On Common Ground
By Brian T. O'Dell
In 1984 the American Water Spaniel Club, Inc. (AWSC) was formed to preserve and promote the American Water Spaniel (AWS). By 1986 the AWSC had created and held its first hunt test, concurrently the AKC had been developing its Spaniel Hunt Test and operating its Retriever Hunt Test programs.
At the 1986 Annual Meeting a number of Members brought forth their desire to participate in the AKC testing program. The original discussion to classify was as Retriever or Spaniel was held at length, it was also stated that similar issues had caused dissention in previous clubs.
This has proven true over the last eighteen years as the AWSC has struggled to find an answer to a bitter dispute over how to classify. Half of the membership wanted AKC Spaniel Classification and the other half that thought the AKC Spaniel Classification would not adequately serve the AWS.
A common thought is that our battle was Spaniel versus Retriever, which it was not. Retrieving however played a large part in the development of the AWS and was a large part of our struggle to find common ground in creating a solution. Having a rich history of and wanting to preserve its retrieving abilities that were developed in the marshes of the upper Midwest was the issue driving our dispute.
The club had voted twice, each time about five years apart and the results clearly indicated a fifty-fifty split among the membership with remaining unclassified edging out those wanting Spaniel Classification.
Due to the plurality of the results, the board recognized its obligation to members and, in an effort to find a viable solution created the Versatile Gundog Experimental Committee (VGEC). The VGEC's charge To find a compromise solution that will satisfy the majority of the members of the AWSC. This compromise must preserve and protect the working heritage of the breed.
The VGEC has worked towards this goal and at the August 2004 Annual meeting of the AWSC the results of the latest ballot were revealed. The Members of the AWSC with the help of the VGEC has finally found common ground and approved a classification proposal. With an eighty four percent return of eligible ballots, sixty eight percent of AWSC members voted for AKC Spaniel Classification with a mandatory retrieving certificate program required for the AWS to participate.
This victory for the AWS could not have been accomplished if it not for the involvement of the members, precedent set by the German Wirehaired Pointer Club in getting an AKC approved certification program, and a friendlier AKC. The AWSC still has plenty of work ahead to get this program implemented by the AKC this includes submitting it to the proper delegate bodies as well as to AKC Performance Division and the AKC Board.
It is the hope of the AWSC that our "little Brown dogs" will be participating in the AKC Spaniel Program in the near future.