Page 22 - Chow LIfe - Spring 2019
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The CCCI Members Have Spoken!


                                       2018 CCCI Survey Results


                                                      by Dan Strachan

          Last fall CCCI issued an online survey of its         Specialty since before 2013 and 32% said they had no
          members through the site SurveyMonkey.  This          plans to attend the 2019 Nationals.  I am sure there
          survey consisted of nine questions.  165 responses    are a variety of reasons ranging from time off from
          were submitted. All results were anonymous. I had     work to choice of judges.  Perhaps that can be asked
          a chance to analyze the results and they give an      in a future survey.
          interesting picture of our membership in 2018

                                                                 Question 5 asked respondents to rank a list of
          The first two questions were demographics.            issued in order of importance to them as Chow
                                                                Chow owners.  “Canine Health” was, by far, the most
                                                                important issue with 87% of respondents saying that.
          Question 1 asked how long had one been a member       Other issues were ranked as follows:
          of CCCI.  48% of the respondents had been members
          of CCCI for more than 20 years while 32% have been
          members for 10 or fewer years.                        •  “Negative stereotype of the Chow Chow”  44%
                                                                •  “The rising cost of veterinary care” 38%
          Question 2 asked how many Chows the respondent        •  “Local restrictions on breeding” 35%
          had living with them at the time of the survey.  57%   •  “Dealing with aging dogs” 34%
          of the respondents had four or fewer Chow Chows
          living with them.  Only 15% said they had 10 or       •  “Animal rights activists” 29%
          more Chow Chows.  Please note here, this number       Question 6 asked about the activities one did with
          could include rescues, fosters and puppies.           their Chow Chow.  Not surprisingly, 80% said
                                                                “conformation”.  But other activates got mentioned
                                                                too with “obedience” and “rally” scoring 12% and 8%
                                                                respectively.  “Nose work”, “Agility” and “Barn Hunt”
                                                                were also listed as activities.  But no one does fly ball
                                                                with his or her Chow.


                                                                This question had the option to write in other
                                                                activities not listed.  By far, the biggest activity that
                                                                was written in was   “therapy dog”, followed closely
                                                                by “Fast CAT”.  But there are Chows owned by CCCI
                                                                members that do everything from weight pulling to
                                                                musical freestyle!   I’m thinking this could be a great
                                                                demonstration at a future National Specialty!!


                                                                Starting with Question 7, respondents were asked
                                                                how could CCCI help a Chow Chow owner.
                                                                Members did not shy away from stating their
                                                                opinions.  They are ranked as follows:
          With regard to attendance at the Chow Chow
          National Specialty, 40% of the respondents said they   •  “Advocate for the Chow Chow on local and
          attended the 2018 National in Tulsa.  45% said they      national levels”  55%
          planned to attend the 2019 National in Orlando.       •  “Provide more education on the Chow Chow

                                                                   breed” 41%
          While those numbers look good, you also have          •  “Be a conduit to the AKC” 31%
          to look at the other side.  31% of the respondents    •  “Other” 29%
                 stated that they had not attended a National
                                                                •  “Be more transparent” 25%


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