Too Many Shows Revisited – Part One – Champions Across the Ocean

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76 – November/December, 2022

By Wayne Cavanaugh

If you are visiting England and you hear that someone in your breed has a champion, you go out of your way to see it. Why? Because earning a champion title in the UK is more challenging, and perhaps more revered, than it is here in the States. The opportunities are far fewer, the breed entries per show are enormous compared to those in the States, and there are no classes for champions. In American terms, all three wins essentially must come “from the classes.”

In the States, we are accustomed to choosing from multiple shows every weekend and many weekdays where champion points can be won. In the UK, there are only 10 all-breed championship shows and 18 championship group shows per year where Challenge Certificates (CCs) are offered. CCs are the only win that count towards a title and they aren’t always offered to every breed at every championship show. There is a set allocation of CCs offered for each breed. In 2024, for example, breeds that averaged under 20 entries per show over the trailing five years will be allocated 11 sets of CCs (one for each gender) per year at all-breed and group shows. Breed clubs also hold specialty shows where Challenge Certificates can also be earned. For the under-20 category, up to 2 CCs can be allocated at specialties.

Wait, there are only 28 dog shows, plus specialties, in the UK each year where wins count towards a championship? Yes. But they aren’t the only dog shows in the UK. There are many “Open Shows” held all over the UK every year where CCs are not offered. Don’t for a second think that Open Shows are equivalent to AKC Match Shows. They can be bigger and as competitive as our average AKC dog show and are an essential part of the sport, as they should be. Can you imagine the uproar if AKC changed any of our shows to Open Status to help re-balance the entry-per-show ratio?

Ironically, last weekend using only the Saturday and Sunday shows, there were 28 AKC all-breed shows held where points were offered for every breed–a typical weekend. So yes, regarding the number of shows where wins towards a championship can be earned, an entire year in the UK is about the same as two days in the USA.

Click here to read the complete article
76 – November/December, 2022

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Posted by AnthonyA on Nov 12 2022. 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.