WHEN you are scouting for a puppy to become a part of your family, you are likely to encounter “breeders” who would use the “champion” relatives of the puppy, especially the parents and grandparents, as a leverage.
It is usually assumed that if there are more champions in the pedigree certificate (indicated by red and green marks), the better the “breeding” of the puppy is. The better the puppy is, the higher the price will be.
There is some truth to this, but then again, having bred some litters from champion parents, I could safely say that there is more to it than what the certificates of pedigree may lead us to believe.
But what does a Philippine Champion title mean? And how does one dog attain its title?
All purebred dogs have their respective breed standard. The breed standard is akin to the blueprint of a particular breed of dog that lays out how its musculoskeletal system is constructed, and how it should move and behave. The standard also calls for the requisites in terms of how a particular breed of dog should look in terms of the appearance of its head and expression, the quality of its coat and dentition, and the carriage of its tail, among many others. The breed standard is the (mental) benchmark of a judge when evaluating dogs competing in the show ring.
In the Philippines, under the Philippine Canine Club, Inc. (PCCI), the only dog body in the country recognized by the world dog body Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI), a registered (purebred) dog in the country six months or older, whether bred here or abroad, may earn its Philippine Champion title (as long as it does not have disqualifying faults like bad dentition, aggressive behavior, “one or no balls,” under- or over-sized, etc.).
A dog must earn (accumulate) 15 points to become a champion in one of the dog shows that is accredited by PCCI.
Let us assume that you are in an All-Breed Championship Dog Show. The competing dogs will be categorized according to sex, age, and other groups: Dogs or Bitches (male dogs are referred to as dogs, female dogs are referred to as bitches), Puppy Class (6 months to under 9 months), Junior Class (9 months to under 15 months), Intermediate Class (15 months to under 24 months), Open Class (24 months and over), Champions Class (15 months to under 8 years), and Veterans Class (8 years and over). All the winners in each class will compete against each other.
The winner from the dogs’ group will be competing against the winner of the bitches’ group. The winner will be the Best of Breed and the runner-up is the Best of Opposite sex.
The Best of Breed would go on to compete for the Best in Group (i.e. Retrievers – Flushing Dogs – Water Dogs – Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, American Cocker Spaniels, English Cocker Spaniels, Pointers, etc.).
The winner of each Group (Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs, Pinscher and Schnauzer – Molossoid Breeds, Terriers, Dachshund - Min-Longhaired, Spitz and Primitive Types, Scent Hounds and Related Breeds, Pointing Dogs, and Retrievers – Flushing Dogs – Water Dogs), would then compete for the Best in Show.
In this show, a particular dog may already earn points even at the breed level if the dog wins in the classes (non-champions), the Best of Breed, or Best in Opposite Sex (technically the second place). Points earned depends on the number of dogs beaten in the classes or if one wins the Best of Breed. A dog or bitch may earn a maximum of 5 points from one competition (1 ring = 1 judge). And since most dog shows are usually dual dog shows, the maximum championship points that a dog may earn regardless if it is adjudged Best in Show in both rings, say, defeating the other entered 349 dogs (granted there were 350 entries), will only be 10 points (please take note that for purposes of ranking dogs nationally, a separate point system is used independent of championship points).
In my honest opinion, with this format, a Philippine Champion title is not always a guarantee of quality. If you keep on showing your dog, chances are your dog will earn enough points to become a champion. The quality of the other competing dogs and the duration of completing the title should also be taken into consideration including the skill level of the judge/s and their own personal biases.
Moreover, take note that even if the parents (sire and dam) of a puppy are titled dogs, there is no guarantee that the puppy will turn out to be like them. If the sire and/or dam could not produce outstanding offspring, and even if the puppies produced are sound but with bad temperaments and health, then the titles are useless.
When you have decided to add a purebred dog to your family, please consider these:
When acquiring a puppy, do not get swayed by the marketing ploy of indiscriminate breeders about red or green marks, champion lines, and other marketing strategies that do not actually present a picture of the puppy’s essential pedigree. Do your own research, determine if the breed suits your lifestyle, interview breeder/s regarding the good and bad traits of their lines; their producing capability (consistency of producing sound puppies litter after litter), and the health and temperament predisposition of a particular “breeding” (some lines produce dogs prone to cancer, some lines produce dogs that are highly energetic, worst some line produce dogs that are very difficult to train/aggressive, etc.)
It is not advisable to buy from a “backyard breeder.” Some dog owners would attempt to breed in the hopes of having an offspring from their beloved companion animals. But breeding dogs, when done indiscriminately, is like playing Russian Roulette, you will never know what the combination of genes with untested parents will produce in terms of appearance (structure), health (hereditary diseases/longevity), and temperament (behavior and demeanor).
Of course, for me, buying a dog from a pet shop (even if its pedigree has several champions) is a mortal sin. That was my first mistake. The second mistake I made was that I bred that dog. And because of those mistakes, I contributed partly to the deterioration of the quality of golden retrievers in the country and the effect was exponential, far-reaching, and long lasting. Based on my pedigree research today, that mistake I made has already produced four generations of dogs carrying the dysplastic gene.
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