Terminology

It seems to be rather difficult for overseas readers to work out some of our abbreviations, so I have listed as many as I can think of, and given a simple explanation.

1. CC - This means CHALLENGE CERTIFICATE,  a show dog in the UK has to win three of these to become a Champion, under three different judges, one of them must be won over the age of 12 months old. The winner of a CC must beat all other members of the same sex to be awarded one, CC's are not on offer at every Championship show, but each breed has a certain number which are decided by the Kennel Club, and based on the number of dogs shown over the whole year. These are done several years in advance. Min Wires have at present 24 sets of CC's. ( a set is one for dogs & one for bitches) some minority breeds have a single CC at certain shows, just for the best of breed, but M/Ws have 2 at every show they are allocated at.

2. BOB - BEST OF BREED, This award for the best dog or bitch in the breed at any show. this could be an Open show, which is open to all but does not have CC's, a Limit show, which is Limited to members of the club or society putting on the show, or a Championship show, not necessarily with CC's on offer.

3. RES CC- RESERVE CHALLENGE CERTIFICATE. This is awarded to the second best male or female to the winner of the CC, this could be from another class, or from second in the class that the winner came from. The CC can go to any class winner & is not restricted to age etc. The reserve CC is highly regarded but winning one or several,  does not count towards a Champion title, but they are still highly sort after. If the CC winner is disqualified for any reason the Res CC winner is given the CC. In practice this rarely happens, & I have never won a CC by default in over 40 years of showing dogs. disqualification may occur if the wrong name is given on the entry form, or the wrong owners, or perhaps the dog might be over qualified for the class it was entered in.

4. ShCM - SHOW CERTIFICATE OF MERIT These letters after a dogs name show that it has been awarded the ShCM, it is won at Open shows, with points collected by winning group placings, BOB's & Best in Shows, it is compared to an Open Show Champion, and is still very difficult to obtain in all breed competition. I believe we still only have one bitch that has qualified for this title.

5. BIS - BEST IN SHOW. Awarded to the best dog or bitch in show, at all the various levels of shows. Res. BIS is Reserve Best in Show is second Best to the winner. In the UK we just have the two awards when it comes down to the final judging.

5. GROUP 1 (OR 2,3,4) This is awarded to the best in the Group that the dog belongs to. i.e. the Dachshunds, Irish Wolfhounds, Greyhounds, are in the Hound group, Field Spaniels in the Gundog group, the other groups are Toys, Utility, Working, Pastoral & Terrier.

6. BPIS. - BEST PUPPY IN SHOW, Same as for BIS but these are all under 12 mths old on the first day of the show. If a puppy should win BIS then it is automatically Best Puppy in Show too.

7. JW - JUNIOR WARRANT. This is awarded to any dog gaining the required 25 points under the age of 18 mths old, & is generally thought of as a Junior Championship.  The points awarded as follows, 3 points for a first prize at a Ch show where CCs are on offer. 1 point for a first prize at a Ch show where there are no CCs or an Open Show, 1 further point for an Open show BOB, there must be a min three dogs present in a class to qualify. A min of three points to be won at Open shows and the same amount at Ch shows with CCs. The winner may put JW behind the dogs name, and it qualifies for the Kennel Clubs yearly publication of the stud book.

8. Min Wire dachshunds are in "Band C" when it comes to the CC allocation and which wins count for entry into the stud book.  Band C breeds count first in Limit & first & second in the open class. + any award of a CC or Reserve CC from any other class. Any dog or bitch gets an automatic Crufts qualifier if they gain a stud book number. As there are only 24 times per year when these can be competed for, and the Champions & CC  winners are shown in Limit & Open, you can see it is very difficult to gain that stud book entry.

9. AM CH, CAN CH, WI CH, JAP CH, INT CH, VDH CH, NORD CH, Sh Ch,All abriviations for Championships won in various countries.. the above, American Ch, Canadian Ch, West Indies Ch, Japanese Ch, International Ch, German Ch, Nordic Ch, Show Ch.. a Show Ch  title is a gundog title awarded to a Gundog that has not completed a working test. the full Ch title can only be given after completing the requirements for work in its breed.