am told that my award program is quite
unorthodox or dissimilar to most "serious award" programs and would not receive a very high rating by award program rating groups. So I will attempt to explain why my award program is
established in my way, which is from the prospective of an avid pet owner and active participant in dog performance. The discussion below although about dogs, is relevant as to why
this award program exists and is established in my way.
First-Kindling A Family Interest
Almost at least one member of a family during a year will either see a dog performance event on television or attend a trial or fun match in or near their community. When a family sees a dog and handler perform amazing feats kindling a longing for doing the same. They will also feel the group synergistic, which include fun and fellowship. Fun and fellowship are feelings are inheriting genetic links in all us, they will never leave the psyche. Companionship is based on love, which is giving all the time, never expecting anything in return, but for an occasional bowl of brown rocks and water. Our animal friends are relying on us and we on them.
Award Giving relevance: A family member may wish to pursue the pursuit of award giving, but just as in dog training and performance participation, time, patience, acquired knowledge and consistency are the hallmarks and longevity is encouraged by family participation.
Selecting a Breed
After you have selected a breed which meets your own life style and accommodations, you would then visit a responsible breeder. One who has an professional and ethical code of conduct. Read my breeder ethics statement. In this statement place yourself as someone who wishes to earn my award. You will find that humans are treated with compassion too. We will complete the process of reviewing, judging and so forth within two weeks. We will acknowledge every nomination and send you an email. If you wish to have your recommendations for improvement, please let me hear from you.
Now that you have selected a breed which meets your life style and accommodations from a responsible breeder like myself, you begin to gain knowledge and experience to one day become a champion, just like my award honorees. A place to start is with a reliable source of information. Now you know why the AP news feed concludes this introduction to my award program. You also know why my program is unorthodox or dissimilar to most "serious award" programs, but now know that I too am quite serious about dog performance, responsible ownership and espouse the health benefits for every man, woman and child. You may also determine that I am serious about what my award program hopes to accomplish while remaining fun and not so time consuming, which would not inhibit my other activities.
Award Giving Relevance: When I decided to establish an award program, my thoughts were about many aspects of award giving which had been meticulously detailed in what award givers call "their criteria." I also knew what a responsible pet owner would wish to convey to a person who was considering a fur, scale or feather friend as either a companion or involvement in pet competitions. So I compiled all of this information into a list of do's and do not's, along with what would not be acceptable, like framed web sites (which I loathe), those huge horizontal scrolls, not being child safe and so forth.
Judging A Breed Standard Or Championship Selection
You will remember the champions seen either on television or at a local dog event, a breed which caught you eye and still see the smiling faces of those human and animal participants in your minds eye. Then you go to the AKC website, which will give you the breed standards like height, color, temperament and so forth. Further research and you find from other authorative books, articles or web sites additional information.
Award Giving Relevance: When I finished and the list of do's, do not's and was not acceptable there were several pages, then made a temporary webpage and asked my Sniff-U-Later dog list to give me their suggestions. We discussed what should an award program be for myself, what do I hope to accomplish, is there are better way to present what is a championship website and so forth. We all concluded that a basic criteria and a short one should be developed and then let everyone suggest a website which would be representative of the criteria and my mission statement.
Of course everyone had their own ideas and the group of 75 provided an exhaustive list, but about a dozen web sites were suggested by two or more people, so we concentrated on those and eventually narrowed the list down to three, which became our March 2006 honorees.
Champions and Best of Breed
In conformation we have best of group and best in show. Performance dog events select best of class and show and an entrant may earn what is called a leg, which goes toward earning a title. Others may qualify with a required score.
Award Giving Relevance: My award champions are our Shetland Sheepdog honorees. In the criteria section you will find our concise criteria which includes our selection standard, which are our first three honoree's.
Now that the champions are selected, let us honor them further by using the valuable tool discussed below. Which includes those honored within the international awards community.
The Award Community RSS News Feed presents news of interest which may be found here.
© 2005-2009 Carolyn Lancaster