Champion (dog)

Championships are awarded to dogs who have passed through a process of selection at dog shows. Traditionally, a championship was received at a conformation show, but championships are now offered for dogs who have attained a high degree of perfection in other dog sports as well.

A dog qualifying for a championship at a conformation show has the designation Champion or "Ch." added as a prefix to its registered name (but not to its call name, the name by which the dog is actually called.) The Best in Show winner of the 2008 Crufts show (UK), for example, was a Giant Schnauzer, Ch. Jafrak Philippe Olivier, call name Philip. Winner of the 2008 Westminster show (US) was a Beagle, Ch. K-Run's Park Me In First, call name Uno.

See registered name for a discussion of dogs' registered names; there is no championship requirement for any particular sort of registered name. Registered names typically only reflect an individual kennel's recordkeeping system.

Abbreviations of the name of the country or countries where the championship was earned are often added before the Ch. An international Fédération Cynologique Internationale championship is written as Int. Ch. (or ICh.). Other combinations are possible, such as the Miniature Schnauzer, ICh. Mex.Ch Rice's Its Snow Tea Party (International and Mexican Championships). Winners of the Fédération Cynologique Internationale World Show have World Ch. or World-V## (World Championship and the year won) also placed before their registered name.

Traditionally, only one major kennel club in a country offered championships (two in the US), so no confusion arose from this system. Today there are many small internet based registries and companies that offer titles; to prevent deception, the name of the minor registry should be appended to the title.

A dog that completes a championship (called a finished champion) may continue to be entered in shows to compete for Group (winner of its group) or Best In Show (BIS) honors. A finished dog that continues to compete is called a special. Owners of Best in Show winners may add BIS or Multi BIS (multiple best in show winners) to their dog's name, as in the Siberian Husky Multi BIS/Ch Phoebe Run To Phoebus. Many prestigious shows only accept entries from dogs that have finished their championships.

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