Champion or not?

So you found a great kennel and they have champions. Have you ever wondered what all those letters mean? Hopefully this will be a guide for you...

 

 

Here are the basic different levels of championships:

 

Ch or CH = Champion
GrCh or GRCH = Grand Champion
SGRCh or SGRCH = Supreme Grand Champion

 

 

Club and Organization Letters

 

Most of the Ch's and GrCh's are preceded by the show organization or club abbreviation, for example

ARBA = American Rare Breed Association
CKC =
Canine Kennel Club
FIC = Federation of International Canines
IABCA = International All Breed Canine Association
R =
Rarities
RBCSWO = Rare Breed Club of South West Ontario
SKC = States Kennel Club
USBC = United States Bordeaux Corporation
UKC =
United Kennel Club

 

 International Titles

 

A dog that is FCI registered (overseas, Mexico, Puerto Rico and other countries) can compete anywhere in the world and obtain true International titles. This would be:

FCI Ch. along with any thing from the country it is received in, i.e. Dutch FCI Ch, French FCI Ch etc.

Also a dog from the USA that competes in Mexico or Canada can earn their championships in those countries and also be called international champions. (for example Rare Breed Club of South West Ontario or Rarities). These will be noted by

Rarities Int'l Ch
RBDCSWO Int'l Ch
Canadian Ch
Mexican Ch. etc.

 


BEWARE! A Boxer that lives in the USA can only achieve the true title of INTERNATIONAL if it is shown internationally (i.e. overseas, Canada, Mexico, anywhere outside of the USA and only FCI registered dogs can compete in most FCI shows overseas).

Some people attend shows offered by the INTERNATIONAL ALL BREED CANINE ASSOCIATION (IABCA) in the USA. This organization offers an IABCA title and also a title they call the IABCA International title. Unfortunately a dog does not have to go outside the USA to obtain this title. Reputable show people who are not interested in deception by a twist of words will list this as IABCA Int'l Ch which is the CORRECT way. BUT some people choose to just use Int'l or International Champion in their dog’s title when in fact the dog never traveled outside of the USA to obtain this title, sometimes not even out of the state it was born in and with no competition! This is deception by twisting words. Be warned, always ask to see proof - do not assume the dog is a TRUE international champion!

 
A "International Champion" title on a pedigree - is NOT an AKC CHAMPION title! Take note how easily these "International Champion" titles are "awarded" by IABCA, with NO competition against other dogs!. The "International Champion" titles you might sometimes see being advertised by some breeders, were obtained by that dog never having traveled outside of the United States, nor even out of state in most cases! Many owners of dogs that could not hope to win a *champion* title in a registry such as AKC, will still seek to have their dog appear to have a *champion* title of some sort.

 

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