AWDF members, 
 
I would like to begin my report by thanking each and every one of our members for the commitment towards creating a stronger, better informed, smoother running organization.  

I had asked for better communication right from the start, and we have certainly done a good job of that. Over the last few years, I have tried to keep all of our members involved by having a series of conference calls, using emails, as well as individual phone calls to our elected member club delegates.  

Maintaining good communication allows us to deal with issues before they get out of hand.  This is important, as avoiding  hard feelings can be difficult when a person is passionate about something in the dog world.  We did have a few  hard issues to deal with this past year.  The good communication that all of us have developed certainly allowed us to stay focused on tasks at hand.  I would like to add that, since we developed these better communication skills among our member clubs, the level of respect for each of our individual groups has also risen.  

While we have improved, there is certainly room for improvement.  For example, better use of our Web site is an area  I plan to become more involved with in the future. 
 
Our overall credibility continues to increase. I really feel our member delegates and committee people are honest and sincere when we are trying to work through a problem. I liken this to working through problems with our own dogs.  Short cuts or quick fixes generally are not the best cure for a problem.  Well-thought-out solutions and a little bit of work are usually what it takes.  

I believe the message and thought process that we have used is getting passed along to our membership, and our members like what we are doing.  As an example, let me use the USA to make a point about a few ideas.  

We all have used the USA, our largest member, as a resource for many things over the years. I know the USA's involvement with the AWDF came into question a few years ago.  Now look where we are:  Our championship has been added to the USA's list of qualifications for their selection for their WUSV team.  The USA actually dropped their GSD world-team qualifier in favor of the AWDF.  The USA also has redesigned the way they look at our member clubs' judging programs, and the USA, through their own sponsor, Royal Canin, is purchasing team uniforms for our FCI-FH team.  

There are many more items, such as AWDF involvement with the USA's HOT tournament, our use of the USA's helper program, etc; etc; etc.  My point is that  we are doing a very good job of working together.   
 
People tend to support that which is good.  This year's championship is not only our largest AWDF event ever, but I believe it's one of the top three working events, numbers wise, ever in America ... that says a lot.  

This year we have added a FH competition to go along with various seminars, and demonstrations.  Last year I said that there is no reason that our championship couldn't become the premiere working dog event in the country on a regular basis.  We are getting close to that level. 
 
We also have added two more clubs to our membership,  the North American Working Airedale Terrier Association (NAWATA), and the Authentic Hovawarts of North America (AHNA).  
 
More than any time before, many of our well-intentioned communities are creating anti-working-dog legislation without taking into account our working animals.   We have been quick to react to potential problems and have made a difference in some situations.  Our legislative committee has been working  with the America Dog Owners Association to help guide communities toward workable dog laws.   We still have a lot of work to do, but  people increasingly are taking notice of the AWDF and looking to us for help.  Being proactive is a must here, and we do have plans to improve our educational outreach in the coming year, with the creation of our own DVD.
 
As our organization has grown and matured, a few changes have been needed to keep pace with the ever-evolving dog community.   We now have newly revised Constitution & Bylaws.  We also have revised our selection process for  members who wish to participate at international events.   A new working title has been developed based on previous schutzhund rules.   Within the coming year we will see more involvement with the German RH (search & rescue) program, and more emphasis on Handler-Owner Trained programs and competitions.   An AWDF registry has even been briefly discussed.
 
In my November 2005 Presidents' Message I outlined our involvement with, and support from, the FCI working commission.   While I won't review my entire report, I do believe it is worth mentioning again that we will be hosting the 2011 FCI working championship here in America. 
 
In closing, I am going to refer to a paragraph from last year's president's message: 
 
When I visited our members, one question that kept coming up was simply why should a person or group want to be a part of the AWDF? The answer lies in our working together, developing new & innovative approaches toward getting more active involvement from our membership while adding quality programs.   
 
I can honestly say the above is just what we have been doing, and  the results have been great.  People and their respective clubs have really worked hard to make our organization the leading working-dog group in America. 
 
Yours in Sport, 
 
Al Govednik
President AWDF