Editorial: August 18, 2023

The AKC board of directors’ “executive sessions” are those parts of the board meetings where the directors huddle and the conversations are private and confidential. But what little is disseminated to the public can be educational. So as we peruse the information at hand, here are a couple of newsworthy items. The annual meeting to be held in March will include the election of the three seated directors from the Class of 2024. The current directors are Carmen Battaglia, delegate from the German Shepherd Dog Club of America, who must be the longest-serving director; Michael Knight, delegate from the Texas Kennel Club, and Karolynn McAteer from the Irish Setter Club of America, who cannot run this election cycle due to term limits. The members of the board-appointed Nominating Committee, who will make their selections for the three delegates to fill the three open seats and run for the board of directors for the Class of 2028, have been selected. The committee will be chaired by Patti Strand, a former board member and delegate from the Dog Fanciers Association of Oregon; Marilyn DeGregorio, delegate from the Taconic Hills Kennel Club; Florence Duggan, delegate from the Sussex Hills Kennel Club; Don James, delegate from the Leonberger Club of America, and Barbara Shaw, delegate from the Greater Collin Kennel Club. There are two alternates: Terrie Breen, delegate from the Farmington Valley Kennel Club, and Douglas Johnson, delegate from the Colorado Springs Kennel Club. In addition to the committee candidates, there can be nominations from the floor by petition. It is always healthier for the delegates to have a broader choice of delegates to vote for, as it adds diversity to the board of directors. You might remember that last year, there was a vote to do away with term limits, which would have almost guaranteed that the seated board members would be selected, some for much longer than their sell-by date. As we as a community isolate ourselves with oversaturated clustering dog shows, limiting our exposure to the public, there is a need for more multiple-group judges to satisfy these clusters and work over their weekend of shows. It will be interesting to hear the opinions of those delegates who are running for the board when it comes to the number of dog shows and their locations, the advancement of judges and how to change the public’s perception of purebred dogs versus shelter dogs and crossbreeds. That’s what’s up.