Understanding Breed Show placings requires a little background on how the judge first “rates” each dog and then places it in sequence with the other entries. Ratings change depending on the age and qualifications of the dog.

Puppies up to 12 months old may be awarded a rating of Very Promising (VP), Promising (P), or Less Promising (LP). Ratings for Youth and Yound Dogs which are between 12 and 24 months of age are Very Good (SG), Good (G), Sufficient(A), and Insufficient or Unsatisfactory(U).

Over the age of 24 months, dogs which have a Schutzhund title or other recognized working degree (such as the herding title, HGH) are also eligible for the Excellent (V) and Excellent Select (VA) ratings in addition to the ratings available for Youth and Young Dogs. The Excellent Select rating is only awarded at the annual National Sieger Show.

The letters shown in brackets are the abbreviations used for each rating in North America. In the puppy ratings, the letters are based on the English words whereas the ratings for dogs older than 12 months are based on the German words. In German, SG comes from the words, Sehr Gut, G represents Gut, A represents for Ausreichend and U represents Ungenugend (Unsatisfactory) while V represents Vorzuglich and V-A represent Vorzuglich Auslese.

During the individual examination of each dog in a class, the judge forms an opinion as to which rating category the dog should be placed and makes notes in the judge’s book for later reference. Once all entries in the class have been examined, the dogs are called out based on the rating category. As the class proceeds with gaiting around the ring, the judge completes the process of determining the ratings and the placings within each rating category.

At the end of judging and prior to providing the individual critiques, the judge will often begin the commentary with the number in each rating category. For example, in a class of 8 entries, the judge may award 4 times V, 3 times SG and 1 G.

To mark the catalogue in this example, the first 4 placings would be awarded V1, V2, V3 and V4 whereas the fifth, sixth and seventh placings would be marked with SG1, SG2 and SG3. Can you guess how the the eigth place would be marked? You’re correct if you said G1!

Understanding Breed Show placings may be a little more complicated than looking up a number to find out how far behind the winner the dog was but they will also help you to know about the quality of the finish!