The California Bill AB1634 has been amended and will no longer be an “unfunded” mandate and it won’t explicitly mandate spay/neuter. Even with the spay/neuter amended, opponents still want the bill stopped. The AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB REGISTERED HANDLERS PROGRAM has named its newly realigned regional representatives. In the California & Arizona region it’s LAURIE JORDAN-FENNER & LARRY FENNER, in the Mid West (Wyoming, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Montana) it’s DOUG CARLSON, the upper Mid West (Wisconsin, Illinois & Michigan) it’s BRYAN MARTIN, the Ohio Valley Region (Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and western Pennsylvania) it’s TIM THOMAS, Southeast Region (Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee) it’s C.J. FAVRE, the Mid Atlantic region (Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania) it’s ANGELA LLOYD, the Northern region (New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts & Rhode Island) it’s TUNI CLAFLIN. The Northwest (Washington, Oregon, Idaho & Montana) presently has no representative. The representatives will have quarterly conference calls with the programs coordinators MARY DUKES, BOBBY FISHER and TOM GLASSFORD in addition to DARRELL HAYES to discuss concerns of the members. These representatives will be the liaisons and go to persons, in their regions, if members have any questions or problems. The organization has a growing membership and those professional handlers who are interested in becoming a member can contact SUSAN JUDGE, AKC Handlers Department, 8051 Arco Corporate Drive, Suite 100, Raleigh, North Carolina 27617 orsmj@akc.org. The recent Blackpool Championship Dog Show in England had to cancel the last of its three-day dog show, as gale winds blew down all the tents. As you may or may not know, England has no all breed judges (now that TERRY THORN has resigned) but they have approved 16 of their judges to judge all breed at FCI dog shows. In Wales they have outlawed electric shock bark collars. Briard fanciers LYNN & STEVE BERNARD are barging down the rivers of France. Briard fancier LEE DAVIDSON, the delegate from the Clermont County Kennel Club, has passed away following a five-month battle against lung cancer. Our deepest sympathies to her husband STEVE and family. The February DOG MUSEUM THEATRE BENEFIT has just a few tickets for sale. That evening’s sold out performance of multiple award winning English musical BILLY ELLIOT is a hot, hot ticket in New York. So don’t delay contact BARBARA JEDDA MCNAB at 314.821.3647 at the DOG MUSEUM. As airlines downsize many of the planes on certain routes, make sure to check the type of aircraft when making reservations to travel with your dog. Our sympathies to MIKE BUCKLEY, whose father passed away following a six-month long illness. Happy Anniversary to PAT & DON RODGERS. Happy Anniversary to DORIS & GENE COZART. Happy Anniversary to CHARLIE and LAURA COOMES, and best wishes for a complete and speedy recovery to LAURA, who is having a disc replaced in her lower back and will be sidelined for three months. A duffer’s birthday weekend for BOB FORSYTH. We without clubs and balls salute you and have a Happy Birthday. Also Birthdaying JOSHUA DESROSIERS, BOB SHARP, PHYLLIS WRIGHT, DELORES BURKHOLDER, LINDA ROWELL, CHRIS BAUM, MARK THRELFALL, CANDY CARSWELL, MICHELLE STEELE, LAURA KING and JENNIE WORNALL.