Seminar Overview 2006

NORTHERN CAVALIER KING CHARLES SPANIEL SOCIETY SEMINAR EVALUATION REPORT

On Sunday 25th June, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Society held a judging seminar and assessment at the Victoria Hall, Keighley, in West Yorkshire. Twelve brave candidates all of whom had their names on the “B” list of a breed club attended the seminar and assessment.

The morning began at 10.00am with coffee and biscuits and some nervous social chitchat before the hard work of the day began. At 10.30am, Norma Inglis gave us a very interesting and informative talk, which portrayed her interpretation of the breed standard whilst Gordon acted as her very able assistant and exhibited the dogs with aplomb.

At the end of the breed talk, those candidates who had not already successfully completed the KC Accredited Part 3 examination of the Breed Standard sat the written part of the examination. This consisted of 30 questions on the breed standard in an objective test format. The pass rate for this part of the day was 75% and I am pleased to report that there was a 100% pass rate on the day.

Once this part of the seminar was completed, the candidates had time to relax a little and to enjoy an excellent three-course lunch prepared by Margaret Mallows. We must at this point compliment Margaret on the lovely meal and thank her and all her helpers for all their hard work in its preparation and on the day.

Once lunch was over and everyone was completely sated then it was time for more work. The next part of the day was devoted to carrying out one of the 3 KC Assessments required to go on to the A3 judging list.

The twelve candidates were split into two groups of six and were then allocated to an Assessor. Brian Claydon and Kevan Berry were the Assessors both of whom were extremely helpful and supportive throughout the sessions and very fair and honest in their assessment and individual feed back at the end of the day.

Each candidate was required to examine 5 dogs of mixed qualities and then to place them in order, just as they would when judging at a show. They were then required to write a critique, which they later discussed with their Assessors and clarified why they had made particular decisions.

At the end of the day, it is very pleasing to report that all the candidates successfully completed the Assessment and that before their departure, there was small presentation ceremony where all of them received their well-earned diplomas.

Before leaving, the candidates were asked to complete an Evaluation form. This information is always useful for the Committee when they are planning future events. Only eleven of the twelve candidates returned their questionnaire, but the information is still valid and the outcome of this Evaluation is as follows.

1. How would you rate the talk on the Breed Standard?
Six candidates felt that the talk was very good; four thought it was good whilst just one thought it was fairly good. Therefore 66% of the respondents considered the breed talk to be very good whilst 44% deemed it good.

2. Was the examination paper easy to understand?
Four candidates did not need to take the written examination, but of the remaining seven, six fully understood the paper whilst one mostly understood it.

3. Did you enjoy the lunch?
All eleven candidates and also the Assessors, helpers and the Committee thought that the meal was very good and there were two additional comments made “Excellent” and “First Class.”

4. How beneficial did you find the hands on training session?
Three candidates had not completed this question, but the remaining eight candidates reported that it was very helpful.

5. Did the Seminar Programme meet your expectations?
Once again, all the candidates were unanimous in their response and all found the programme fully met their needs.

6. Would you recommend the seminar?
100% reported that they would recommend the seminar to others.

7. How did you find the venue?
All were appreciative of the comfortable and pleasant venue that we used and the extra room available made it much better for the candidates when carrying out their judging.

8. What topics would you like covering in future seminars?
In this section, only seven candidates had commented.
Two people had asked for more hands on experience.
One asked for The Rules and regulations and one for the Conformation seminar.
Another one asked for 50 breed points another one for the health points
and the last one for more anatomy.

9. Do you have any further comments to make?
There were just three comments in this section: -
“Excellent day,” “1st Class” and “Excellent.”

Overall, it was a very well organised seminar with good assessors, willing helpers and very patient exhibitors. The dogs were all very good and like typical Cavaliers were eager to please. Some of the older dogs became quite tired by the end of the afternoon and I am sure that they would have a well deserved sleep on the way home.