Hi Kevin,
OK Back in front of my computer again!
Thanks for these interesting and thought provoking suggestions, exactly what we need!
May I give you my own personal replies to your suggestions?
1) Reduced KC registration fees for Heritage Breed puppies - if not all native breed puppies.
Not quite sure what, if anything this, would achieve. I doubt it would encourage people to breed more just to save the cost of registrations. From a practical point of view, this year the KC will take a major hit in reduced registrations, already 15% down on the same period last year and they are actively looking at cost cutting. So it is probably not the best moment to suggest that they start dishing out free registrations, they do after all, like it or not, have a commercial aspect to consider.
I would mention that the VNB committee did manage to negotiate FREE entry on to the KC Puppy Sales Register for ALL breeds on the active KC VNB List, a saving of £10-. Not much and I know that most breeds have a waiting list, but at least it is a concession and recognition from the KC.
By the way, the KC Puppy Sales Register concession let to the SCWT Club withdrawing from the VNB project as they said this was a charter for Puppy Farmers. You can't please all the people all the time!
2) A Heritage Breed class at Crufts (probably from 2011). - A properly judged multi-breed class held in the main ring after the last group and before Best in Show. The class to feature all BOB's from the Heritage Breeds with the provision for a breed to withdraw if it had made it through to the Best in Show ring. Of course that would mean some people having to come back on the Sunday but who could resist a run around the main ring on the last night!!??
Interesting suggestion, but the devil would be in the detail as they say! From experience I know that the KC do not want anything on the last evening which may dilute the Best in Show, this being as they see it the jewel in the crown. And I have to ask what would be the objective of such an event, to draw attention to our breeds? Well one argument is that they would already have been seen in the various groups anyway. We have to accept that wins in the show ring do little to promote the popularity of our breeds, just take a look at my English Setter article if you don't believe me, doing very nicely thank you for several years at the 1,100/1,200 per year, then an ES goes BIS at Crufts and the registrations have never stopped dropping. This is not an isolated case either and will be the subject for another article - soon!
Back in November 2006, at the last KC VNB Committee meeting the idea was floated and approved for a Vulnerable Breed of the Year competition, with heats to be run at Open Shows which were run in conjunction with public events, like (say) game or country fairs up and down the country with a grand final to be held at Crufts. This was approved, the head of the Events Department was summoned and told to work out the details which would have been similar to the Junior Warrant of the Year competition and we all felt rather pleased with our selves. We waited for an announcement..........and at the time of writing we are still waiting!
3) I await # 3 with interest!
4) This ones not for the KC. How about a British Heritage Breed Show? I would suggest that it's added to an existing event, either a Championship dog show, major agricultural show or country/game show. The show to consist of show classes for each breed with the BOB's competing for Best in Show. Also open agility and a mini version of discover dogs.
Again another interesting suggestion. However both Hilary and I feel that we have to come up with something a little more outside the box than yet another dog show. We are both working on a couple of "blue sky" concepts, which would take our breeds and place them right where they can be found by the public in a non competitive situation. Watch this space...................
Back in 2006 the KC were asking for ideas of how they could celebrate Olympic year. The VNB committee came up with the idea of a British Breeds Ch Show and after a long discussion it was finally agreed that the concept would be put forward to the KC Olympic Steering Committee for evaluation. We naturally did not hear much more about how the KC would be celebrating Great Britain staging the Olympic Games, till the KC issued this press release on October 21st 2008
www.thekennelclub.org.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=2105
A rather "unusual" concept I think you will agree.
A British Heritage Dog Show/Event/Festival could work, but both Hilary and I firmly believe that there is no one better placed to organise and run such an event successfully than the British Heritage Breeds them selves! Not tacked on to an existing KC event but run as a stand alone event, fronted by one of the Heritage Breed Clubs perhaps and with the combined expertise of British Dog people running, promoting and publising the event.
Both Hilary and I firmly believe that we have to work alongside the KC but that we must start taking on much of the overall responsibility ourselves, there is no one better to promote our breeds that our breeds them selves. Don't worry, if we are a success the KC will come on board!
Thanks for committing your ideas to the forum and I hope that many others will join in these discussions for the future of our breeds.
WHY?
Because they are worth it!
Regards,
Paul K
