What do all those LETTERS mean? As a novice to the world of dogs and dog shows, as you try to figure out what all the letters mean by a dog's registered name, I have put together a little 'helper' ( cheat sheet ) for you. When you look at a pedigree, breeders and owners sometimes have added letters before and after the name. This tells you of a title that the dog has earned. I choose to think of it as the titles BEFORE the name deal with how the dogs looks, sort of like a history of a Beauty Show... to start off, they work towards their CHAMPIONSHIP. To achieve that, they must win 10 points ( in Canada ) and compete against other dogs of the same breed. They are judged on conformation, structure, movement and how they adhere to the breed standard. Once this is achieved they can put CH in front of the registered name. Another prefix title that can be earned is Grand Champion, Grand Ch. There can be other prefixes here to show the country in which the dog has won its championship - for example US, Can. or International can appear here as well. If the dog won a BEST IN SHOW at any all breed show, they can add BIS to the front as well. A BEST IN SPECIALTY SHOW - is BISS, - they could also earn BEST PUPPY IN SHOW - BPIS or BEST PUPPY IN SPECIALTY SHOW - BPISS, or if they are a senior dog, BEST VETERAN IN SHOW - BVIS, or if they win those titles in multiple shows it becomes MBPIS or MBVIS respectively. I think of it as how closely the dog adheres or represents the breed standard and how he did in comparison to others of the breed. His "beauty" if you will. The letters at the end of the name, shows is workability or "brains" for lack of a better term. There are lots of different titles that can go here, ranging from CGN - Canine Good Neighbour, Hunting tests - these are labelled with ( H ) Junior hunter, master hunter etc., Tracking tests ( T ) Working Certificates and their levels ( WC ) Utility dog ( U ) Companion dog - and Obedience title (CD) Versatility ( V ) Draft dog ( DD) and then finally titles that show how as dog's or bitch's offspring faired in the show ring or obedience rings as well, with the titles Outstanding Dam and Outstanding Sire ( OD, OS respectively ) Also, at the end you may see SDHF - which stands for Show Dog Hall of Fame. I may have missed a few, I will dig out one of my books on all the possible titles you can put on your dog and try to update it with all of then, these titles will help you read the pedigrees of our dogs. I hope this helps you navigate our pedigrees.
BISS MBVIS Can Ch YBFGoldens Only One "Buck"