Page 23 - Chow LIfe - Spring 2019
P. 23

•  “Work more with rescue organizations” 23%         the Chow, genetics and the future of the Chow,
          •  “Everything is fine the way it is” 10%            conveying best breeding practices, socialization,
                                                               dealing with professional handlers in group, dog
                                                               show etiquette, and evaluating litters.
          The “Other” suggestions included: funding canine
          health, better judges’ education, more work
          with international Chow Chow clubs, and don’t        Wow!  I’ve always known that Chowists spoke their
          turn a blind eye to cheating/violations of AKC       minds.  And this survey proves this is quite true.  It
          Sportsmanship.  However, many respondents stated     also shows that the average CCCI member is no
          that CCCI must mentor and nurture newer members      longer someone with a large kennel and a lot of
          and place a much higher emphasis on juniors than it   dogs.  It can be inferred from these results that most
          has in the past.  One good suggestion was a function   CCCI members, and probably Chowists as a whole,
          for just the first time attendees at the National    have a small kennel that just might be a part of their
          Specialty.  Good feedback here!                      home, they probably have a full-time job, like to do
                                                               conformation, but might not limit themselves to just
                                                               that.
          Respondents continued to be uninhibited in their
          opinions on Question  8 “What would you like to
          see changed at CCCI (if anything)?”.  Here are the   Further, many CCCI like to attend the Nationals,
          ranked results:                                      but quite a few don’t.  New members want to be a
          •  “More education for the Chow Chow owner”          part of group and don’t like being excluded.  Chow
                                                               Chow health, advocacy and breed education are
              46%                                              top concerns.  We want to know the breed standard
          •  “Better variety of judges for the National” 37%   better, but there are many things other things we
          •  “Other” 26%                                       want to learn too.
          •  “More emphasis on non-conformation events”
              25%                                              As I compiled the data, I thought, as Advocacy Chair
          •  “Term limits on all board members, including      and Education Chair of CCCI, I have my roadmap
              officers” 23%                                    set out in front of me.  To that end, I will work to
          •  “More emphasis on rescue”, “More emphasis on      have a series of educational webinars for CCCI
                                                               members starting in mid-2019.  There will still be
              junior handling and family events” tied at 16%   educational seminars at the National, but these free
              each                                             webinars will enable CCCI members who cannot
          •  “Everything is fine the way it is” 7%             attend the National to learn.  These webinars will
                                                               be hosted by CCCI and will feature subject matter
          The “Other” suggestions included linking the         experts in the areas you sited on this survey.
          National with established regional specialties,
          outreach to owners of companion Chows, break the     Thank you to all who participated.  This will
          cliques as new members can feel alienated, more      probably become an annual survey.
          emphasis on health certifications and how to get
          them, more community outreach, rotate the National
          across the country, more support for struggling      By the way, one question that wasn’t asked was “Do
          regional clubs, and offering the National breed      you love your Chows?”  That would have been an
          judging to international judges only.                easy 100% “yes”!


          The final question, number 9, asked what educational    (statistical note:  due to rounding, some percentages
          topics one would like to see at a future Chow Chow                 might not add up to 100)
          National.   The responses to this question were
          ranked very closely with “Understanding the breed
          standard” being the topped ranked, but not by a very   Editor’s note:  As the article said, “many of the
          wide margin than the bottom ranked (“Dealing with      survey respondents felt we need to mentor & nurture
          Contracts”) with 43% and 20% respectively.             newer members.”  If you are attending the National,
                                                                 I would like to encourage you to introduce yourself
                                                                 to at least 2 people you don’t know.   Spend a few
          Other suggestions off the list included: how do        minutes finding out about them and sharing with
          you calculate points for Grand Champion, how           them a little about yourself.
          to educate vets on the unique health aspects of

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