ABC MEMBERS: A Call to Action!

The most important decision an ABC member can make regarding the ABC shows – the Futurity, National and Regional – is nominating and electing the judges for those events. Unfortunately, when it came to the 2015 Regional nominations, the ABC blew it.

Here’s what happened: The ABC Judges Selection Committee (JSC) posted the criteria listed at the bottom of this page (Appendix A) to the ABC website sometime in February 2014. These judging criteria were also included in the nomination packets for the 2015 Regional that were mailed to every ABC member and member club in March or April. Take a look at Item 2 in Appendix A, and then look at Tom Latta’s analysis of how these criteria would have affected past judge selections (Tom's analysis is also at the bottom of this page).  

Now look at Item 5 in Appendix A: “Must not have judged the Futurity, Regional BOB and ABC National BOB within the 10 years prior to his or her nomination for any assignment.” That means that the judge who did the Futurity this year cannot be considered for the National or Regional till at least 2024, even if she applies for an AKC judge’s license today!

But that’s not the worst of it. Not only is Criterion 5 absurd, it’s not the requirement the board approved! Somehow, in translating those criteria from the boardroom to the website, the wording became hopelessly scrambled. On top of all that, apparently the JSC has known for a while that the wording was not correct, but even though the deadline for the 2015 Regional nominations was May 31, 2014, an “explanation” wasn't posted to the website till May 29. Also, there’s no link to the explanation from the criteria and the unapproved judging criteria are STILL on the website! Oh yes, and only five (5) nominations were received for the 2015 Regional. If you’ll take another look at Tom Latta’s analysis, you can see why. A nomination would require some serious research, and most people simply don’t have the time to do that. 

You know, everyone makes mistakes and everyone realizes that the ABC directors and committee chairs are unpaid volunteers. But the Judges Selection Committee has been working on these criteria for over two years! And actually, the only thing ABC members asked them to do in the first place was to set a reasonable limit (5 years? 7 years?) on how often someone could judge each of the three ABC conformation events. At the very least, these criteria should be removed from the website while they’re being revised, and once they've been revised, the membership should be allowed to vote on them.

Bottom line: The 2015 Regional nominations need to be reopened ASAP.  If the board can’t come to a swift consensus, then the ABC President needs to make an executive decision.

Email your ABC directors and let them know that you want input into this supremely important ABC policy:

Barry Wyerman                    wyerbr@sbcglobal.net

Beth Downey                        amityhallboxers@yahoo.com

Bridget J. Brown                   jackeye@bellsouth.net

Bruce & Judy Voran            bjvoran@gmail.com

Diane Kowalchyk-Morris    aboxabiz@aol.com

Ginny Shames                     Arribatali@aol.com

Jill Hootman                          tealcrst@gmail.com

Karen Emerson                    kaemerso2003@yahoo.com

Korinne Vanderpool            korvpool@gmail.com

Linda Abel                             strybkbox@aol.com

Linda Middagh                     lrmboxers@comcast.net

Sharon Steckler                   steckler@swbell.net

Stephanie Abraham            landmarks.properties@snet.net

Teresa Kaminski                  tckaminski@sbcglobal.net

APPENDIX A CRITERIA FOR JUDGES FOR THE ABC NATIONAL SPECIALTY, REGIONAL & FUTURITY

Judges wishing to judge the ABC National Specialty, Regional or Futurity must meet the criteria set out below. If at any time a Judge fails to meet the criteria, including the time period after their selection and before the assignment, he or she will forfeit the assignment and the Judge receiving the 2nd most votes will be awarded the assignment; similarly, the Judge receiving the 3rd most votes will be awarded the remaining classes. No Judge will be placed before the ABC membership as a candidate who does not meet each of the following criteria. A candidate: Must be an AKC-approved regular status Judge in good standing with no disciplinary issues with AKC in the past 10 years. Must have been an AKC-approved regular status Judge for at least 5 years prior to their nomination and have judged at least 3 shows with MAJORS in the Boxers. Must not be a permit Judge, active handlers, or Boxer breeder who is not AKC approved regular status judge. Must not have judged the Boxer breed in the US within 6 months of the ABC assignment and cannot judge in the regional cluster prior to the nationals. Must not have judged the Futurity, Regional BOB and ABC National BOB within the 10 years prior to his or her nomination for any assignment. Must abide by Ethics and Honesty, Conflict of Interest and Gray Areas in AKC Guidelines for Conformation of Dog Show Judges (pages 2 - 5). Furthermore, once nominated, must not have posted comments on social media or other public venue. Must abide by the AKC one year period for co-ownership restriction. (Rules Applying to Dog Shows -- (Chapter 11, Section 13). Must, if selected, excuse any dogs, handlers or exhibitors upon entrance to the ring when a possible conflict of interest or unfair advantage appears to be present. (AKC guidelines will be used.) Must provide written critique of their judging to the ABC before any publications in print or online. Nominators must personally assure that candidates who are nominated to judge the National Specialty or Regional meet the criteria in this document. The nominators must supply a statement signed by their nominated candidate that the candidate meets these criteria. Additional reviews may be done at the discretion of the ABC Judges Screening Committee. NOTE: Criteria 1, 2 and 3 do not apply to a Futurity nomination. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tom Latta's analysis of the judging criteria: How would the current criteria have affected past judge selections? Year Show Judge Qualified if 2014 Criteria had been applied? 2003 ABC Futurity Christine Baum Yes 2003 ABC National (Bitches & Breed) Betty Mentzer Yes 2003 ABC National (Dogs) Cindy Meyer No (approved Boxers 9/8/2000, ineligible under Criteria #2) 2004 ABC Futurity Melvin Holloman Yes 2004 ABC National (Bitches & Breed) Stephanie Abraham Yes 2004 ABC National (Dogs) Tom Hutchings Yes 2004 ABC Regional Janet Sinclair No (approved Boxers 12/10/1999, ineligible under Criteria #2) 2005 ABC Futurity Robert Phillips Yes 2005 ABC National (Bitches & Breed) Billie McFadden Yes 2005 ABC National (Dogs) Dixie McCauley Unknown 2005 ABC Regional Sandy Orr No (approved Boxers 6/10/2004, ineligible under Criteria #2) 2006 ABC Futurity Gary Steele Yes 2006 ABC National (Dogs & Breed) Monika Pinsker Yes 2006 ABC National (Bitches) Larry Sinclair Yes 2006 ABC Regional Jack Ireland Yes 2007 ABC Futurity Daniel Buchwald No (judged 1998 Futurity, ineligible under Criteria #5) 2007 ABC National (Bitches & Breed) Alberto Berrios Yes 2007 ABC National (Dogs) Sandy Orr Yes 2007 ABC Regional Judith Voran No (approved Boxers 7/9/2003, ineligible under Criteria #2) 2008 ABC Futurity Virginia Shames Yes 2008 ABC National (Dogs & Breed) Janet Sinclair Yes 2008 ABC National (Bitches) Rufus Burleson Yes 2008 ABC Regional Maureen Boyd Yes 2009 ABC Futurity Mary Lou Hatfield Yes 2009 ABC National (Dogs & Breed) Elizabeth Gunter Yes 2009 ABC National (Bitches) Pat Healy No (approved Boxers 4/10/2007, ineligible under Criteria #2) 2009 ABC Regional Larry Sinclair Yes 2009 ABC Regional Sharon Steckler No (approved Boxers 3/12/2008, ineligible under Criteria #2) 2010 ABC Futurity Clifford Steele Yes 2010 ABC National (Dogs & Breed) Jack Ireland Yes 2010 ABC National (Bitches) Tom Perret Yes 2010 ABC Regional Patricia Mullen No (approved Boxers 6/15/2005, ineligible under Criteria #2) 2011 ABC Futurity Michael Shepherd Yes 2011 ABC National (Bitches & Breed) Shirley Bell No (approved Boxers 8/6/2006, ineligible under Criteria #2) 2011 ABC National (Dogs) Sharon Steckler No (approved Boxers 3/12/2008, ineligible under Criteria #2) 2011 ABC Regional Sandy Orr No (judged 2005 Regional, ineligible under Criteria #5) 2012 ABC Futurity Bridget Brown Yes 2012 ABC National (Bitches & Breed) Peter Baynes Yes 2012 ABC National (Dogs) David Abraham Yes 2012 ABC Regional Cheryl Robbins Yes 2013 ABC Futurity Wendy J Morawski Yes 2013 ABC National (Bitches & Breed) Alberto Berrios No (judged Breed @ 2007 National, ineligible under Criteria #5) 2013 ABC National (Dogs) Ann Gilbert No (approved Boxers 1/13/2009, ineligible under Criteria #2) 2013 ABC Regional Joe Gregory Yes 2014 ABC Futurity Tami Mishler Yes 2014 ABC National (Dogs & Breed) Butch Engel Yes 2014 ABC National (Bitches) Pat Mullen Yes 2014 ABC Regional Evalyn Gregory No (approved Boxers 4/1/2013, ineligible under Criteria #2) Based on the above analysis, the newly established 2014 Judge Selection Criteria would have had the following effect over the past 11 years: 1 of the last 12 Futurity Judges would have been ineligible 7 of the last 13 Regional Judges would have been ineligible 6 of the last 24 National Judges would have been ineligible