Dear colleagues,
Here is the February MOM email, however, this time with only these documents:
- Josef Westermann’s “Latest from the JGHV Director of Testing” (a good read!)
- CE Seminars and Intro Seminars as of January 27, 2022
Now on to several other topics…Please remember that the LV-NA will host an online Intro Seminar on Saturday, March 12th, and we already have over 30 registrations. I have attached the seminar flyer again to help with any final calls or emails to future Apprentices and VR.
Letter to the JGHV on regarding recognition of the “Emergency Solution Tracking – Corona 2020” in place of a VJP for Apprentice Judge candidates who were unable to run dogs in a VJP: The response from Jan Schafberg (cc: Karl Walch) was swift and unequivocal:
Hello Mr. Bremer,
Occasionally we also receive inquiries from our German member clubs about this issue. In the spring of 2020, the “Corona situation” was so pronounced and drastic that we were unable to do any spring tests with the hare track. The Emergency Solution Tracking – Corona 2020 was an option, whereby dogs from this year could still be used for breeding.
The Executive Board agreed very early on that this stopgap measure was not a substitute for the spring tests with hare track in terms of the eligibility criteria as an apprentice judge. In agenda item 5 of the meeting of the Executive Board on 07.02.2021, it is stated: “It was also made clear that the Emergency Solution Tracking test will not be recognized as a substitute for a spring test or tracking work. In addition, the Executive Board agrees to recognize older spring tests (older than 48 months) for registration as an apprentice, if the applicants have handled another dog in the last year.”
Firstly, the recognition of the Emergency Solution test is not covered by the OfdVRW. Here it clearly states VJP or Derby incl. tracking work. Secondly, the Emergency Solution test is not comparable with a spring test in terms of content. We must be concerned with the quality of the apprentice judge candidates and the future Association Judge. In recognition of the special circumstances created by Corona and the opportunity offered in the OfdVRW, the Executive Board recognizes spring tests, if these are sometimes well outside the 48 month period. So, if potential candidates have already handled before at spring tests, then the possibility of recognition arises. And therewith the Executive Board also takes into account the greater experience of these dog handlers. I’m sure we can all agree that in order to ensure the quality of our judging,we need experienced and field-proven hunters and dog handlers.
I hope that the background for our decision is understandable and will be accepted, in the sense of our hunting dog and judging system.
With best regards
Jan Schafberg
Attention Chairpersons!
The JGHV Landesverband Nordamerika – JKV sent club Chairpersons an announcement on the Annual Meeting of JGHV member clubs in North America (LV-NA), along with a draft of the Rules of Procedure that we wish to approve at the meeting. The meeting was preliminarily scheduled as a virtual meeting on Saturday, May 14th. Unfortunately, one of our member clubs has its own annual meeting on that weekend, so here is a new proposal for your feedback: one week later on Saturday, May 21st. If this doesn’t work, remembering that it may be difficult to find a day that fits for all of the Chairpersons (or a designated representative), please share other suggestions. Important is that we have our meeting before the JGHV Verbandstag / Annual General Meeting on the weekend of July 23-24, 2022.
Attention Directors of Testing and Judge Development!
- I have attached the new PowerPoint presentation on the VZPO which was largely prepared by Josef Westermann and Peggy Dornig.
- The new PPP on the VGPO is in the final stage of editing and will be sent to you shortly.
Regarding the use of these new presentations, I submitted follow-up questions to J. Westermann and P. Dornig and received this feedback from Peggy which I’ve translated (please take note!):
Peggy #1: Here’s my brief opinion: The PPPs on the VZPO and VGPO are only support material, which a speaker can use. He or she can also put together his or her own presentations from the material. The only important thing is that the notes that were formulated for the slides are also passed on uniformly, so that uniform judging is guaranteed. It does not make sense to use the same material for every CE seminar. As a speaker, you must also be able to focus on certain topics, to omit slides that are not relevant to the topic, or to shorten or enhance the presentation, i.e. the slides can be rearranged or expanded – but the meaning must not be lost or changed.
Peggy#2: (Regarding making copies of the PPPs and distribution to the seminar participants)
I wouldn’t prohibit this. However, the PPP slides always contain only the text from the Test Regulations. Therefore, the slides themselves are less helpful. However, one could summarize the notes, which are only seen by the person giving the presentation, into a pdf and distribute it after the seminar.
Let me know if you have any questions on these presentations and thanks to Mark Heuer for reviewing the both of these 75-80 page translations. We had to include a few adjustments from the North American “Matrix” in the Notes area, and there were exchanges with Josef Westermann about two issues of importance: 1) Does the dog have to sit to receive a score in the Very Good predicate? Long story short, though this topic will be taken up by the Stammbuchkommission again, if the dog does not sit, it reduces the score (but not necessarily) the predicate. 2) For the testing of gun stability in the water, the dog must enter the water in about 1 minute, but during that time the handler may do whatever is required to get the dog into the water, i.e. throwing stones, giving additional verbal commands, etc. (everything short of picking the dog up and throwing it in). The rationale: This is a test of gun stability (not primarily retrieve and delivery), for which the dog must be in the water!😊
One final topic, especially for DOTs and DJDs: Given the written and phone inquiries I receive, and which many of you also receive during the course of the testing season, it has been suggested that a quarterly Zoom call for DJDs/DOTs would be helpful. The session could cover the interpretation and application of the Test Regulations, especially in light of actual testing situations, exchanges of the training of Apprentices, test paperwork, and many other topics that would help establish and maintain a uniformly high standard in our judging corps across all of the member clubs. We would try to keep the session structured, but informal, with a moderator sending out 4-5 questions/topics for discussion. Your thoughts: Is it a good idea? Do you have suggestions on any aspect of the organization and conduct of the calls?
Thanks for your patience with this lengthy email. I look forward to your feedback.
Ken Bremer
Secretary
LV-NA
