April Show

What conformation judging is

A judge compares each dog against the written standard for its breed, the description of the ideal specimen kept by the breed’s parent club and approved by the AKC. Dogs are measured against that description rather than against each other, which is how a Pomeranian and a Great Dane can meet in the same group ring and one of them can win it.

Conformation is the one AKC sport limited to registered purebred dogs. Every other sport the club runs is open to mixed breeds.

How the day is structured

Breed judging comes first. Dogs that are not yet champions compete in classes split by sex and age, and the best of each sex, Winners Dog and Winners Bitch, take championship points. Best of Breed follows, where those winners meet the champions entered.

Each Best of Breed winner goes forward to one of seven groups: Sporting, Hound, Working, Terrier, Toy, Non-Sporting and Herding. The seven group winners then compete for Best in Show, the last award of the day.

All-breed shows usually offer Junior Showmanship as well, where the judge scores the young handler’s skill rather than the dog.

Championship points

The points a win is worth depend on how many dogs of that breed and sex the winner beat, measured against a schedule the AKC sets for each region and breed. The same win can therefore be worth more in one part of the country than another.

A dog needs 15 points to become a champion. At least two of those wins must be majors, worth three, four or five points each, awarded by two different judges, and at least one more point must come from a third judge.