Page 23 - Chow LIfe - Spring 2019
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• “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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