Championship & Open Shows

Championship and Open Shows operate in the same format, however Challenge Certificates (CC) are only awarded at Championship Shows.

In Australia, CC are awarded to the winning dog/bitch, and these points are used to make the points required for a dogs title. 

Dogs require a minimum of 100 CC points (25 CC points must be obtained after the age of 12 months), before they can apply for the title of Champion (Ch).

Dogs that reach 1000 CC points are eligible to apply for the title of Grand Champion (Grch).

Judging is separated into dogs and bitches, and then further split into age classes as follows: 

Dogs that have achieved a Champion title do not get judged in a separate class. 

Judging starts with the dog classes and is then followed by the bitch classes.

The youngest dog class is judged first, with the winners from each class then going on to compete in what is termed the Challenge line-up (except Baby Puppy).

The winner of the Challenge line-up is awarded the CC.  The dog that come second to the winner then enters the ring to compete against the remaining dogs in the line-up to determine the reserve challenge winner. 

CC points are awarded according to the number of dogs that competed, 5 points plus one for each dog that competed.  Thus if there was only one dog present, then the dog would receive 6 points, if five dogs were present, 10 points would be awarded, and so on. 

A maximum of 25 points can be obtained in any one show. 

Once judging of the Challenge Dog has been completed, the process is repeated for the bitch classes. 

The Dog CC winner and Bitch CC winner then compete for the Best of Breed CC (BOB). Once the BOB winner has been awarded, the exhibit that come second to the winner then enters the ring to compete against the remaining exhibit to determine the reserve BOB winner.

The BOB Challenge Certificate replaces the winner's CC.  The winner is awarded 5 points plus one for each exhibit (ie. includes both dogs and bitches) that competed.  

Once judging of the BOB is completed, all of the bitch and dog class winners the compete against each other in what is termed the "run-off", this is to determine the Class of Breed winners.  The BOB and reserve BOB are automatically awarded the class of breed that they entered (there is no reserve class winners).

The BOB winner then goes on to competes against the winners of the other utility dog breeds for Best Exhibit in Group (BIG).  Once the BIG winner has been awarded, the exhibit that come second to the winner then enters the ring to compete for runner-up best exhibit in group.

The BOB Challenge Certificate of the BIG winner, is then awarded an additional point for each exhibit that competed in the utility dog group, up to a maximum of 25 points.  

Each of the class winners then compete in the "run-off" against the other breed class winners to determine the Class of Group winners.  The BIG and reserve BIG are automatically awarded the class in group that they entered (there is no reserve class winners).

The utility group winners then go on to compete against the other groups to determine the Best Exhibit in Show (BIS) and Best Class in Show winners.

The BOB Challenge Certificate of the BIS winner, is then awarded an additional point for each exhibit that competed in the show, up to a maximum of 25 points.  

At specialty shows, the BOB winner is also the Best Exhibit in Show winner.

The path to winning Best Exhibit in Show can be illustrated as follows:

© Graeme Baker