Are All Wins Created Equal?

Click here to read the complete article
262 – September, 2026

By Caroline Coile

The Facebook post read: “So, recently I’ve seen posts by two people proudly calling their dogs Best In Show winners. One in my breed and one in another. The accepted meaning in the United States is that you have won an AKC Best In Show. Or if you are Canadian, a Canadian Best In Show. It is deceptive and disingenuous to call your UKC or IABCA win a Best In Show without designating it as such. It is not at all the same level of competition.”

Seemed like a pretty innocuous post. Turned out, others didn’t see it that way. It received more than 600 comments, the vast majority outraged at the original poster, disagreeing that there was any difference in the win qualities or significance, and calling her an elitist, mean-spirited, hateful person.

I disagreed. To me, there is a difference between venues. I suggested that people be transparent and identify a UKC or IABCA win as such. This was not met well, and I, too, was called mean and nasty. Here’s an example: “People like you are why we have people leave AKC and come to UKC, where people are friendly, helpful, and supportive. It’s a dog show, not life or death. A Best in Show is a Best in Show, whether it’s AKC, CanKC, UKC, IABCA, ADBA, etc. They are ALL valid. You can disagree, but you’re just outing yourself as a nasty person.”

This was not atypical. Apparently asking for transparency is now grounds for being accused of pushing people out of AKC.

Click here to read the complete article
262 – September, 2026

Short URL: https://caninechronicle.com/?p=368814

Posted by AnthonyA on Sep 24 2026. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.