The Great Pyrenees Dog in Conformation Showing

Have you seen the dog shows on television? What is going on here? What is the point of all this and why the heck is it so popular? What is up with the jogging, run thing that each handler does with their dog and why are they feeding it?  What is the judge looking for in the mouth and what does he or she feel when they go up and down the dog’s body with their hands? 

Dog shows have been popular in the United States for more than 100 years. And thanks to the cable television industry we can now watch them. Cable television offers us programming that is specifically developed and tailored to appeal to our hobbies and past times. Animal Planet is a good example of this, airing two large dog shows - the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Show and the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship. 

The Westminster Kennel Club Show is the longest continuously running dog show in the United States. Founded in 1877 and holding its first dog show the same year, the Westminster Kennel Club is older that the American Kennel Club (AKC) which was formed in 1884. The 2009 Westminster show marked the 133^rd year of the annual event. Held in New York City at Madison Square Garden, this show is open to AKC Champion dogs. More information on Westminster can be found at their website: www.westminsterkennelclub.org 

The AKC/Eukanuba National Championship, named for the title sponsor Eukanuba Dog Food, has run for eight years as of 2009. Held in Long Beach, California this event boasts a purse of more than $225,000. All dogs in this show have to be in the Top 20 of their breed nationally.  Breed rankings are based on the number of dogs of that particular breed that are defeated.

Even though these two dog shows capture the national spotlight, there are many more shows that occur throughout the year.  The majority of dog shows are sponsored by local kennel, group, or breed clubs. A breed club is best explained using the North Star Great Pyrenees Club as an example. Membership typically consists of people who own the same type of pure bred dogs and are interested in learning about and sharing with one another their experiences and love for their dogs. A kennel club is comprised of several (pure bred) breed clubs typically organized in order to collaborate sponsoring dog shows. A group club is comprised of owners that represent one of the current seven AKC dog groupings (i.e. The Northstar Working Dog Group Association www.nwgadogs.org). 

There are several large governing organizations that sponsor dog shows that have their own prescribed set of rules for earning titles.  Since the AKC is the primary organization in the United States and the one with which the general public is most familiar, we will explain the rules set forth by the AKC (www.akc.org). The two shows mentioned above conform to the AKC regulations for conformation dog shows. The conformation dog show is one of several AKC sanctioned dog show events. Conformation events are intended to evaluate breeding stock.  Other sanctioned dog show events include agility trials, obedience trials, Canine Good Citizen tests, hunting tests and tracking tests to name a few. 

Okay, so back to our original questions. We’ve seen the shows on television but really, what is going on here? In an AKC conformation show, the intent of the show is to evaluate breeding stock and award top honors to the dog that best represents the breed. The AKC has a documented set of breed standards for each dog that stipulates how the dog is to appear physically and what to expect from the animal’s temperament. Slight variations from the standard are permitted but are identified as “faults”. The dogs are judged against one another and the judge chooses the one that in her or his opinion best represents the breed standard. 

This sounds quite subjective and that it is. Each AKC judge is required to be certified by the AKC to judge a specific breed. The judges are typically people who have significant experience in breeding and showing pure bred dogs. Judges often specialize in a particular breed but frequently are certified to judge multiple breeds. 

The dogs in the conformation ring are those chosen to be shown by their owners or breeders who hope they have the best specimen representing the official breed standard. The judge examines each dog by looking at the bite and feeling the animal’s coat and physical structure with his or her hands comparing it to their understanding of the official breed standard. By process of elimination, the judge evaluates all of the dogs against one another and awards one dog Best of Breed (BOB). 

The Best of Breed dog is the dog determined to be the closest to the official breed standard in the opinion of the judge. There are two other awards given in each breed ring, Best of Winners (BOW) and Best of Opposite Sex (BOS). BOW is the better of the male and female that have not yet earned their championships and BOS is the dog that is the best of its sex---opposite to the Best of Breed winner. So if a male takes BOB, the female that the judge believes to be the best representation of all the females shown will take BOS. 

Thus, there are three ribbons awarded at the end of each competition, BOB, BOW and BOS. Points towards a championship are awarded to the "class" dog (the dog without its championship) and breed points are awarded to the BOB winner. The dog that is chosen Best of Breed then advances to represent its breed in the group competition. 

In AKC conformation a dog may earn points toward a title of AKC Champion (CH.). To become a champion in the conformation ring a dog must earn 15 points which are to include two major wins (a major win is three points or higher) under a minimum of three different judges. Once a dog has earned a title of champion it is considered a "special" and can continue to compete to earn breed and all-breed points towards its national ranking. 

Let’s talk about the dog handlers. Each dog in the conformation ring has a handler, a human companion that presents the dog to the judge and guides the dog’s actions in the ring in response to the directives of the judge. 

Upon entering the ring the handler “stacks” the dog. Stacking is the act of create a pleasing picture by positioning the dog’s legs and body in a manner that shows off the animals structural quality. The handler stacks the dog to present the dog to the judge so that the judge can see the dog’s body structure and stance. It is here that the handler will "bait" the dog to get its attention.  Generally, a morsel of food or a small toy is used to give the dog something to focus on while it is in the stack. 

We mentioned earlier the jogging, run thing that each handler does with their dog. This is called gaiting. The purpose of gaiting is to demonstrate for the judge the movement of the animal. The judge looks for specific movement qualities based upon the breed he or she is reviewing. The handler moves their body at the correct pace to allow the dog to trot smoothly for the judge. The judge looks at rear action when the dog is moving away from him or her and then the movement of the front assembly when the dog is coming towards him/her.  When the judge tells the handler to move the dog around the ring he/she is looking at side gait to see if it is balanced according to the breed standard.  Since the judge has already had their hands on the dog and has felt their structure------they are now looking at how it all comes together in the movement of the dog.  If they felt a poor shoulder assembly----they will be watching the front movement very carefully.  It is important that the dog functions as it would when performing the work its breed was designed to accomplish. When you hear exhibitors talking about fronts and rears, they are referring to the dog’s body structure: head, front legs, shoulders, rear legs as well as how these components of the animal work together. It is important that the dog is able to perform the work it was bred to do. For example, the Great Pyrenees is an endurance walker as it patrols large areas and must have the durability to walk for miles without tiring or becoming sore and fatigued. 

Now we know about the dogs and the handlers. So what is the point of a dog show? Mostly it’s about bragging rights for the owners, breeders and handlers that they are exhibiting the best breeding stock. As with any competitive sport the desire to be the champion is the goal. Breeders strive to create an animal that conforms as closely (hence the name conformation) to the official breed standard as possible. In an attempt to keep objectivity in the sport, the opinion of many judges is sought to earn this title. 

Upon completion of the judging of each breed, the dog that was awarded BOB advances to compete with other BOB dogs in the group to which they belong. The American Kennel Club has categorized dog breeds into seven groups assigned by their characteristics. The seven groups are Sporting, Hounds, Working, Terrier, Toy, Non-Sporting, and Herding. 

The Great Pyrenees is a member of the Working Group so it will compete against the: Akita, Alaskan Malamute, Anatolian Shepherd Dog, Bernese Mountain Dog, Black Russian Terrier, Boxer, Bullmastiff, Doberman Pinscher, Dogue de Bordeaux, German Pinscher, Giant Schnauzer, Great Dane, Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, Komondor, Kuvasz, Mastiff, Neapolitan Mastiff, Newfoundland, Portuguese Water Dog, Rottweiler, Saint Bernard, Samoyed, Siberian Husky, Standard Schnauzer, and Tibetan Mastiff. 

The judge awards four group placements but only the first place winner (Group 1) goes on to the Best in Show competition. The final event of the show is the competition between the seven dogs each representing the first place winner from their group. One dog is chosen from this group presentation as the dog that, in that particular show, best represents its breed against the official breed standard. This dog is awarded the top honor of the conformation dog show the title of Best in Show (BIS).

A dog show runs one full day and each day is a separate show. For example a show that is held on a Saturday and Sunday is actually two complete and discreet shows including all breeds and classes winnowing the field down to that one coveted title Best in Show.