Titles In Brief

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Titles in Brief

CH. in front of the name means that the dog has completed the requirements to be a CONFORMATION CHAMPION. In Canada, a dog currently needs to earn 10 points, under at least 3 different judges, to become a Champion. A maximum of 5 points can be awarded under any single judge, but, even if you were lucky enough to win 5 points each under 2 different judges, your dog must still win at least 1 point under a 3rd judge before the title would be awarded. This is easier said than done, and a dog can compete for months, even years, before earning the required points (although if it's good, and is shown fairly regularly, it shouldn't run to those lengths). The number of points earned each day are based on the number of dogs in competition. Conformation showing is basically a beauty contest, where the dog is being judged for it's physical appearance and structure against the Standard (or blueprint) for the Breed. The dog is judged on movement, coming and going (front and rear), side movement, correct teeth (number and alignment) and so on. It is interesting to note also that a dog MUST be registered with the Canadian Kennel Club to become a Canadian Champion. Over the years, some dogs have come up from the U.S. and have been shown to their 10 points and then returned home with their owners proudly advertising their Canadian title. However, as their owners never registered them in Canada the titles were never awarded and they are not entitled to use the term 'Canadian Champion'.

OTCh. in front of the name means the dog has completed the requirements to become an OBEDIENCE TRIAL CHAMPION. CD, CDX and UD are Obedience Titles. To become an OTCh. you have to have completed all 3 levels.

COMPANION DOG (CD) consists of 6 exercises - Heel on Leash, Stand for Examination, Heel Free, Recall, as well as a group (you and your dog in the ring, along with several other handlers and their dogs) 1 minute long 'sit' and a 3 minute long 'down'.

COMPANION DOG EXCELLENT (CDX) consists of 7 exercises - Heel Free, Drop on Recall, Retrieve on Flat, Retrieve over High Jump, Broad Jump, and group 3 minute 'sits' and 5 minute 'downs' with the handlers out of sight.

UTILITY DOG (UD) also consists of 7 exercises - Seek Back (retrieving a glove), 3 Scent Discrimination sequences using a metal, leather and wood article (dog has to find each one separately that has been scented by the handler, out of 4 metal, 4 leather and 4 unscented ones), Signal Exercise (dog must heel, stand, down, sit, come and finish - by hand signals only), Directed Jumping (dog must go out between jumps and then take each jump as directed by the handler), and a Group Stand and Exam for a minimum of 3 minutes.

To earn each of the Obedience Titles you must get a qualifying score (called a 'leg') under at least 3 different judges. To get a qualifying score you must earn at least 50% of each exercise and the total score must be 170 or more, out of a possible 200. You require 3 qualifying scores in each level to get the title (i.e. 3 legs in Novice to get your CD, 3 legs in Open to get your CDX and 3 legs in Utility to get your UD).

TD and TDX are TRACKING titles. To earn a TD a dog must track a scent laid by a track layer that is approximately 500 yards long, aged at least half an hour and has at least a couple of corners (turns). The dog has to either retrieve or indicate a leather article at the end. To earn a TDX the track is approximately 1000 yards long, is aged over 3 hours, with 2 cross-tracks aged 2 hours, has more and possibly tighter corners with two articles along the way and one at the end. You only (!!!) need pass one test at each level to earn the title.

ADC and VADC are AGILITY titles. To earn an AGILITY DOG CANADA title the dog has to go in, over, through and up, approximately 10 different obstacles within a set length of time. I think the hardest obstacle for a dog to learn is the weave poles. Other obstacles can include jumps, A-frame see-saw, closed and open tunnels, etc. The VADC is the same, only the time allowed is a little longer and the jump heights a little lower as these dogs are veterans (i.e. a little older).

CGC is a test devised by the AKC (American Kennel Club) meaning CANINE GOOD CITIZENSHIP. Any dog (purebred or mixed breed) can earn this. Basically it introduces the dog to a number of situations to see how the dog behaves.

FD is a FLYBALL title. This is a team race where 4 dogs have to jump over 4 jumps, hit the peddle on a Flyball Box, catch the ball the ball flips towards the dog, and come back over all 4 jumps in a relay. Each dog runs individually against a dog from another team. The faster team wins and earns points.

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