Western Beagle Gundog Association

Operating Procedures

 

Purpose:  To build support for and among like-minded beagle clubs West of the Mississippi River.

This will be accomplished by recognizing and awarding high point hounds of the year, all-age sire and dam of the year, top producing sire and dam of derbies, breeder of the year, and eventually holding an annual All-age SPO Championship Trial and Field Champion SPO trial.

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Awards

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• For all association awards except top producing sire and dam the owner of the hound must be a member of a member club.  Top producing sire and dam will be exempt because it benefits the association to recognize which sires and dams produce hounds that are top performers in our region. 

• If the ownership of a hound changes hands from an owner who is an association member to an owner who is not an association member, points shall be determined as follows:

  • If the hound placed in “n” association trials while owned by an association member those points remain with the hound for that trial season even if the new owner does not belong to a member club.  Any subsequent points will only be awarded if the new owner joins a member club prior to the running of subsequent trials.  If this hound placed high enough in the first “n” trials that it is the high point hound for its class at the end of the season, then the hound shall be named WBGA High Point hound XX” Class and the award shall be given to the current actual owner.

• The association’s board of directors and officers will choose the type of awards and procure the awards for the various categories from the association treasury. 

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High Point Hounds

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• Awards will be given for High Point 13” female, 15” female, 13” male and 15” male. 

• If a hound places in two size classes the points only apply to the respective class in which the hound placed.  For example if a hound wins a class of 12 13” males and a class of 17 15” males in different trials, that hound will receive 12 points toward High Point 13” male and 17 points toward High Point 15” male.

• Points will be awarded to hounds placing at member clubs.

• Points are awarded as following

  •  1st- 30 points

  • 2nd- 20 points

  • 3rd- 15 points

  • 4th- 10 points

  • NBQ- 5 points ​​

• Bonus Points​ ( Only Eligible for one of the following bonus points)

  • Win a class of 30 or more                    30 points (one-time bonus) [or]​

  • Win in both Formats (SPO & GDB)       30 points  [or]

  • Place in both Formats(SPO & GDB)     15 points

• Points awarded at derby trials shall not be used to calculate All-age high point hound awards.

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High Point Derbys

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• Awards will be given for High Point 13” female, 15” female, 13” male and 15” male. 

• If a hound places in two size classes the points only apply to the respective class in which the hound placed.  For example, if a hound wins a class of 12 13” males and a class of 17 15”males in different trials, that hound have collected 12 points toward High Point 13” male and 17 points toward High Point 15” male.

• Points will be awarded to hounds placing at member clubs.

• Points are awarded as following

  •  1st- 30 points

  • 2nd- 20 points

  • 3rd- 15 points

  • 4th- 10 points

  • NBQ- 5 points ​​

• Bonus Points​ ( Only Eligible for one of the following bonus points)

  • Win a class of 30 or more                    30 points (one-time bonus) [or]​

  • Win in both Formats (SPO & GDB)       30 points  [or]

  • Place in both Formats(SPO & GDB)     15 points

• Points that a derby receives in all-age trials shall not be used to determine high point derby awards.

 

All-Age Championship

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Note:  The all-age championship trial is a near term goal tentatively scheduled for the 2019-2020 trial season.  There will not be an all—age championship trial in the inaugural WBGA seasons.

• The All-Age Championship Trial shall be run under AKC SPO rules

• The location of the all-age championship trial shall rotate among the member clubs.  The hosting club may use their own running grounds or coordinate the use of more centrally located running grounds of another club.

• The all-age championship shall be on ??? of each trial season.  (date determined by Board)

• An AKC Licensed field champion only trial may coincide with the all-age championship.

• Absolute

  • An absolute champion shall be awarded by gender (or size as determined by the board of directors prior to the first championship trial) with the participants in the absolute being the winners of the all-age runoff and the all-age high point hounds. 

    • For example:  If the high point 15” bitch is Lucy and the high point 13” bitch is Daisy, and the winner of the 15” bitch class at the all-age run-off is Lucy and the winner of the 13” bitch class is Spot, then the absolute shall be run as a trio between Lucy, Daisy and Spot.  Because the same hound was high point hound and the championship winner for the 15” bitch class there is not a forth eligible hound.   In the example above, if Spot had won the all-age championship for the 13” bitch class the absolute would be run as a brace between Lucy and Spot.

 

• Judges for the absolute will be appointed on the day of the Championship trial.

 Derby Championship Trial

• At this time there will not be a derby championship trial.  Points gained at member derby trials will be used to determine High Point Derbies for the 4 classes and to identify top producing sire and dam.  

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Officers and Board of Directors

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A board of directors will be made up of one representative from each member club chosen by its members. 

The Association shall have the following officers:  President, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, and Immediate Past President (IPP).  The position of IPP will not exist until the first association president is replaced with a new president.   The officers except IPP are elected by majority vote of the board of directors representing each member club.  The terms shall be two years with no term limits.   A person cannot serve as an officer and a board rep simultaneously.   If a board rep is elected as an officer, once he or she assumes the office he will no longer be allowed to vote as a board rep.   The respective club shall appoint a new board rep to fill the position and notify the association president and the secretary/treasurer of the new board rep.

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Electronic meetings and electronic voting either by email or another means in which secure voting can be accomplished is permissible.  A quorum of more than 50% must participate for a vote on any action to occur.  Once seated in office the VP, Secretary, Treasurer and IPP shall have voting privileges.  The President shall only vote to break a tie.  When the president is unable to participant in a meeting or an event, the VP will assume the President’s duties and shall only vote on motions to break a tie.

The board of directors and the officers shall serve on a volunteer basis with no compensation from the association.  All expenses are the responsibility of the individual board member and officer unless their individual club chooses to offset some of the board member’s expenses.  But this is a club decision and not directed by the association.

Club Responsibilities

 

• Member clubs shall be licensed to hold AKC SPO or AKC Licensed Gundog Brace field trials or be actively pursuing AKC approval to hold licensed AKC Licensed SPO or Gundog Brace field trials.

• Member clubs shall not hold trials on dates that conflict with another member club

• Clubs shall submit trial results to the Association secretary within 2 weeks of the conclusion of each trial. 

• Each club shall provide one judge for the championship trial.  The judge does not have to be a member of the assigning club, but the assigning club is responsible for paying the judge’s fee.  The remaining judge positions will be assigned by the board or by a committee or person appointed by the board. (example:  if there are six member clubs then 6 of the 8 judges for the all-age championship will be provided by the clubs. The remaining 2 judges will be appointed by the association board of directors and compensated by the association)

• If there are more than eight member clubs then judging responsibilities for the all-age championship will rotate so that each club gets an “off-event” in the span of a few years in which they are not required to provide a judge.

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Dues for Member Clubs

• Dues shall be $100 per club per season due July 1st of each year.

• The association calendar year starts July 1st and ends June 30th.

• Raffles and other fund raisers will be conducted to build an adequate treasury to pay for the cost of awards and conducting association business such as holding the championship trials.

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Process for new clubs joining the association (after initial membership)

• The prospective club must be located West of the Mississippi River and be approved by AKC to hold licensed SPO or Gundog Brace field trials .

• The club shall submit a request to the Association Secretary with names of club officers and location of running grounds and headquarters.

• Prospective clubs shall be voted on and approved by majority vote of the board of directors and officers.

 

Changes to Operating Procedures

• Changes to these operating procedures shall be proposed at least one month in advance of the next association business meeting. 

• Proposed changes shall be sent to each member club representative and all association officers. 

• There must be a quorum of board reps and officers to hold a vote. 

• The proposed change must receive a majority vote from the board reps and officers in attendance to be incorporated.