Australian Dog Shows....... How are they run ?

For visitors to our site from other countries we would like to explain how our dog shows are run

Firstly judging is primarily Breed Based with a number of age classes for both Dogs and Bitches, the most commonly used are

Baby Puppy ........................For dogs of 3 months and under 6 months
Minor Puppy.......................For dogs of 6 months and under 9 months
Puppy .................................For dogs of 6 months and under 12 months
Junior..................................For dogs of 9 months and under 18 months
Intermediate.......................For dogs of 18 months and under 36 months
Australian Bred .................For dogs of 6 months of age and whelped in Australia
Open....................................For dogs over 6 months of age

In Tasmania which is a State of Australia there is a Class for State Bred which is mandatory

Males compete against each other in their respective Age Classes and then the Class winners with the exception of Baby Puppy compete separatly for the Dog Challenge and are awarded points toward their Australian Championship, 5points for winning the challenge and an additional point for each dog of the same sex exhibited in the Breed Classes to a maximum of 25 points , a Reserve Challenge winner is selected from the remaining Class Winners and the dog placed second in class to the Challenge winner.

Challenges are awarded at the discretion of the Judge and may be witheld as the judge must sign a certificate saying "I am clearly of the opinion that this exhibit is of such outstanding merit as to be worthy to qualify for the title Champion"

Unlike the United States and some other Countries both Champions and Non Champions are exhibited in their respective age classes

Then the Females compete against each other using the same system.

The two Challenge Winners then contest Best of Breed and the winner receives an extra point for each of the dogs of the oposite sex exhibited in the Breed Classes .

A Runner up to Best of Breed is selected from the remaining Challenge winner and the reserve to the Best of Breed winner

The Dog and Bitch winners of each class compete against each other for Best of Class in breed.

Judging then moves on to Group level. ............... In Australia we have seven Groups

Toys, Terriers, Gun Dogs, Hounds,Working Dogs,Utility and Non Sporting.

In Australia Italian Greyhounds are in the Toy Group

At Group level all Best of Breed winners compete against each other for Best Exhibit in Group and the winner recieves another point towards their Australian championship for each dog over the age of six months exhibited in the Group to a Maximum of 25 points.

A Runner up to Best in Group is also selected with the Runner up Best of Breed to the Group winner competing against the other Breed Winners
The class winners from each Breed also compete for their age class in Group.
The best in Group winner is automatically the best of the age class in which they competed

Then the Best in Show (This is Called General Specials) is Selected from the seven Best in Group winners

Runner up Best in Show is also selected with the Runner up in Group to the
Best in Show winner competing against the remaining Best in Group winners

Class winners from each Group compete for their Age Class in Show
with the Best in Show winner automatically Best of the age class in which they competed

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Some of our Major Shows now are using the Four Placings System as used in Europe and the U.S.A. for BEST in SHOW and PUPPY in SHOW only

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" AUSTRALIAN CHAMPION "

To become an Australian Champion a dog must amass a minimum of 100 Challenge Points at at least Four Shows under Four different judges and must gain at least 25 of the points after the age of 12 months

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