed that as the KC will publish the results in their Publications and Web Site that the DBC should also put the results on the DBC
Web Site when they were received. No other parties should put the results on a Web site until the KC had published.

Mrs Smith also distributed information to all the Clubs on DCM (Dilated Cardiomyopathy) which was the top concern of owners in the health Survey. Mrs Smith also intimated that there were two Vets who were very keen to investigate the disease further having already done a lot of research and that it might be possible to have them speak to members of the Clubs. It was agreed that funds could be raised to purchase equipment to further research into DCM.
It was agreed that the DBC open a separate Bank Account to accept Donations . This is now in place and any donations should be sent to Mrs Smith, cheques made out to “ DBC DCM Fund”
At the June meeting Mrs Smith advised the meeting that the MDC were holding a DCM Health Day in October 2003 with Dr Joanna Dukes Mckewan and Miss Nuala Summerfield as speakers, both had done a great deal of research into DCM. In November she reported that the Health Day had been very successful and well attended . Miss Summerfield was very willing to do Seminars for any of the Dobe Clubs.
The Clubs also agreed to Miss Summerfield setting up a DBC screening programme at Liverpool University. This will require many owners to volunteer their dogs for the scheme whether they had suffered DCM or not. Application forms are available from Mrs Smith and Clubs so please complete your forms and support this invaluable research.
Miss Summerfield is getting good support and funding from a well known drug company.
Mrs Smith also reported that Hyper Thyroid tests had been taken at Crufts 2003 on 12 volunteers, but the results were not yet known. Matthew Binns had informed her that the AHT were collecting samples from Specific Breeds and the Research Programme had not yet started.
A Vote of Thanks was proposed to Mrs Smith for all her hard work on Health Issues and unanimously supported.

Hip Dysplasia- a letter had been received from Dr Sampson (KC) asking if, as part of the Accredited Breeders Scheme the DBC wished it to require testing for HD in dobermanns. Information of the known results of HD tests were considered and then it was agreed that a reply be sent stating that HD does not appear to be a problem at present, however if it does prove to be a problem then the matter will be reviewed.

Annual Meeting The current Chairman and Secretary were willing to stand again and were elected. Under the new rule of electing a Vice Chairman at the annual meeting, Mr D King was elected.The Accounts were approved..
Several changes to the Judging criteria were proposed – the following were agreed and will come into force on 01/01/04.
A3 Criteria .Change Number of dogs judged (dogs in attendance) to be 200.
Add “To have attended, completed and passed a judges assessment day/test, held specifically for Dobermanns. Organised by one of the DBC member clubs and run to the agreed format. (To comply with KC Judging Requirements)

Assessment Tests Following discussions and recommendations made in June 2002 and March 2003 it was agreed that :-
The tests be run at least annually.
Each Club would submit 20 questions and Answers on the Breed Standard (Mutliple choice with four answers) to the Chairman to
Collate . For the tests a Random choice could be done by a computer programme.
The Pass rate will be 80%.

Seminars The NEDC reported that they had a very successful Breed Specific Seminar and Movement and Confirmation Seminar in Dec.02 and in November advised that were holding another in February 04.. The SDC reported that they had held a very successful Breed Specific Seminar in Oct 03 and were holding a KC Movement & Conformation and KC Rules and Regs Seminar on Feb 2nd 04.
BDDC advised that they would hold an Assessment Test Day possibly in March 04 but date to be confirmed.( Date is Sat April 10th 04)

Altogether a very interesting and progressive year with well attended meetings and discussions. I thank all the Representatives and Observers who have given their time to attend and my thanks to the Secretary -Linda Wilkes for her work..`Thanks also to The Breed Archivist Mrs Peggy Dawson who collects & collates every piece of information on Dobermanns and sends interesting reports to the Clubs every year.

Margaret Woodward-Sheridan
Chairman

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