[Dailydrool] A Dog Show Primer

[Sandi Wittenberg]

Dog shows are kind of like elimination tournaments in sports, with boys
teams and girls teams.  This is the way it goes:

 

The boys (dogs) are divided into "classes" according to age, by whom they
are being shown, or choice.  The classes are Puppies 6 - 9 months, Puppies 9
- 12 months, Puppies 12 - 18 months, Bred by Exhibitor, American Bred and
Open.  The owner can enter the dog in any class for which it qualifies by
age or category.  Then, all of the dogs entered in a given "class" compete
against each other for 1st place in that "class".  Next, the 1st place
winners from each class compete against each other for "Winner's Dog" (WD).
The Winner's Dog is the ONLY dog that gets points.  The number of points are
determined by the number of dogs that the Winner's Dog beats.  For example,
in the Ohio/Michigan region (the point system varies by region based on the
number of AKC registrations in the region during the previous year)  1 point
is earned for beating 1 - 3 dogs; 2 points is earned for beating 4 - 5 dogs;
3 points is earned for beating 6 - 7 dogs; 4 points is earned for beating 8
- 10 dogs and 5 points is earned for beating 11 or more dogs.  

 

Then the girls (bitches) are divided into the same classes as the boys and
compete against the other girls in the same way.  The Winner's Bitch is the
ONLY bitch that gets points.  The point system for our region for bitches is
1 point for beating 1 - 4 bitches, 2 points for beating 5 - 7 bitches; 3
points for beating 8 - 9 bitches; 4 points for beating 10 - 14 bitches; 5
points for beating 15 or more bitches.     

 

Once the Winner's Dog and Winner's Bitch are selected, they compete with any
"Specials" (dogs or bitches that already have earned their championship) for
the Best of Breed award.  At the end of this level of competition, one dog
or bitch will be chosen as Best of Breed.  Either the Winner's Dog or
Winner's Bitch will be chosen as "Best of Winners" and one dog or bitch will
be chosen as "Best of Opposite Sex" (opposite sex of the Best of Breed).
The Best of Breed dog or bitch will then compete in the Hound Group,
representing Basset Hounds.  

 

Now, here it where it gets a little bit complicated - If the Winner's Dog
earned 3 points because he defeated 6 other dogs and the Winner's Bitch
earned 5 points because she defeated 15 other bitches AND the Winner's Dog
is chosen as Best of Winner's, then he gets the same number of points as the
Winner's Bitch (i.e. 5 points).  The Winner's Bitch still get's her 5 points
also.  

 

In order to earn a championship, a dog or bitch must accumulate a total of
15 points.  Of these points, two sets of points must be "majors" (3, 4 or 5
points at a time) and cannot be under the same judge.  This rule is intended
to assure that the specific dog or bitch is of sufficient quality to defeat
a large number of other bassets at least twice in his/her career and did not
earn a championship by defeating just one other dog on 15 different
occasions.  

 

That's enough for one lesson - the way "specials" compete and "hound points"
and "all-breed points" are another whole set of lessons.

 

Is this all about clear as mud ???

 

Sandi Wittenberg

Red Bay Bassets

 

 

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