News and updates

Members are advised that there is an upcoming change to the show levies, effective January 1, 2025. For the first time in many years, we will be increasing our show levies to ensure the continued growth and sustainability of DOGS NSW. 

DOGS NSW faces a challenge of remaining financially viable whilst adjusting to the changing demographics of our organisation. Our goal is to create revenue opportunities that support us through this process and beyond. The decision to make this increase allows us to align our pricing model with other states and, more importantly, it will allow us to make strategic and operational investments in the business. 

CURRENT & PROPOSED LEVY STRUCTURE: 
•    Conformation Shows: Currently $1.00 per entry, increase to $2.00 per entry 
•    Sporting Events: Currently $0.50 per entry, increase to $1.00 per entry 

WHY ARE WE INCREASING THE FEES?
1.    Long Overdue Adjustment: Our show levies have not been increased since 2007, which is an exceptionally long time to be running on the same cost structure. This adjustment is necessary to keep up with rising costs and to continue providing high-quality services and events for our members. 

2.    Investment in Our Future: We need to invest in our own property and infrastructure to secure the future of DOGS NSW. This will ensure that we have the necessary facilities to support our growing community and to host larger and more prestigious events. 

3.    Funding Community Awareness: Our aim in the coming years is to lift the profile of DOGS NSW in dog communities and in discipline sports. The goal of expanding awareness into these areas is to ensure that we are growing our membership, and that our voice is heard amongst misguided welfare organisations that seek to limit breeding practices.

COMPARISON TO OTHER STATES
To provide context, here is a comparison of show levies across different states:

* Inclusive of Advertising

As you can see, even with the increase, DOGS NSW will still have one of the lowest show levies in the country, offering our members exceptional value while ensuring we can maintain and improve our services. 

We believe that these changes are necessary for the continued success and growth of DOGS NSW. Your support and understanding are appreciated as we implement these adjustments. 

Thank you for your continued support. 
DOGS NSW

A typographical error has occurred in the Notice, in the August 2024 Magazine, for Notices of Motions for the 2024 RNSWCC Annual General Meeting.  That Notice states:-

NOTICES OF MOTIONS for the above meeting must be in the hands of the Company Secretary no later than:  4.00pm, Friday 11 August 2024.

11 August 2024 was a Sunday.

Consequently, the Board has approved an extension for submission of Notices of Motions to Friday 23 August 2024.

THE ROYAL NSW CANINE COUNCIL LTD
Board of Directors Elections 2024

Each financial Member of the RNSWCC Ltd, in accordance with the Articles of Association, whose membership is financial as of 1 August 2024, is entitled to vote in their Region. The five positions are to be elected from the Metropolitan, Hunter, Illawarra & South-East, Northern and Southern Regions for a three (3) year term, retiring at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting held more than 30 Months thereafter.

VERO VOTING FAQs

WHO IS VERO VOTING?
Vero Voting is an independent Australian company that specialises in planning, management and delivery of independent enterprise agreement votes, ballots, elections, and AGMs. They have worked with small and large companies such as Reserve Bank of Australia, Bendigo Bank and KPMG. Dogs West, Dogs Victoria and Dogs Queensland, have all used this service and process successfully.

HOW WILL VERO VOTING GET MY DETAILS?

Vero Voting asks for a voters list from DOGS NSW. This voters list will contain details of each eligible voter, whose membership was financial at 1 August 2024. They use the voters list to manage access to their voting system, and to contact you with voting information. 

WILL VERO VOTING CONTACT ME IN THE FUTURE?

Once a ballot, or election is over all personal details are deleted in line with their internal security policy. The only way you will be contacted from Vero Voting is if you are on the voters list for a ballot or election in the future, in which case your details would be provided to them at that time. 

DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW I VOTED?

No. Vero Voting only conduct secret ballots, elections, and AGMs. Every ballot, election, or AGM vote entered into their system is anonymous. Your personal information enables authentication and is not associated with your vote preference.

WHAT IF WE HAVE A JOINT MEMBERSHIP. DO WE RECEIVE TWO VOTES?

Vero Voting will send you a vote for each person on the joint membership. If you share an email address, both votes will be sent to the same email address.

I CAN'T FIND MY LOGIN DETAILS TO ACCESS THE VOTE

Voting instructions and login details are sent directly by Vero Voting. If you have received an email, SMS, or letter from Vero Voting, please check it for your login details. If you have misplaced this information, check your email spam or junk folder, or please ring the Vero Voting support line on 1300 702 898.

HOW WILL I KNOW IF MY ELECTRONIC VOTE WAS SUCCESSFUL?

When you have conducted your vote, Vero Voting will send you a receipt either via email or SMS.

WHEN DO I RECEIVE THE RESULTS OF THE VOTE?

Vero Voting will send the Declaration of Results to the Company Secretary of DOGS NSW at 9.00am on Saturday, 12 October 2024. The results will be announced immediately after that time via the DOGS NSW website and other media platforms.

Our previous advice concerning the contracting of Judges from FCI National Canine Organisations (NCO’s) to judge at FCI International Shows has raised queries from a number of Member Bodies as to how the new regulation will affect overseas FCI judges being contracted to non FCI Championship Shows in Australia. 

Approvals for overseas judges are granted in accordance with Dogs Australia Regulations 9 Non Resident Judges Section 2, which sets out a number of scenarios where judges may be approved to judge breeds in Australia which they are not approved for in their country of residence, which are used for judges from the UK, America and Canada, however FCI judges are bound by FCI Judges Regulation 6 e A judge may under no circumstances agree to judge a breed at any show for which he is not approved by his own national organization. The same applies for judging at Best in Group and Best in Show level. This means that with FCI judges we can only approve them for breeds that their own NCO approves them for. 

This presents a challenge for the Dogs Australia Office as many applications for FCI judges are supported by letters from their NCO approving them for Best in Show, Best in Group or breeds which are not listed in their entry in the FCI Judges Directory. Although the new FCI regulation pertains only to FCI International Shows we believe that the same criteria should be applied for Australian Championship Shows. We have written advice from the FCI that if there are discrepancies between the FCI Directory and the NCO’s statement, Dogs Australia should advise the NCO that their information is different from what is reflected in the Judges Directory and that, according to FCI, we must follow the Judges Directory.

Please be advised that the DOGS NSW grounds will be closed on Sunday 11 August 2024 from 7.00am to Midday whilst the Endurance Test is being conducted.  

During this time no vehicle may enter or exit the grounds, and only Endurance Test competitors and Helpers are permitted on the grounds during this time. The grounds will be reopened at the completion of the test, which will be approximately Midday.

The National Breed Standards Coordination Group has confirmed the Norwegian Buhund was incorrectly noted on this listing as a Table or Ramp breed and should have been classified as a Ground or Ramp breed and has requested for the listing to be updated accordingly.

Please click here for the updated Ramp/Table/Ground breed listing as referenced in Regulations Part 5 – Conformation Shows Clause 2.7 on Dogs Australia website, where the correction has been made.

19.13.1   The “Finish” call is used in Classes that contain multiple hides (Advanced, Excellent, Master and Ultimate) and is required to stop timing of the search.

19.13.2  The handler is required to call “Finish” when all hides have been located for the search area or, for Classes/Elements with an unknown number of hides, when the handler believes that all hides have been located or a “blank room’ cleared. 

19.13.3  In the Advanced Class, if the handler fails to correctly call “Finish” within the maximum time allowed for the search or before leaving the search area precinct, the team will receive a Qualifying Fault and the maximum time allowed for that search.

19.13.4  In the Excellent Interior and the Master Classes, the number of hides in the search area is unknown. The handler must call “Finish” within the search time (including each area in multiple area searches). Failure to do so will incur a Non-Qualifying Fault.  

 22.3.1    The following actions are deemed to be Non-Qualifying Faults:

(a)      the maximum time for a search has been exceeded

(d)     in the Excellent, Master and Ultimate Classes, where the number of hides is unknown, the handler does not call “Finish” before the expiration of the search time 

19.13.1   The “Finish” call is used in Classes that contain multiple hides (Advanced, Excellent, Master and Ultimate) and is required to stop timing of the search.

19.13.2   In the Excellent, Master and Ultimate Classes, the handler is required to call “Finish” when all hides have been located for the search area or, for Classes/Elements with an unknown number of hides, when the handler believes that all hides have been located or a “blank room’ cleared. The handler must call “Finish” within the allotted search time (including each area in multiple area searches). Failure to do so will incur a Non-Qualifying Fault.

19.13.3   In the Advanced Class, if the handler fails to correctly call “Finish” within the maximum time allowed for the search or before leaving the search area precinct, the team will receive a Qualifying Fault and the maximum time allowed for that search.

19.13.4   In the Excellent Interior and the Master Classes, the number of hides in the search area is unknown. The handler must call “Finish” within the search time (including each area in multiple area searches). Failure to do so will incur a Non-Qualifying Fault.

(a)      the maximum time for a search has been exceeded

(d)     in the Excellent, Master and Ultimate Classes, where the number of hides is unknown, the handler does not call “Finish” before the expiration of the search time 

The attention of DOGS NSW Regional Committee Secretaries is drawn to DOGS NSW Regulations Part VII-Regions - Meetings, Office Bearers and Related Matters, Duties of Secretary, Clause 1.7(c), which reads as follows:-

Duties of Secretary

1.7      The Regional Secretary shall:

(c)       notify the Secretary in the month of December each year of the date, time and place of each of the 3 Regional Meetings to be held in the ensuing year.

Regional Secretaries are requested to ensure that they comply with the above Regulation.