By Heidi Clayton
If you are looking for something to do with the family this weekend, the Gloucester County Kennel Club is hosting AKC conformation shows at the Galloway Township Municipal building on Oct. 19 and 20. Coming to the dog show is a free chance to see beautiful dogs.
All of the champion dogs you see on television at The Westminster Kennel Club show or the National Dog Show shown on Thanksgiving started their show careers by attending local dog shows just like this one. The road to becoming a champion is the same for every single dog. Here is a quick rundown of how a dog show works.
The AKC has a written standard for each breed, most of which haven’t been changed for decades. Dogs entered in conformation shows are judged against that standard. Dog show judges have either been breeders or (most likely) are still breeding the breed they are judging.
Judging begins with all of the non-champion boys competing in a variety of classes. Those class winners are then all judged at once with the judge awarding a “Winners Dog” and a reserve winner. Next up are the non-champion girls who follow the same procedure but are awarded “Winners Bitch” and also a reserve winner. With each “WD” or “WB” win, your dog is awarded points towards their championship. To become a champion, you must win 15 points with two of those wins being called “major wins” where at least three points were awarded.
After the non-champion judging, the two winners and all of the champions enter the ring to compete for Best of Breed. Every dog in the ring, including the non-champions, is eligible to win Best of Breed. After Best of Breed is selected the judge will award Best of Opposite Sex to the Best of Breed. So if the breed winner is a boy, the best girl is picked. Next, Best of Winners is awarded to one of the two non-champions, and finally Select Dog and Select Bitch, which is similar to being the runner-up.
All of the breed winners then move on to the group competition, which is normally what is seen on the dog shows aired on television. The groups are the Herding, Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting, Sporting, Working and Terrier. Dogs in the group aren’t being judged against each other, but still to their breed standards. The judge places the dogs numbers one through four, with the one placement being the one that they feel closest meets their breed standard.
Finally, it is on to Best in Show where the winners of each group compete to win the whole thing. While many people think that dog shows are just beauty pageants, I can promise you that these dogs are conditioned athletes who put in long days and need to be at the top of their game. The Best in Show judge first picks the Reserve Best in Show winner and then awards the final ribbon of the day to the Best in Show winner.
The Gloucester Kennel Club is hosting tours of the dog show this weekend where a club member will take you around the rings and explain what is going on. They also love talking dogs! If you have any questions about a particular breed, they and any exhibitor will gladly help you. I will be there with my white Bull Terrier puppy whom I will be showing at 11 a.m., so please feel free to introduce yourselves!
You can view the judging program for both days of the dog show here at
https://www.raudogshows.com/judging-programs/.
Heidi Clayton started Four On the Floor Dog Training to provide positive, reward-based dog training in South Jersey. She breeds, trains and shows bull terriers under the SoraBully’s Bull Terriers kennel name. Email questions to heidi@fouronthefloordogtraining.net or learn more at https://fouronthefloordogtraining.net
