British system for making up a Champion.
We can have quite a lot of different classes, some determined by age and
some by previous class wins. The usual set-up is 12 classes, 6 for each
sex:
- Minor Puppy (6-9 months)
- Puppy (up to 12 months)
- Junior (up to 18 months)
- Post Graduate (for dogs who have not won a CC or 5 or
more first prizes in this class or limit or open)
- Limit (For dogs who have
not won 3 CC's under different judges or 7 or more first prizes in limit or
open)
- Open (for any dog including Champions)
At a breed show (Specialty)
we may well have several additional classes such as Novice, Maiden, Special
Yearling, Graduate, Veteran etc., there are in fact over 20 different
possible classes and the club staging the show can decide which
combination they schedule.
To make up a Champion you have to win 3 Challenge Certificates under 3 different judges with
at least 1 of the CC's being won after the dog is 12 months old.
Champions have to be entered in the Open class or if they are still young
enough the Junior class.
This is why it is so difficult to make up a Champion here in the UK because to win a
CC you have to beat the Champions!
This year we have had 28 sets of CC's allocated to our breed by the Kennel
Club. When you consider that the dog who finishes up Top Winning Pem for
the year often scoops 10 or so of these CC's then the chances for a young
up and coming exhibit are not too plentiful.
Hope this makes some kind of sense!
Sarah Taylor (Bymil)
