Championships are awarded to dogs who have passed through a process of selection at dog shows. Traditionally, a championship was received at a

conformation show A dog show is an event where dogs are exhibited. A conformation show, also referred to as a ''breed show'', is a kind of dog show in which a judge, familiar with a specific dog breed, evaluates individual purebred dogs for how well the dogs '' ...

, but championships are now offered for dogs who have attained a high degree of perfection in other

dog sport The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

s as well.

The conformation championship title

A dog qualifying for a championship at a conformation show has the designation Champion or "Ch." (or "GCH" for Grand Champion) added as a prefix to its registered name (but not to its ''call name'', the name by which the dog is actually called.) The Best in Show winner of the 2008

Crufts Crufts is an international dog show held annually in the United Kingdom, first held in 1891. Organised and hosted by The Kennel Club, it is the largest show of its kind in the world. Crufts is centred on a championship conformation show for do ...

show (UK), for example, was a

Giant Schnauzer The Giant Schnauzer is a breed of dog developed in the 17th century in Germany. It is the largest of the three breeds of Schnauzerthe other two breeds being the Standard Schnauzer and the Miniature Schnauzer. Numerous breeds were used in its ...

, Ch.

Jafrak Philippe Olivier Ch. Jafrak Philippe Olivier, (April 3, 2001 – September 2013), also known as Philip, was a male Giant Schnauzer who won the title of Best In Show at Crufts in 2008. He had previously won the Working Group in 2004 and 2005. Show history Philip ...

, call name Philip. Winner of the 2008

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

show (US) was a

Beagle The beagle is a breed of small scent hound, similar in appearance to the much larger foxhound. The beagle was developed primarily for hunting hare, known as beagling. Possessing a great sense of smell and superior tracking instincts, th ...

, Ch. K-Run's Park Me In First, call name Uno. See registered name for a discussion of dogs' registered names; there is no championship requirement for any particular sort of registered name. Registered names typically only reflect an individual kennel's recordkeeping system. Abbreviations of the name of the country or countries where the championship was earned are often added before the ''Ch''. An international Fédération Cynologique Internationale championship is written as '' Int. Ch.'' (or ''ICh.''). Other combinations are possible, such as the

Miniature Schnauzer The Miniature Schnauzer is a breed of small dog of the Schnauzer type that originated in Germany in the mid-to-late 19th century. Miniature Schnauzers may have been developed from the smallest specimens of the Standard Schnauzer, or crosses be ...

, ''ICh. Mex.Ch Rice's Its Snow Tea Party'' (International and Mexican Championships). Winners of the Fédération Cynologique Internationale World Show have ''World Ch.'' or ''World-V##'' (World Championship and the year won) also placed before their registered name. Traditionally, only one major kennel club in a country offered championships (two in the US), so no confusion arose from this system. Today there are many small internet based registries and companies that offer titles; to prevent deception, the name of the minor registry should be appended to the title. A dog that completes a championship (called a ''finished'' champion) may continue to be entered in shows to compete for ''Group'' (winner of its group) or ''Best In Show'' (BIS) honors. A ''finished'' dog that continues to compete is called a ''special''. Owners of Best in Show winners may add BIS or ''Multi BIS'' (multiple best in show winners) to their dog's name, as in the Siberian Husky ''Multi BIS/Ch Phoebe Run To Phoebus''. Many prestigious shows only accept entries from dogs that have finished their championships.

Conformation championship requirements

A dog earns a ''championship'' with wins at a specified number of

s, where a judge evaluates a dog's ''breed type'' and how closely the dog approaches the ideal represented in its breed's

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

. Often there are requirements as to the number of dogs of the same breed that must be in competition at a show for championship requirements to be met. Each kennel club has its own criteria to follow in qualifying for a championship. Examples: *For the Kennel Club (UK) championship, a dog must gain 3 Challenge Certificates (CCs) from three different judges, one of which must be awarded when the dog is over 12 months old. There must be a sufficient entry of the breed at a Championship Show for the CC to be awarded. *In Australia, dogs must accumulate 100 points, the maximum earned at any one time is 25 and the minimum is 6, according to the

Australian National Kennel Council The Australian National Kennel Council is the coordinating kennel club of Australia.Encyclopedia Britannica"Dog breeds", ''www.britannica.com'' retrieved 23 December 2018. It is a member of the Fédération Cynologique Internationale. Role The ...

*For the Canadian Kennel Club championship (Can. Ch), 10 points are needed for a championship, with wins under at least three different judges, and at least one "competition win" (a win over a specified number of dogs of that breed), totaling at least 2 points. The point schedule is the same across the country. *For the American Kennel Club championship (Am. Ch), a dog attains its championship (Champion of Record) after earning fifteen points. Included in the fifteen points must be two "majors." In New Zealand, a Challenge Certificate is given to the Best Dog and the Best Bitch. Dogs older than 6 months are eligible. You must attain 8, 5 of which must be under different judges, and 1 must have been attained when the dog reaches 1 year of age. *For the

United Kennel Club The United Kennel Club (UKC) is a kennel club founded in 1898 in the United States. In contrast with the American Kennel Club, which is non-profit and which only clubs can join, the United Kennel Club is a profit-making corporation, open to indivi ...

(US) (UKC Ch), a combination of points (for example, winning the class earns 10 points in non-variety breeds, 5 in variety breeds) and competition wins (including group placements and Best In Show/Reserve Best in Multi-Breed Show) are required. In UKC a dog must receive 100 points with at least three competition wins under three different judges. A competition win is when a dog defeats at least one other dog and receives points. A UKC ''Grand Champion'' (GRCh) title is earned by winning in competition with other champions of the breed in at least five shows under at least three different judges. *The

Fédération Cynologique Internationale The Fédération cynologique internationale (FCI) (English: International Canine Federation) is the largest international federation of national kennel clubs. It is based in Thuin, Belgium. History The FCI was founded in 1911 under the auspices ...

sponsors international shows that differ from other shows in that dogs first receive individual written descriptions of positive and negative qualities from the judge, and only dogs with high ratings go on to compete against other dogs in the class. A dog must receive four international ''Certificat d'Aptitude au Championnat International de Beauté'' to qualify for a championship; one must be won in the dog's own country, and at least two in two other countries under at least three different judges. The above are representative of the policies of the major show-giving bodies, but any individual or group may offer championships and devise their own requirements.

Performance championships

Championships are also offered in performance events; these differ from breed ring (conformation show) championships and are usually written with additional abbreviations indicating the nature of the championship.

Obedience Trial championships

In the American Kennel Club, an Obedience Trial Championship (OTCH) is awarded to a dog and handler team receiving 100 points by placing first, second, third or fourth in the Open B or Utility B class and a first place in Utility B and/or Open B three times. In addition, a National Obedience Championship title (NOC) is awarded to one dog each year. Obedience Trial championships offered by the United Kennel Club (US) are prefixed with ''U'': ''U-OTCH''. United Kennel Club requirements are similar to those of the American Kennel Club. The Canadian Kennel Club OTCH title has less stringent requirements than the American Kennel Club OTCH. However, the CKC also offers several titles beyond the OTCH. These include Obedience Trial Champion Excellent (O.T.Ch.X), Master Obedience Trial Champion (M.O.T.Ch.) and Grand Master Obedience Trial Champion (G.M.O.T.Ch.).

Agility championships

Agility national or world-wide championships are offered by various organizations; for example, teams sponsored by a country's national kennel club compete for the Fédération Cynologique Internationale's World Agility Championships. A large number of organizations worldwide offer individual championships, reflecting an ever-higher perfection in precision and running time. For an individual championship, a dog collects qualifying scores throughout his life; a suffient number of qualifying scores at the top level earns a championship title, which entitles them to a prefix for their name. ADCH is the prefix used for a championship earned in USDAA; NATCH is the prefix used for a championship earned in NADAC. The United Kennel Club (US) agility championship title is recognized by the prefix U-ACH. The highest level championship awarded by CPE is the C-ATE.

Weight Pull championships

The United Kennel Club (US) offers championships in weight pulling; the title ''WPCh'' or ''WPCH'' is added as a prefix to the dog's registered name.

Hunting trial championships

The United Kennel Club (US) offers hunting retriever championships (HRCH) for dogs who have earned one hundred Championship Points; points are earned at hunt tests, with an increasing number of points awarded based on the dog's level and the tests passed. The National Grouse Dog Championship was first offered in 1913 in Pennsylvania, US. Numerous other championships are offered by the American Kennel Club for

hunting dog A hunting dog is a canine that hunts with or for hunters. There are several different types of hunting dog developed for various tasks and purposes. The major categories of hunting dog include hounds, terriers, dachshunds, cur type dogs, and g ...

s in particular types of hunting, such as ''Water Race Champion'' and ''Nite Champion''.AKC Titles and Abbreviations
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Flyball championships

FDCh is the prefix used for a flyball championship.

Tracking championships

A tracking championship is offered by the American Kennel Club. The prefix used is TD or TDX Tracking Dog or Tracking Dog champion The Australian National Kennel Council has the T Ch

Coursing championships

Various coursing clubs offer championships. In the US, these include the North American Open Field Association, which offers the Coursing Champion (CC) title; the North American Coursing Association, offering the NACA Coursing Champion (NACC) title; and the American Sighthound Field Association, which offers the Field Champion (F.Ch.) title. The American Kennel Club also offers a F.Ch. title in coursing.

Herding championships

The prefix WTCH (Working Trial Champion) is used for the championship offered by the Australian Shepherd Club of America.

Disc Dog championships

The Frisbee Dog World Championship offered the first championships for the sport of Disc Dog.

Multiple event championships

For the VCC, Versatile Companion Champion (AKC prefix), the dog completes OTCH, MACH and CT championships.

Other titles

Dogs also earn other titles that are usually added as suffixes to the dog's registered name, leading to the saying the "A well balanced dog has titles at both ends" (of its name.) Examples would be the Kennel Club ''Agility Warrant'', or the American Kennel Club's ''TD'' (Tracking Dog) title. The United Kennel Club (US) are differentiated from the American Kennel Club (US) titles with the added ''U'', as in ''U-CD'' (Companion Dog), and that all titles are used as prefixes. Schutzhund titles are given in three phases as requirements are completed. Other dog sport clubs offer certification or titles in their sport such as carting or water rescue dog, and are usually added as suffixes to the dog's registered name.

Health problems

Health issues with purebred dogs and objections to dog sports and dog showing have been extensively covered in these articles - Criticism of dog showing ,

Genetic disease A genetic disorder is a health problem caused by one or more abnormalities in the genome. It can be caused by a mutation in a single gene (monogenic) or multiple genes (polygenic) or by a chromosomal abnormality. Although polygenic disorders ...

List of dog diseases This list of dog diseases is a selection of diseases and other conditions found in the dog. Some of these diseases are unique to dogs or closely related species, while others are found in other animals, including humans. Not all of the articles ...

Canine reproduction Canine reproduction is the process of sexual reproduction in domestic dogs, wolves, coyotes and other canine species. Canine sexual anatomy and development Male reproductive system Erectile tissue As with all mammals, a dog's penis is made up of ...

Inbreeding Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and o ...

and others. Also see articles about individual

dog breeds This list of dog breeds includes both extant and extinct dog breeds, varieties, landraces, and dog types. A research article on dog genomics published in Science/AAAS defines modern dog breeds as "a recent invention defined by conformation to ...

for more on the health, breeding, and use issues of individual breeds.

References

External links

List of American Kennel Club Titles and Abbreviations for Championship Dogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Championship (dog) Dog shows and showing *