The American Belgian Malinois Club (ABMC) and the American Working Malinois Association (AWMA) are pleased to announce the inauguration of a partnership to record working dog titles for Belgian Malinois on their AKC pedigrees. The program is retroactive to titles offered since 2000. Through this program, applicants will submit their information independently to the AKC and to the AWMA. The form to be sent to AKC can be found at this link and the form to be sent to the AWMA can be found here. Titles that can be recorded by the AKC can be found here. Titles must have been earned at an AWMA trial and the dog must have a scorebook that documents this title.

This program is the culmination of several years of cooperative activities between our two organizations. It is our hope that owners of Belgian Malinois will take advantage of the chance to promote the working characteristics of our breed by documenting these titles on their dog’s pedigrees.

IPO Team

Ivan Balabanov & Rock OT Vitosha

Sean Rivera & Bronson’s Fekkai Rouge

Dre Hastings & Kaden OT Vitosha

Mike Morgan & Bacchus von Drachenherz

John Soars & Vion La Maschera di Ferro

Shawn Thompson & Cevin OT Vitosha

Vicki Keller, Team Captain

Agility Team

Shari Lipski & Tisa du Banc des Hermelles

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2009 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

Left to right: Mark Natinsky and Eddy 4th, Sean Rivera and Rouge 2nd,
Ivan Balabanov and Rock 1st, Dre Hastings and Kaden 3rd;

Helpers Joe Brockington, Greg Doud and Dennise Bauer

Ivan Balabanov with Rock ot Vitosha, 1st Place with a score of 283

Sean Rivera and Bronson’s Fekkai Rouge, 2nd place with a score of 277

Dre Hastings and Kaden ot Vitosha, 3rd place with a score of 276

Mark Natinski and Edison ot Vitosha, 4th place with a score of 276

Effective July 15, 2009

At the general board meeting of the AWDF held in conjunction with the annual Championship, discussions were held regarding the issuing of scorebooks for a specific breed by another breed club. As the umbrella organization for our breed and sport clubs, the majority of the clubs felt that the AWDF should have a universally applied policy that would allow each breed club to stipulate what criteria should be applied for a dog to have a breed designation in the scorebook. To meet this need, a vote was held on the following motion: All AWDF score books must be acquired from their specific AWDF member sport/breed club with the exception of the sporting clubs (Mondioring, LV/DVG, etc) in order to retain the breed identification in the AWDF score book, otherwise the breed ID will be listed in the AWDF score book as MIX BREED. This motion passed unanimously.

What does this mean for members of the AWDF organizations? It simply means that if there is a breed club for a specific breed of dog, the scorebook for that dog must come from that organization for the breed to be recorded. Otherwise, the dog will be listed as a mix. As an example, if a handler applies for a scorebook for a Malinois from AWMA and the required paperwork is submitted, the dog would be listed as a Malinois. If the application went to any of the other breed clubs in AWDF, the dog would be listed as a mix. The exceptions to this rule are, but not limited to, the DVG, NARA, US Mondio Ring Association, and any other sport (non breed specific) club which that joins the AWDF in the future. In the latter situations, these organizations decide whether or not a dog would be listed as a specific breed based on the provided registry information. If you have a breed that does not have an AWDF member club, your dog’s breed will be listed in the scorebook provided by any organization to which you belong provided that you submit the required registry information.

These changes will take effect July 15, 2009. AWDF member clubs are being sent information to include on scorebook application forms so that handlers will know of the new regulation. If you have any questions about the scorebooks, be sure to contact your breed club for clarification.

This policy will only apply to new scorebooks. If a dog already has a scorebook from an AWDF member club, there is no need to acquire a new one and the old scorebook will be honored by all other AWDF member clubs. The only exception is if the handler wishes to enter the AWDF Championship and the dog does not have an AWDF scorebook. This is because the AWDF unanimously voted and agreed upon a policy requiring an AWDF scorebook for the event. Many of the AWDF member clubs have been using the AWDF scorebooks for many years, and these dog/handler teams are already in compliance. USA has now completely switched over to the new AWDF scorebooks. If you are a DVG member, your DVG scorebook will be recognized at all other AWDF club trials but you must have an AWDF scorebook to enter the AWDF Championship (this can be purchased through DVG).

It is important to note that USA still requires that any scorebook not issued by USA must be sent in for stamping before it will be recognized at a USA trial. This holds for AWDF scorebooks issued by any other breed or sport organization as well as DVG books.

In light of these new policies, and in summary, here are the points to keep in mind:

1. If you want your dog’s breed listed in a scorebook and there is a AWDF member club for that breed, apply for your scorebook from your breed’s organization or from USMRA or LV/DVG. Otherwise the dog will be listed as “mix” in the scorebook as well as in any trial reports.

1. All AWDF member clubs honor all other AWDF member club scorebooks, however, scorebooks not issued by USA must be stamped by their office before you can enter a USA sponsored trial.

1. To enter the AWDF Championship, you must have an AWDF scorebook issued by a member club.

1. If you have an older scorebook that is not an AWDF book, there is no need to get a new one unless you wish to enter the AWDF Championship.

1. If you have any questions, contact me for more information.

Anne Camper

President, AWMA