Hints and Tips

Socialization

A great show dog is either made or lost according to how well she was socialized as a pup. A puppy may have perfect conformation, but if she's shy with people and wilts like a flower when you take her to new places, she will never perform well enough to win in the ring.

Once the puppy has been vaccinated, take her everywhere with you.

Expose them to new places, people, situations, noises, etc.
Walk her on grass, cement, carpet, matting etc.
Take her to puppy socialization classes.

Encourage people to pet her and gently look in her mouth so she gets used to being touched by strangers (who sometimes happen to be judges) All of these experiences will teach the pup to take everything in stride and give her confidence. Confidence is a key trait found in all top show dogs that gives them the winning stride and attitude that judges love to see.

Ringcraft

Most active kennel clubs offer weekly training classes and they usually only charge a few pounds. Classes like this are invaluable to a novice exhibitor because the instructors will teach you all the basics of how to present a dog in the ring. Your dog will also learn what's expected from her when she competes at a dog show.

You'll learn how to:

Gait your dog around the ring
Stack her for examination (on the table or on the ground, according to her size)
Perform the basic patterns, such as the triangle

Types of Dog Show

There are many different types of shows. From the fun and casual companion shows right up to the four day Championship ones. Some are open to all breeds of dog including the many and various cross breeds, some only to Kennel Club registered dogs.

Before you dive into the water, check first that your pup is registered with the Kennel Club and make sure you fill in and send off the form given to you by your breeder to change the ownership into your name. Unless you have your pup registered with the Kennel Club (KC) in your name you will not be able to enter shows in your own right.

The different types of shows are:-

Companion shows
Matches
Limit shows
Open shows
Premier Open shows
Breed club shows (Open and Championship)
Championship shows

Companion shows

Companion shows are open to all breeds whether registered with the KC or not including cross-breeds and mongrels. Some of these will be sanctioned by the KC and some not. They usually have some breed classes such as Any variety sporting or non sporting and some fun classes like the dog with the waggiest tail or the prettiest bitch.

These shows are often held in conjunction with agricultural shows or country fairs. You can go along on the day and enter. It is usually just a couple of pounds per class and is all for fun. They often give nice rosettes and many have quite large entries.

Companion shows are not recognised by the Kennel Club as conformation shows in that lots of the classes are just for fun. The following shows are recognised by the KC as being judged on conformation of the dog i.e. its body shape, bone structure, coat, etc.

Matches

Matches are organised by canine societies and are often held at ringcraft classes. They are usually only open to members of the society and are ideal for getting an introduction to what it is like to be in a ring and have a judge handle your dog. If you have any interest in showing then you do need to find your local ringcraft class and join. It will be your starting place into the show world and can be lots of fun and a perfect place to teach your new pup how to stand and have a stranger handle him. They are basically learning places. They will be classed as conformation shows as the dogs will be judged against their breed standards.

Sometimes some of the breed clubs will hold an occasional special match and these are a little different. However they run on the same principle but have much more prestige if you are lucky enough to win. Most matches are entered on the day and are often held in the same place as the ringcraft classes. The breed club matches normally require you to enter in advance. Some need your dog to have qualified by winning certain classes first. The requirements will be explained on the entry forms. These these shows are usually held under a licence from the KC. However wins in these shows are not counted towards awards like Junior Warrant or Champion.

Limit Shows

Limit shows are, as the name implies, limited to certain requirements, either by being a member of the canine society or living in a designated area. These shows are sanctioned by the KC. They are judged by conformation. The classes are often limited and usually will be judged in groups or sub-groups such as Any Variety (AV) Working or Any Variety Terrier.

Open Shows

Open shows come in three varieties: open, premier open and breed club open. These shows are held under a licence from the KC. They can be breed specific as most breed clubs hold one or two open shows each year. So you can have a Breed club open show or a general open show. However you will not get a breed club premier open.

All of these open shows form the ground roots of the shows that carry points towards such titles as Junior Warrant (JW) or Show certificate of Merit (ShCM). You will need to enter these shows in advance.

With a premier open show, certain wins will qualify your dog for entry to Crufts. Check on the schedule for which wins will do this.

Championship Shows

Championship Shows are the shows that will give you dog the chance to gain a Championship title. They are often run over 3-4 days and can be limited to general, group or breed. A general championship show will have classes for most breeds and include all the breed groups (working, pastoral, terrier, hound, gundog, toy and utility). A group championship show will be limited to one or two groups such as working & pastoral, and a breed championship show is limited to one breed .

Classes

There are lots of different classes to choose from. In open shows these are usually confined to 3 or 4. But championship shows will have many more. Some are confined to age and some to wins. I will try to define them all for you.

Age Restricted Classes

All these are restricted by age and not wins. Only the age of your dog will dictate the classes you enter. When working out the age a month is taken by calendar age i.e. born 01/01/11 will be six months on 01/07/11.

When working out the age of your puppy the date to work to is the first day of the show. Many champ shows are over 3 or 4 days, so if your pup is 6 months old on the fourth day of the show it still cannot be entered even if your breed is scheduled for the fourth day as it is classed as too young on the first day of the show.

Minor Puppy

This class is for puppies between the ages of 6 - 9 months old.

Puppy

For dogs and bitches between the ages of 6 - 12 months.

Junior

For dogs and bitches between the ages of 6 - 18 months.

Yearling

For dogs and bitches between the ages of 12 - 24 months. Sometimes there are "Special Yearling" classes and these may have specific entry requirement so do check.

Open Age Classes

Once your dog is over 2 years old it is no longer able to go into age related classes and moves on into those regulated by wins.

Novice or Undergraduate

This is the first class available for adult dogs. As long as you have not won a CC (Challenge Certificate) or 3 or more 1st prizes at open or championship shows (not counting wins in puppy classes but counting wins in junior/yearling) you can enter novice.

Graduate

As soon as you have won those 3 1st places in novice or been awarded a CC then you need to step up to graduate.

Post Graduate

A maximum of 5 x 1st prizes at championship shows (with CCs on offer) in post graduate, minor limit, limit and open

Minor Limit

A maximum of 6 wins in mid limit, limit and open or a CC

Limit

A maximum of 7 wins in limit and open or 2 CCs

Open

No restrictions, for all and any dogs or bitches including Champions

The Kennel Club Website has all the information on the definitions of classes if you want to have a look. Likewise all the show schedules will give definitions of the classes they are holding as well so take a careful look before entering that your dog or bitch has not won his or her way out of a class.

Other Classes

You may find some other classes such as Good Citizen Class which is for dogs/bitches who have a bronze or above good citizen award (This is usually won at an obedience club and is just some basic training). Progeny class for dogs/bitches and their progeny, the definition of what is needed is in the schedule but usually needs the entered dog to be accompanied by 3 or 4 of its offspring.

All the entry restrictions are listed in the "Definition of classes" in the show schedule.

Any Variety Not Separately Classified

Many open shows do not schedule every breed so you may wish to enter under the heading of the group your breed is in. You will have classes for AVNSC (any variety not separately classified) this means that if your breed is not mentioned with its own classes then you can enter this class. There will often be 4 classes, puppy, yearling, graduate and open. In the schedule (often at the back) it will tell you the definitions of the classes. Choose the ones you want and fill in the entry form in the middle of the schedule.

There is often an AV Working/Pastoral/Toy etc. this means any variety of that group may enter (even if they have their own classes scheduled) and often is a puppy class. If your breed are classified separately then it pays to enter under this, if there is only an open class give it a try, it's all good practise for a pup. You can always enter under AV working puppy as well.

Winning your Class

If you are lucky enough to win your class then things move on a step. This is where some people get confused. Let's say for instance there were 3 classes: Puppy, Grad and Open. You enter the puppy class and you win. After the other 2 classes have been judged the next thing will be for the unbeaten dogs to compete against each other for the BOB (Best of Breed).

If your puppy wins BOB then he will be eligible to go on and compete for Best In Group. (More of that later) If he does not win but there is a prize for Best Puppy In Breed (BPIB) unless there was a puppy entered in another class that your pup has not competed against he will win BPIB. However if there was a puppy (under 12 months) in the graduate or open class and even if it was beaten by an older dog it will still be able to be judged against your pup for BPIB because they were in different classes and they had not been judged against one another. So as you see, it is a process of elimination to arrive at the BOB or the BPIB.

The same rules apply for championship shows but obviously there are more classes and they will be split into dogs and bitches. However they still run on the same lines. The main difference is that after all the classes and before BOB the winning bitches will compete against all the unbeaten bitches for best bitch and the dogs against the unbeaten dogs for best dog these two will then compete for BOB and the same with the puppies.

Group Winner

The next step is that the winners of the BOB and BPIB will be able to compete with all the other winners of BOB and BPIB from the other breeds in the your group The winner will then become the Best In Group. These are usually referred to as Working Group 1 , 2, 3, 4.(WG 1) Depending on placing or Pastoral Puppy Group 1, 2, 3, 4. (PPG 1).

Best in Show

The Group winner is then eligible to compete for Best In Show (BIS) or Best Puppy In Show (BPIS) Here it will compete against the group winners from the other 6 groups, terriers, hounds etc.. If you have entered under the "Any Variety" heading then these too will be judged and a best AV declared in the same way.

Awards

There are all sorts of awards you can compete for from the Kennel Club.

Junior Warrant

For dogs between the ages of 6 -18 months, points can be won at open and championship shows which go towards the title of Junior Warrant (JW). 25 points are needed and they can be amassed by wins. You will need some wins at both type of shows to gain the points and a claim form can be downloaded from the KC site or requested by phone from the KC which will explain the system for you. It pays to make a note of all wins your dog has so you can fill in the form correctly once you have it. The title of JW enables your dog or bitch to be entered in the KC Stud Book and gives him lifelong qualification to Crufts dog show.

Show Certificate of Merit

The other title available is the Show Certificate of Merit ( ShCM ) This also needs a form from the KC and again requires 25 points won at general and group open shows. The points system is explained on the claim form. The award of ShCM will not gain your dog or bitch entry into the studbook and will not allow entry into Crufts Champion.

Becoming a Champion

To gain the award of champion in most breeds, three Challenge Certificates (CCs) are needed. They need to be won under 3 different judges and at least one must be gained after the dog is over 12 months of age. The CCs can only be won at championship shows and usually but not always 2 will be available at each championship show, one for the dog declared the best dog and one for the best bitch. Occasionally only one will be available and will be won by the dog/bitch declared BOB.

Qualifying for Crufts

At some point, anyone who shows will turn their thought towards competing at Crufts. You will need to qualify your dog/bitch first, as entry is limited.

There are various ways to qualify. Puppies under the age of 8 months are not allowed to compete at Crufts. The classification which make a dog eligible are as follows.

The dog/bitch is a Champion
It has won into the KC stud book
It has won a 1st prize at Crufts the previous year
1st, 2nd, 3rd place in a championship show, which has CCs on offer in the following classes: minor puppy, puppy, junior, yearling, post graduate, limit open and veteran This must be won in the year preceding the Crufts you wish to enter.
If your dog/bitch has been awarded BOB at a premier open show in the preceding year and there were at least 3 classes for your breed this also qualifies your dog for Crufts.
A Best in Show or Reserve Best in Show or a Best Puppy in show at a general or group open show in the preceding year also qualifies for Crufts.

The World of Showing

The world of showing is a great place for you and your dog to enjoy a day out. You may become very competitive and travel from one end of the country to the other trying to gain enough wins to make your dog a Champion, or maybe the relaxed fun atmosphere of a companion show is more to your taste.

Just remember you always take the best dog home !!