CLUB PROCEDURE

1. Any AKC recognized Vizsla Club shall be eligible to conduct any or all of the Versatile Dog Tests provided in complies fully with all portions of the Procedures, Rules and Requirements as laid out by the Vizsla Club of America.

2. A member of the VCA who is approved by the Versatility Committee of the VCA shall witness all tests. This VCA Member must be thoroughly familiar with the rules and regulations for all tests being conducted by the local club. This VCA member, in conjunction with the Testing Committee, must be willing to vouch for the accuracy, honesty and compliance with regulations and conduct of the tests.

3. The Local Club shall appoint a Test Committee consisting of a Chairman, Secretary, Field Representative, Obedience Representative and Conformation Representative who shall be knowledgeable in their area. The VCA Member may be anyone of the Test Committee or another individual. The Test Committee shall be responsible for the entire running of the tests and the selection of the judges.

4. The Secretary of the Local Club desiring to conduct any or all of the Versatility Tests shall make written request to the Versatility Chairman of the VCA. The Versatility Chairman must receive this request at least six (6) weeks prior to the first day of the proposed Tests. Each request shall include:

A.     Date or dates of the event.

B.     Location where the tests will be held.

C.     Name of the Judge for each test. Only one judge is required for each 
  test. (For more information on judges see the section entitled  
  “Selection of Judges.”) Provide a mailing address for each judge.

D.    The type of birds to be used in the field test.

E.     Names and addresses of the Test Chairman and The Test Secretary.

F.    The name of the VCA member and the names of all members of the
       Committee.

ELIGIBILITY OF DOGS

ELIGIBILITY OF DOGS

1. Any AKC registered Vizsla who has reached the age of six (6) months on the first advertised day of the Tests may be entered in the conformation, field, and/or obedience tests. (Litter numbers may be used for participation, however, no certificates will be issued until the Vizsla is registered by the AKC and the AKC number is sent to the Versatility Chairman.)

2. No cryptorchid or monorchid Vizslas shall be eligible to enter any of the tests. Altered dogs are considered eligible.

3. If the test giving club so desires, bitches in season may participate in the tests. Bitches in season must be tested after all other dogs have been tested.

RULES

1. The Versatility Program is a VCA event. Results of all tests shall be sent to the Versatility Chairman who shall be appointed by the Board of Directors of the VCA.

2. All ratings are to be either PASS or FAIL and no rating is to be considered official until confirmed by the Versatility Chairman. Aside from pass or fail Judges may make comments and recommendations that may be helpful to the handler.

3. Applications to hold Versatility Tests, entry form and judge sheets will be issued by the Versatility Chairman of the VCA.

4. Entries must list the registered name of the Vizsla, sex, AKC registration number, birth date, sire and dam, breeder, name and address of owner and name of handler if different from owner. No test results will be officially recorded until all this information is supplied to the Versatility Chairman. (In order to avoid a late fee, test secretaries may forward all forms to the Versatility Chairman even if all the information has not been provided. In this case the owner should be required to forward missing information to the Versatility Chairman, however, the test secretary may do so. In either case the owner should be informed that results would not be recorded until the information has been provided. Recording fees will still apply.

5. Entry in the Field and Obedience Tests may be made as many times as necessary to fulfill certificate requirements. Entry of a dog in the Conformation Test shall be limited to three (3) failures, after the third failure in the Conformation Test a dog shall no longer be eligible to enter this test.

6. Local Clubs may either take advance entries or take entries at the test site.

7. Any or all of the tests may be held in conjunction with any other local club activity or a special date may be set aside for conducting the tests.

8. Any or all of the tests may be held in conjunction with AKC events but must in no way interfere with the running of the AKC event and AKC permission must be obtained by the test giving club.

9. Clubs may hold one or more tests on the same day. This means one each in Conformation, Field and Obedience. Clubs may not hold more than one each in Conformation, Field and Obedience on the same day but they may on succeeding days such as a weekend. For example, a club may hold Conformation, Field and Obedience on Saturday and again on Sunday. A different slate of judges would be required.

10. Measurement only may be offered by a test giving club at a test site for Field and/or Obedience. Only dogs, which are Champions of record or dogs, which would otherwise qualify for a Conformation Certificate except for a measurement, may participate. The application for measurement only must be mode along with the application for the other test(s). The name of the individual who will do the measurements must be entered as the Conformation Test judge.

11. There shall be a recording fee of $2.00 per dog per test to be sent to the Versatility Chairman along with all test results. No test results shall be recorded until the Versatility Chairman receives the fees. There shall be no fee required for measurement only. The Test giving club may charge an entry fee to cover the recording fee and any other expenses incurred. The amount of the entry fee is the prerogative of the local club.

12. The required information on each Vizsla participating in a test and the test results (judging sheet) should be recorded in duplicate. The original copies must be received by the Versatility Chairman along with recording fees within fourteen (14) days after the completion of the test(s). A fine of 50 cents per day shall be paid on all late reports. The Versatility Chairman shall review and record the test results. The Versatility Chairman shall issue appropriate certificates to eligible dogs. Upon receipt of a certificate the following letters may be used after the dog’s name:

       F.D.  Field Dog Certificate
 C.C.  Conformation Certificate
 O.C.  Obedience Certificate

13. In order to receive Versatility Certificate a Vizsla must pass all three (3) tests three (3) times under three (3) different judges. Upon receipt of a Versatility Certificate the letters V. C. may be used after the dog’s name.

14. A Vizsla shall be eligible to receive any or all certificates upon providing proof of proper performance in each category such as:

A.     Photocopy of AKC certificates of Championship in Field, Amateur Field or Senior or Master Hunter; Certificate of Conformation Championship, Certificates of Obedience Championship or Obedience titles of CD, CDX. or UD.

B.     Photocopy of AKC Gazette pages showing dates, name of club, name of judge and appropriate placements in three (3) field trial retrieving stakes or senior or master hunting tests; three (3) major conformation wins (cannot be from the Puppy Class); three (3) qualifying scores in obedience (not to include tracking tests).

C.     Any combination of test passes and placements listed in (B) will satisfy Certificate requirements provided they total three (3) under three (3) different judges.

D. Certificates issued under A, B or C must be requested with proper application and require a fee of $3.00 per certificate.

E. Any Vizsla requesting a Conformation Certificate must submit to being measured with a wicket to assure that the Vizsla is within the height requirements under the current Vizsla Breed Standard. All measurements are to be conducted by a Versatility Test committee or Test Judge at a Test site. A photocopy of the permanent certificate on Breed Standard Qualification for the VCA National Events (qualifying on the line) will fulfill the measurement requirement. The Vizsla must be eighteen (18) months or older when measured.

15. The Vizsla must be living as of the date any certificate is issued. No certificate will be issued posthumously.

SELECTION OF JUDGES

CONFORMATION TEST - Any person in good standing with AKC and approved by the Versatility Chairman. This judge shall be chosen by the test giving club for his/her knowledge of the Vizsla Breed Standard and experience in the showing and/or judging of the Vizsla.

FIELD TEST - Any person in good standing with AKC and approved by the Versatility Chairman. This judge shall be chosen by the test giving club for his/her knowledge of AKC Field Trial and Hunting Test Rules and Procedures as well as for personal experience in field trials and hunting tests.

OBEDIENCE TEST - Any person in good standing with AKC and approved by the Versatility Chairman. This judge shall be chosen by the test giving club for his/her knowledge of AKC Obedience Rules as well as personal experience in the obedience ring.

Judges may not judge any dog that he/she owns of co-owns or any dog that is owned or co-owned by a spouse. Should a judge desire to enter his/her dog in a test he/she agreed to judge the judge should inform the test chairman prior to the application being submitted to the Versatility Chairman. The test chairman may include an alternate judge on the application for this purpose.

The Versatility Chairman shall provide each judge with a copy of the requirements of the test to be judged. The judge will also be provided with a copy of the judges’ scoring sheet.

If a change in judges is made prior to the test date, the Versatility Chairman will provide copies of the test requirements and scoring sheet to the new judge provided there is time. If time does not permit it shall be the responsibility of the test chairman to provide the new judge with all information necessary to perform his/her assignment.