Following discussions with the President of the FCI Grooming Commission, Mr Chua Ming-Kok, the Dogs Australia Board of Directors have resolved that a National Canine Grooming Committee be formed to conduct FCI Grooming Competitions.
Mrs May Wong who is a Dogs Victoria Member / Exhibitor and is currently the organiser of the Canine Grooming Competitions at the Sydney and Melbourne Royals was appointed Chair of the Committee by the Board. May is a professional groomer herself and highly respected in the sport. The Committee Members will be appointed by the Dogs Australia State and Territory Member Bodies.
In the coming months, the Committee will be formulating Competition Rules and Judges Approval Regulations for consideration by the Dogs Australia Board. In the future we will be offering a Dogs Australia Groomers Certification Program.
Currently there are approximately 5,000 canine groomers in Australia. To participate in FCI Competitions a canine groomer must be member of a Dogs Australia Member Body, the introduction of Canine Grooming will see an increase in our membership. and bring the list of Competitive Sports that we offer to our members to fifteen.
Our Competitive Sports are Agility, Dances with Dogs, Trick Dog, Draft Test, Earthdog Test, Endurance, Flyball, Herding, Lure Coursing, Obedience, Tracking, Retrieving and Field, Scent Work and Sled Sports.
Dogs Australia advise that approvals already provided for CKC Judges for upcoming events are currently being reviewed and updated and will be processed in order of the date of the show they have been invited to judge at.
Please click here for further information in respect of the approval of Canadian Kennel Club Judges.
Dogs Australia has advised that an application has been received for re-registration of the following FCI recognised breed:
PORCELAINE
Dogs Australia are currently arranging for this breed to be added to the business system and for their website to be updated with the relevant breed standard.
In addition, the Dogs Australia Group listing will be updated with this breed being allocated Group 4 (Hounds) as confirmed by the National Breed Standards Coordination Group.
At its February 2024 Special Board Meeting, the Dogs Australia Directors resolved to amend its Regulations Part 5-Conformation Shows as follows:-
Section 7: Order of Judging
Insert
7.1.5(h) Where an All Breeds Championship Show is not concluding at General Specials as defined in 7.1.7 all in Group awards are to be signified as Best in Group, Runner-up in Group and Classes in Group as offered.
7.1.6(h) Where an All Breeds Championship Show is not concluding at General Specials as defined in 7.1.8 all in Group awards are to be signified as Best Neuter in Group, Runner-up Neuter in Group and Neuter Classes in Group as offered.
Section 8: Alternative In-Group and in-Show Placing System:-
8.3.7 General Specials is to be offered at all Alternative in-Group and in-Show Placing System Championship Shows
It was agreed that a recommendation be inserted that the following procedure be adhered to:-
Where an affiliate is conducting more than one show on the same day and General Specials are not to be offered, it may only be at on the last show on that day.
These amendments are effective from 1 April 2024.
Click here to view and download the updated Regulations.
Catalogue number, name of the dog, studbook and studbook number, sex, breed and variety, date of birth, name of the owner, name of the judge and class in which the FCI-CACIB-J and FCI-CACIB-V were awarded.
Present Rule:A dog which fouls at any time while it is under the control of the Judge must be disqualified
Change to:A dog which fouls at any time while it is under the control of the Judge must be disqualified and removed from the ring immediately.
Page 4 Disqualification
Present rule:No points awarded. The dog is disqualified from all Trial Competition on the day and the Judge must provide a written report to the Member Body within 14 days – the only exception being in the instances where the disqualification was incurred for continual barking, a correction penalty, fouling the ring or for handlers bringing training aids into the ring.Change to:No points awarded. The dog is disqualified from all Trial Competition on the day and the Judge must provide a written report to the Member Body within 14 days. The only exception being In instances where the disqualification was incurred for continual barking, a correction penalty, fouling the ring or for handlers bringing training aids into the ring, handlers will only be disqualified from that class and no report is required.
Please see the Summary of the Dogs Australia Special Board Meeting held via Zoom on 10 February 2024 here.
The National Dances With Dogs/Trick Dog Committee Chairperson, Barbara Murfet has confirmed the committee has identified a number of typographical and consequential errors in the Rules for the conduct of Dances With Dogs Competitions & Rules for the conduct of Trick Dog Tests.
These have been rectified and the updated rules as well as the Summary of Dances With Dogs changes to titles are now available from our website under Dances With Dogs and Trick Dog at: https://dogsaustralia.org.au/members/rule-regulations/rules/
The National Obedience & Tracking Committee Chairperson, Raelee Hedger has confirmed the committee has identified an error in the Rules & Guidelines for the conduct of Track & Search Dog Trials which were effective from 1 January 2024.
The error occurred in dot point (g) under Safety where the word “may” should read “must” to be consistent with paragraph 2 under Safety.
Currently reads:
SAFETY
The safety of competitors, tracklayers, officials, other persons, and dogs at a trial is of paramount concern. As track and search tests are conducted in urban environments where there are likely to be hazards including moving vehicles and uneven surfaces all reasonable steps to protect safety must be taken.
A competitor who does not comply with safety requirements must be disqualified. Before commencing judging a test the judge must check that the dog and handler have on the necessary equipment. A judge may abort or suspend a track at any time if they consider it necessary to do so for safety.
(g) The Judge may disqualify any Handler who does not comply with safety requirements.
Amended to read:
(g) The Judge must disqualify any Handler who does not comply with safety requirements.
Please note the updated Rules & Guidelines for the conduct of Track & Search Dog Trials are now available from the Dogs Australia website under Tracking. Click here to view.
2.4. To be eligible to compete in an Open Retrieving Ability Test, a dog must not have gained any of the following Titles as defined in the Rules for the Conduct of Retrieving Trials for Gundogs (effective 1 Jan 2010) – RRD, AARD, RT CH, Nat RT CH, Grand RT CH.
2.4 To be eligible to compete in an Open Retrieving Ability Test a dog must have gained its Novice Retrieving Ability Test (NRA) title or gained any one of the following titles as defined in the Rules for the Conduct of Retrieving Trials for Gundogs – Qualified Novice Dog (QND) or Novice Retrieving Dog (NRD).
Dogs are ineligible to compete in an Open Retrieving Ability Test if they have have gained any of the following Titles as defined in the Rules for the Conduct of Retrieving Trials for Gundogs: QRD, RRD, AARD, RT CH, Nat RT CH, Grand RT CH or been awarded a CM (Certificate of Merit) or DM (Diploma of Merit).