Dear SVCA Members,
Below you will find my report on our Club and Breed which has gone to AKC. I have not included the Specialty Premium info in this update to the Club. The underlining was not in the AKC report....must have something to do with the way this whole document was formatted.

Thank you.

Gail Smyka

 Pat Lejman
American Kennel Club
Director of Special Services
5580 Centerview Drive, Suite 200
Raleigh, NC 27606-3390

 October 27, 2004

 Dear Ms. Lejman,

 The following is submitted as our update of Club, membership and households.

 In September, 2004, our Club held elections. Two director positions were up for election as well as a proposal from membership formally voting to work towards AKC recognition.

President: Rose Martino, MD
Vice - President: Mary Bennett, NC
Secretary: Gail Smyka, MI
Treasurer: Louise Mc Combs, OH
Directors:
Deborah Harper, NY
Cheryl Rolfe, FL : newly elected
Richard Thompson, AZ: newly elected
Pat Troise, CA 

In September, 2004, our Members voted by secret ballot on a proposal which asked them if they wanted to achieve AKC recognition of our Club and Breed. An overwhelming majority of almost 87% of those voting said a resounding yes.

Our Club, The Swedish Vallhund Club of America, has continued to grow from December, 2003 to now. In  December, 2003, we had 124 USA Households, 134 USA members in 38 states. As of October, 2004, we have 126 USA Households and 139 USA Members.  Worldwide, we have 143 members. Enclosed are the demographic maps requested by AKC regarding this information as well as updated lists of members and households. As of October 2004, , we knew there were 519 Swedish Vallhunds with three degree pedigrees, and no red flags, per AKC/FSS, registered with FSS. We approximate these to be distributed in at least  42 states. FSS has reported to us that a total of 58 litters of SV’s have been registered since SVCA joined FSS in 12/99. We have included charts to graphically document growth in the areas of: USA members; USA households; SV’s registered with FSS; Litters of SV’s.

Our Constitution, Bylaws and Standard have been reviewed by AKC appointed personnel. Our Membership has voted on these changes and ratified new documents. These documents are enclosed here and have been sent to the specific AKC personnel for final review and recommendation to AKC.

We have held specialties in all corners of this country: Maine, California, Michigan, Georgia... North, South, East and West, as well as in the Midwest in Ohio. Our Specialty this year, 2004,  will be held in Claremont, California. It will include: conformation, judged by a Swedish Judge familiar with SV’s; Herding; Agility; and Obedience events. An updated events form will be forwarded to AKC/FSS upon completion of this specialty, being held November 12 - 14, 2004. The Specialty Event will be open to the Public and information re: the SV will be available.

We anticipate that once Swedish Vallhunds are in MISC. Class in AKC, more SV persons will attend AKC shows with their SV’s to afford themselves both the convenience and prestige of AKC Shows and Performance Events. Many of our members are located in areas which are not easily accessible to shows other than AKC and all of us  look forward to the time when we may attend AKC shows with our SV’s.

Our Regional Contact Persons, formed in 2003, and our Education Committee have been active in handling queries re: the SV and directing interested persons to the proper resource. Our Rescue Chairperson has been involved in the rescue of two vallhunds this past year. Our Education Committee has sent out at least 29 regular mail packets and 89 email packets of information since the last report to AKC.

Our website continues to be actively visited (http://www.swedishvallhund.org) and has garnered 54776 hits to this date. The website has been active since 1998. A new feature is a Board Page with a list of Board Work done during the year. This has been set up to facilitate further communication among Club Members.

We are working to have more materials available to present to inquiring judges as well as the general public. At this General Membership Meeting we will be discussing a possible committee setup to explain the standard more in depth to those who are interested.

We have enclosed our Board and General Membership meeting minutes, and Committee reports to keep our file up to date. We have enclosed newly ratified documents: Constitution/Bylaws/ Standard/SVCA Suggested Guidelines. Also enclosed are the results of the votes of the September, 2004 Election and AKC Proposal as well as the results of the balloting on the Club Documents, containing AKC recommendations. Updated 2004 General Membership Meeting minutes will be forwarded after the meeting in 11/04. 

The Swedish Vallhund Club of America continues to be dedicated to promoting, preserving and protecting our wonderful Swedish Vallhund.  We look forward with anticipation and dedication to any further work we may need to do to work towards full recognition with the American Kennel Club.  Achieving full AKC recognition  is a major goal for us. We have worked very hard to have achieved each of the goals and requirements set by the AKC, to date,  for our movement forward.  We  realize that, even after we would be selected to go into the Misc. Class, there is much more work to be done in order to achieve full AKC recognition for our Club and our Breed. We are committed to doing so.

Respectfully,
Gail M. Smyka
SVCA Secretary
SVCA  Contact Person for AKC

Table of Contents

 

Section I
Report to AKC
1. Report
2. Membership List and Roster
3. Household List
4. Distribution of members among states; approximated distribution of SV’s among states. 

Section II
Major SVCA Documents
1. Constitution
2. Bylaws
3. Breed Standard
4. SVCA Suggested Guidelines 

Section III
SVCA Lists
1. List of officers, board and committees 

Section IV
Letters, Forms, Election Results
1. Letters to members from the Board
2. Election results for bylaws vote and for new board members
3. Copies of Ballots used

Section V
Minutes
1. General Membership Minutes
2. Board Minutes

 Section VI
Committees
1. Reports 

Section VII
Specialties
1.Specialty Information, 2004
Submitted by Gail M. Smyka, AKC-contact person for the SVCA
covering 12/2003 - 10/2004

SWEDISH VALLHUND CLUB OF AMERICA
Contact Persons 
Officers and Board Members of the Swedish Vallhund Club of America are available to address concerns. Their names, addresses and phone numbers are available to SVCA Members.

 Below are listed the email addresses of Club Officers and Committee Chairpersons. SVCA Members are encouraged to contact them to give input and ask questions. We have had a few persons interested in certain positions. When additions/changes occur, they will be listed.

 Members:
 If members would like to know who is on what committee , please contact either the committee chairperson or the club secretary. If you would like to volunteer to help on a committee, please contact the Chairperson of that Committee to see what may be available.
At any time, a member is welcome to contact the Committee Chairperson with concerns and ideas re: that committee. If you have a concern or idea, please address it to the appropriate person. If a member feels that another type committee should be appointed, please feel free to contact a Board member with your concerns/idea. Thank you.

 The officers and directors listed below are active as of 10/1/04.