Dog Shows (The Short Course)

Many people think of a dog show as a kind of "beauty contest" for dogs. While many of the dogs are quite beautiful, the actual purpose of a dog show is to determine which dogs most closely conform to the "standard" established by the national breed club (dogs shows are also called conformation shows.) The breed standard offers guidelines for structure, function, temperament and movement, and was designed to keep purebred dogs somewhat consistent across the breed. Dog shows began as a means of evaluating potential breeding stock based on conformation to the standard.

There are several different levels of competition in the conformation or "breed" ring. First, there are the dogs that are not yet Champions. These dogs compete at what's called the 'class' level, and are working toward their Champion title. Classes are divided by sex at this level as males and females compete only against others of the same sex within the classes. Available classes are:

Although most shows will have all the above classes available, there may be no entries in one or more of the classes.

In each class there are four placements awarded (assuming there are at least four entries in the class). The first place male or female from each class receives a blue ribbon then goes on to what is called the 'Winners' Class. Males and females are still separated in the Winners Class. Males are called 'dogs' and females are called 'bitches'. The winner of the Winner's Class is called Winners Dog or Winners Bitch. These two--Winners Dog and Winners Bitch--are the only dogs to earn points toward a Championship.

The number of points earned by the Winners is dependent on how many were entered in all of the classes. There may be many dogs entered and the points awarded might be 5, which is the maximum number of points that can be earned at one show. There may only be a few and worth only 1 or 2 points, (or none at all if entries are extremely low.). A win worth 3, 4 or 5 points is termed a 'major' win.

NEXT