FSSA Service Dog of the Year Award
The purpose of this award is to recognize and encourage Field Spaniels and their owners who are involved in service work. This is an annual award that will be presented at the club's awards banquet. The award will be a plaque or other suitable object upon which the name of the dog earning the award and the year shall be inscribed. The award will be given to the owner of the dog.
This award was created through the generosity of Nancy Redmon, who is responsible for supplying the commemoratives.
Rules for Award:
- Service dog means a living Field Spaniel, or Field Spaniel who died during the year of nomination, who works, or has worked in one of the following areas: therapy dog, special companion to the disabled, search & rescue, hearing dog, in special functions for police or fire organizations, or similar service-to-mankind endeavors.
- Nominations for this award shall be made by any FSSA member. The owner of the dog need not be a member of the FSSA.
- Nominations shall include the name of the dog, the name and mailing address of the dog's owner, name and address of the person nominating the dog, the name of the breeder, a photo of the dog, and a description of the service activity performed by the dog. Descriptive information shall be limited to one double spaced 8.5 x 11 letter size page. *Nominations shall be sent to the FSSA Corresponding Secretary. Sender of the nomination material shall be responsible for confirming its timely receipt by the Corresponding Secretary.
- Nominations shall be made from January 1 through February 28 for the prior calendar year. The Secretary shall place an announcement of the application process in the FSSA newsletter in a timely fashion.
- Nominations and related information shall be sent to the FSSA Board of Directors who shall vote by secret ballot, solely upon the written information provided, and without discussion of the merit of any of the nominations. Should only one nomination be made, that nominee automatically becomes the award winner, and no vote shall be required. Should there be a tied vote, the vote shall be held again with consideration given only to those nominees tied by vote for the award. Should a second vote again result in a tie, and there are only two nominees under consideration, both nominees shall be declared the "Field Spaniel Service Dog of the Year."
- A dog may earn this award only once.
- The award winner shall be announced during the annual awards banquet of the club, with a reading of the nomination information of the dog so awarded. The owner of the dog need not be present. The award and a congratulatory letter shall be mailed to the recipient as soon as is practical following the announcement of the award.
- The nomination information submitted about the award winning dog and the photo shall be published in the FSSA newsletter following the presentation of the award.
*Mailing address for Submissions to the FSSA Corresponding Secretary is:
Barbara Cox
404 Santa Anna Ave
Coleman, TX 76834
325-625-3936
bcox@web-access.net
Material may be sent to the Corresponding Secretary via USPS or electronically.
PLEASE NOTE: We encourage re-submissions from those who have previously sent a nomination for a candidate that did not win. The Board receives nominations for many worthy candidates and sincerely regrets that only one can be selected to win this award each year.