What do the letters before and/or after a dog's name mean?
Wherever in your reading you find reference to the results of canine competitions, or write-ups on individual dogs, you may have seen a series of letters before or after a dog's name, and wondered what they signify.
You may also have noticed that some dogs' names are written up differently: the usual practice is to put inverted commas around a pet-name, but not a kennel or pedigree name.
There is a bewildering array of 'titles' on offer to dogs in Dogsports competition in different classes of Obedience, Flyball, Agility, Jumping, Tracking, Herding, Conformation (the Show-ring) Rally Obedience, Retrieving, Earthdog, Dancing With Dogs, and others which are less common.
Letters before the name indicate a Championship achieved, most frequently in the Show-ring, which will appear as Ch. or Aust. Ch.(you may also see N.Z.Ch.or Am.Ch.or similar, indicating titles gained overseas). There are Obedience Champions too, O.C. We also have in this Club a T.Ch. (Tracking) and at least one dog with a Dual Ch. (Championships gained in two different disciplines, Conformation and one other) and even a Triple Champion who has gained her titles in the show-ring as well as in Obedience and Tracking.
However, the initials you will see most often, and may already be aspiring towards yourself, are:
