Futurity

The purpose of the Futurity Stake is to encourage the breeding of the best possible Dalmatian and to reward the breeders for their efforts. For this reason, the Stakes are weighted in favor of the breeder, who is the one that chooses the sire, nominates the bitch before whelping, raises the litter, and often even pays the entry fees for the individual puppies as well.

However, recognition must also be given to the sire of the litter for his genetic contribution, and to the role of the owners of the individual Dalmatian in developing it to its greatest inherited potential. The quality of the individual animal will be the result of the combined efforts of these three. The division of the Stakes is designed to reflect this.

The Futurity Stake shall be held in conjunction with each Dalmatian Club of America Specialty. Should the DCA Specialty not be held within the time limits applying to the Futurity Rules, the Board of Governors shall decide the disposition of the monies accrued toward the Futurity Stake.

THE FUTURITY STAKE IS OPEN ONLY TO BREEDERS WHO ARE ACTIVE MEMBERS IN GOOD STANDING OF THE DALMATIAN CLUB OF AMERICA. BREEDERS MUST REMAIN IN GOOD STANDING THROUGHOUT THE FUTURITY PROCESS OR THEIR NOMINATION(S) AND FUTURITY ELIGIBILITY WILL BE FORFEITED.

The Futurity Stake is entered by nominating the litter. The get from this litter are eligible to compete in the first annual Futurity Stake held on or after the date they reach six months of age, and only in this stake.

The bitch whose litter is nominated must be owned (or leased) in whole or in part by a DCA member. Thus, if a bitch is co-owned or leased by two people, at least one of them must be a DCA member. This requirement does not apply to the owners of the puppies from the nominated litter. To receive monetary awards from this Futurity Stake, the owner of the sire of a nominated litter must also be a DCA member.

The nomination of the bitch’s litter must be made after she is bred, but BEFORE THE WHELPING DATE. The nomination of each individual puppy must be made after it is whelped, but BEFORE IT IS FOUR MONTHS OLD. The sustaining fee for each individual puppy is paid WHEN THE PUPPY IS ENTERED IN THE FUTURITY. [This fee is in addition to the Specialty entry fee.]

The bitch nomination for the litter must be accompanied by a fee of $20. The nomination for an individual puppy must be accompanied by a fee of $10. The sustaining fee for an individual puppy is $10. [This fee is in addition to the Specialty entry fee.] These fees are subject to review and change by the DCA board as required.

Any active DCA member in good standing may nominate a litter for the Futurity. The nomination must be made on an official Futurity nomination entry form, which can be obtained on the DCA website or by writing to the Futurity Chairman. Litter nominations may be completed on-line through the Futurity section of the DCA website, or by completing a form and mailing it to the Futurity Chairman. Said litter nomination must be made PRIOR to the whelping of the litter. The determination date for timely nominations shall be the date it was submitted on-line or the postmark on the envelope, which must be dated no later than midnight the day prior to the whelping of the litter. The bitch must be owned or leased, in whole or in part, by the active member. The breeder shall be supplied with a confirmation of nomination of the litter. This confirmation will be supplied via email; if the breeder does not have email the confirmation will be sent via regular mail.

The nomination of a litter qualifies any of the litter for entry in the Futurity Stake, regardless of the ownership of the individual puppy when entered or shown. In the case of multi sire litters, each Dam/Sire combination must be individually nominated and the corresponding fee paid. All puppy nominations must be made BEFORE the puppy to be shown in the Futurity reaches FOUR MONTHS of age. The determining date of the nomination shall be the date it was submitted on-line or the postmark on the envelope containing the nomination. This postmark must be dated no later than midnight the day prior to the day the puppy reaches the age of four months.  On-line submissions must be completed no later than midnight the day prior to the puppy reaching four months of age. If the breeder wishes to nominate all puppies in the litter individually, this may be done at any time after the day the litter is whelped but before it is four months old. In such cases, fees for all puppies in the litter must be paid, and at the same time the Futurity Chairman must be supplied with the following:

1. Whelping date
2. Sex, and
3. AKC number if received.

If neither the AKC litter number, nor the individual registration number, has been received by the breeder at the time each puppy nomination is made, this information must be forwarded to the Futurity Chairman immediately upon receipt. If ownership changes after individual puppy nomination is made, the Futurity Chairman must be provided with correct information regarding:

1. Name of puppy,
2. Registration number,
3. Sex
4. Futurity nomination number and
5. New owner’s email address and phone number.

If this information has not been received by the Futurity Chairman at least one month prior to the date of the Futurity, the Dalmatian in question shall be disqualified. The same rule shall apply to the change of a Dalmatian’s name if such occurs at the time of registration.

The Dalmatian MUST be entered in one of the regular classes at the DCA Specialty show. When completing the entry form for the DCA Specialty, the fact that the Dalmatian is to be shown in the Futurity MUST BE INDICATED AS AN EXTRA CLASS in the appropriate space provided on the entry form. The sustaining entry fee for the Futurity class is an additional fee of $10 above the regular entry fee. This fee should be included with the regular entry fee for the class at the Specialty. [Example- Dog Show Entry fee: $30; Futurity Sustaining fee: $10 Total: $40 to enter the Futurity.]

No Dalmatian will be eligible to compete in the Futurity which does not meet the following requirements:

1. Be from a litter which was properly and timely nominated.
2. Have been individually nominated before it reached the age of four months, and
3. Be properly entered in one of the regular classes of the DCA Specialty.

Persons who are not a member of the DCA who wish to nominate litters for the Futurity may submit an application for membership with the nomination form for the litter’s nomination. In the event that the application for membership is accepted by the DCA, the nomination will be dated as valid according to the date received. If the application for membership in the DCA is not accepted, the deposit for dues will be refunded and the nomination of the litter will be null and void. The nomination fee will also be refunded. The Board of Governors of the DCA shall decide any dispute that should arise pursuant to this Futurity Stake at its earliest convenience.

Any member who, having nominated a litter, fails to remain an active member in good standing in the DCA, by lapsing of dues or by suspension or expulsion, and has not been reinstated 30 days prior to the Futurity shall lose all rights in the Futurity. Dalmatians nominated by the lapsed or suspended individual but transferred to the ownership of another individual PRIOR to said lapse of dues, suspension or expulsion may be shown as eligible provided all nomination requirements have been met. Monetary awards will be made in such instances ONLY to the owner of the individual Dalmatian and/or DCA member owner of the sire pursuant to Futurity prize rules.

If a member shall nominate a litter and subsequently die before the Futurity, the nomination shall be valid and the puppies will be considered as eligible for nomination, entry and judging, provided all subsequent fees are paid to date.

In this stake there will be 35 cash wins, the three individuals (the breeder, the owner, and the DCA member owner of the sire at the time of nomination) partaking of these awards, for a total of 72 monetary awards, won by 32 different Dalmatians.

1. The nomination fees, sustaining fees and sustaining fee paid with the entry in the Futurity competition become the total Futurity Stakes award money. Twenty percent shall be deducted from the total award money to be used for Futurity expenses. This will be known as the General Expense Fund. This Fund shall be used to cover all expenses incurred by the Futurity Stake, i.e. judges, printing, mailing, etc. Since the administrative and judging expense will vary from year to year, an excess in any given year shall be carried for use in future years.
2. Twenty percent shall be deducted from the total award money to be awarded as follows: 10% to the Best in Futurity, 5% to the Best Senior in Futurity, and 5% to the Best Junior in Futurity. The 10% Best in Futurity award will be divided: 50% to the recorded DCA member breeder of the winner and 50% to the recorded owner of the winner. The 5% awarded to Best Junior and Best Senior in Futurity is to be divided: 50% to the recorded DCA member breeder, 30% to the recorded owner and 20% to the DCA member owner of the sire or owner of the frozen semen at the time of mating, for each winner.
3. The remaining 60 percent of the award money shall be divided according to the percent of the total entry represented by the number of dogs entered in each class, i.e., total futurity entry = 100, entry in 6-9 bitches =10; therefore 10/100=10%, thus 10% of the remaining purse is awarded in the 6-9 bitch class.
4. Ribbons shall be awarded through fourth place in each class. Rosettes shall be given to the Best in Futurity, Best Senior and Best Junior entry. The cost for each to be covered from the General Expense Fund. Trophies may be given but the Futurity Stake funds will not be utilized for this purpose. Trophy solicitations for the Futurity Stake shall be the responsibility of the Trophy Chairman for each DCA Specialty.
5. Monetary awards which are provided for but cannot be given, whatever the reason, shall be applied to the total Futurity Stake for the following year.

It shall be the prerogative of the owners of the nominated dams to nominate the Futurity Stake judge. Upon notification by the Futurity Chairman, at a time to be six months, more or less, prior to the Futurity Stake, the primary breeder of each nominated litter may nominate ONE person for the Futurity Stake judge.

Each eligible breeder shall thereafter, one month, more or less, from the deadline for nominations, receive a ballot listing all persons nominated as set forth above. Each primary breeder receives a total of one ballot for the year.  This ballot will be prepared by the Futurity committee and posted on line for voting by the breeders. The ballot is to be prepared under the guideline specified in DCA Bylaws, Article V, Section 5.3.

ELECTION. Each eligible breeder shall vote for FIVE candidates listed in order of preference, i.e., first, second, third, etc. The candidate receiving the highest total number of points (a vote of first choice receiving 5 points, second receiving 4 points, etc.) in the votes cast shall then be declared the Futurity Stake judge for that particular year. In the event the number of dogs entered requires a second judge, the candidate receiving the second highest total number of points shall judge the bitch classes only. When the ballots are totaled and a tie for first place has resulted, the preference will be given to break the tie to a DCA member over a non-DCA member. In the event that a tie occurs between two DCA members, preference to break the tie will be given to the member that joined DCA first.

When voting is closed the Futurity Chair will notify the Corresponding Secretary of the results. Once the elected judge has accepted the assignment and all ballot nominees have been thanked for their participation, the Futurity Chair will notify the DCA membership.

During the nominating and voting period, the Futurity Chairman will not disclose names of Futurity breeders. No voting information will be disclosed until all voting is closed, in accordance with a specified deadline date. At that time, participants will be notified of the voting outcome by the DCA Futurity Chair.

Ballots which are incomplete, incorrect, unsigned or exceed the deadline date will be considered invalid.

Persons nominated as the Futurity Stake judge do not necessarily have to be an AKC licensed Dalmatian judge, but must be in good standing with AKC and DCA.

Any person(s) elected to judge a Futurity Stake, who has nominated a litter(s) for the same Futurity Stake, or who has an *immediate member of his/her family with a nominated litter(s), automatically voids the competition of that litter(s) in that same Futurity Stake. Any monies paid by the person(s) to the Futurity are not refundable.

Any futurity nominated puppy who by virtue of its placement in the futurity could result in a monetary prize to the judge would be ineligible for competition at that futurity. A refund of all nomination fees for the ineligible dam and puppies will be made due to the conflict of interest. Nominators must apply to the DCA Futurity Chairman for this refund prior to the close of entries. This ruling will become effective for the 1991 Futurity.   *immediate family per AKC definition.

Total Futurity Stake = $1000

1. 20% = $200 – General Expense Fund
2. 20% = $200 – Three Best Awards
   1. $100 to Best in Futurity
      1. $50 to Breeder
      2. $50 to Owner
   2. $50 to Best Senior in Futurity
      1. $25 to Breeder
      2. $15 to Owner
      3. $10 to Owner of Sire
   3. $50 to Best Junior in Futurity
      1. $25 to Breeder
      2. $15 to Owner
      3. $10 to Owner of Sire

1. 60% = $600

Assuming a total entry of 100 with 10 entered in the 6-9 puppy bitch class. Thus, 10% of the $600, or $60 is divided in the 6-9 puppy bitch class with the following divisions:

1. 1. First place = 40% of $60.00 = $24.00
      1. 60% of $24.00 = $14.40 to Breeder
      2. 40% of $24.00 = $  9.60 to Owner
   2. Second place = 30% of $60.00 = $18.00
      1. 60% of $18.00 = $10.80 to Breeder
      2. 40% of $18.00 = $  7.20 to Owner
   3. Third place = 20% of $60.00 = $12.00
      1. 60% of $12.00 = $  7.20 to Breeder
      2. 40% of $12.00 = $  4.80 to Owner
   4. Fourth place = 10% of $60.00 = $6.00
      1. 60% of $  6.00 = $  3.60 to Breeder
      2. 40% of $  6.00 = $  2.40 to Owner