Championship (dog)

A dog qualifying for a championship at a conformation show has the designation Champion or "Ch."

Traditionally, only one major kennel club in a country offered championships (two in the US), so no confusion arose from this system.

The above are representative of the policies of the major show-giving bodies, but any individual or group may offer championships and devise their own requirements.

In the American Kennel Club, an Obedience Trial Championship (OTCH) is awarded to a dog and handler team receiving 100 points by placing first, second, third or fourth in the Open B or Utility B class and a first place in Utility B and/or Open B three times.

In addition, a National Obedience Championship title (NOC) is awarded to one dog each year.

[13] Obedience Trial championships offered by the United Kennel Club (US) are prefixed with U: U-OTCH.

[14] Agility national or world-wide championships are offered by various organizations; for example, teams sponsored by a country's national kennel club compete for the Fédération Cynologique Internationale's World Agility Championships.

A large number of organizations worldwide offer individual championships, reflecting an ever-higher perfection in precision and running time.

For an individual championship, a dog collects qualifying scores throughout his life; a sufficient number of qualifying scores at the top level earns a championship title, which entitles them to a prefix for their name.

The United Kennel Club (US) agility championship title is recognized by the prefix U-ACH.

In the US, these include the North American Open Field Association, which offers the Coursing Champion (CC) title; the North American Coursing Association, offering the NACA Coursing Champion (NACC) title; and the American Sighthound Field Association, which offers the Field Champion (F.Ch.)

The prefix WTCH (Working Trial Champion) is used for the championship offered by the Australian Shepherd Club of America.

For the VCC, Versatile Companion Champion (AKC prefix), the dog completes OTCH, MACH and CT championships.