If you’ve watched conformation dog shows, you’ve probably heard long and complicated registered dog names like “GCHG CH Ramblin’ Red Slamdunk Buckpasser RN MH DN CGCA TKA.” That name belongs to an Irish Setter who came second in the Sporting Group at the 2023 AKC National Championship. Usually, when owners refer to their dog, they’re using their call name, not their registered name. That Irish Setter’s call name, for example, is “Jackson.”
But what do all of the letters at the beginning and end of his registered name mean? They’re his dog sport titles, and each of them signify certain acheivements in different sports. The list might look like gibberish if you aren’t familiar with the letters, but once you start to recognize them, it’ll be like you learned — and can understand — a new language. Read on to learn what titles are and how dogs earn them.
What’s a Dog’s Registered Name?
When a dog is registered with the AKC, they’re given a registered name. These names often reflect the dog’s pedigree, or family tree, by including the name of the kennel where the dog was born. Part of the name is also unique to each dog, and breeders often use themes for each litter, or name each pup starting with the same letter of the alphabet. Oftentimes the kennel will be at the beginning part of the name, and then the individual part of the dog’s registered name follows.
You can change a dog’s registered name so long as they haven’t yet earned any awards or titles or produced or sired a registered litter. You can change your dog’s call name too with a bit of training and a positive approach.
What Are Titles in a Dog’s Name?
What about all those letters at the start and end of a dog’s registered name? You won’t see those on a newborn puppy because dogs have to earn them. These letters represent the accomplishments the dog and their owner have received in various dog sports from agility to trick dog. Granting organizations give out titles when a dog has met certain standards or attained set goals. Depending on the organization, the titles, standards, and goals will vary. And most of these programs are open to both purebred and mixed-breed dogs.
First Place: MACH Pride Creek’s Walk It Like I Talk It MXS MJB (Wit), Border Collie, and Perry DeWitt.
Second Place: MACH3 Hob Nob Classic Powerful Vim And Vigor MXG PAD MJG PJD T2B2 TKN (Vim), Border Collie, and Kim Terrill.
Third Place: Breezyblue’s Phoenix Force MX MXJ MJB (#1 Hottie), Border Collie, and Don St. Croix.
Fourth Place: MACH Rival’s The Right Time MXS MJB OF (Tempo), Border Collie, and Bonny Henning.
2023 AKC National Agility Championship presented by YuMove, Tulsa, OK.
The title doesn’t just tell you what that dog has achieved, it also represents the many hours the dog and owner have put into working together. For conformation that might be grooming and physical care; for scent work that might be hours of training. It’s also time spent together as a team traveling to events. Earning titles is a great way to show off your dog’s superb abilities, but it’s also a way to bond with your dog and celebrate a goal well-earned.
How Do Dogs Earn Titles?
When dogs compete in events, they’re awarded points based on their performance. And most of the time, the dog needs to earn a qualifying score at the first level of difficulty before they are allowed to compete at the next higher level. For example, a dog needs to earn their Rally Novice (RN) title in AKC Rally before moving up to the Rally Intermediate (RI)title, and working towards the Rally Advanced (RA), then Rally Excellent (RE), Rally Master (RM#), Rally Advanced Excellent (RAE#), Rally National Champion (RNC), and Rally Champions (RACH#). The highest level earned is the title placed on the dog’s name. Once dogs get higher titles, like Rally Excellent, it would replace the previous title in their name, in this case, Rally Advanced. The “#” on the end of some of these titles will hold the number of times the dog has won this title.
Most titles go at the end of a dog’s registered name. The exceptions are championship titles. When a dog earns a champion or grand champion designation, those letters appear at the front of their registered name. But what is a champion? These are dogs who have made it all the way to the top of conformation events. For example, a dog could earn the title Champion (CH) in conformation, which would be placed at the beginning of a dog’s registered name. A CH dog has acquired 15 points (awarded for winning) in conformation trials, including two majors, which are wins at a dog show with a value of three, four, or five points. (The more dogs in the competition, the more points a win is worth.) And for those dogs who have already achieved their championship status, they can begin working toward their Grand Champion (GCH) title by earning more wins.
Once a dog has reached the top level of a sport, they can continue to earn points. But as there are no more titles to earn, numbers are sometimes used to indicate the number of times the dog has reached that level. For example, a dog can earn a Utility Dog Excellent title (UDX) by receiving qualifying scores at 10 separate obedience trials. Once the dog has earned 20 qualifying scores, a 2 is added to the title, so it becomes UDX2. For 30 scores, it’s UDX3, and onwards.
What Are Some Common Titles?
There are hundreds of different titles a dog can earn. The following list includes some of the more common titles broken up by the sport and shows whether they would appear as a prefix at the front of the name or as a suffix at the end.
Agility
ACT1: Agility Course Test 1 (suffix)
NA: Novice Agility (suffix)
NAJ: Novice Agility Jumper (suffix)
MACH: Master Agility Champion (prefix)
Canine Good Citizen
CGC: Canine Good Citizen (suffix)
Conformation
CH: Champion
GCH: Grand Champion
Field Trials
FC: Field Champion (prefix)
Herding
HT: Herding Tested (suffix)
HC: Herding Champion (prefix)
Hunting
JH: Junior Hunter (suffix)
MH#: Master Hunter (suffix)
SH: Senior Hunter (suffix)
Obedience
CD: Companion Dog (suffix)
UD: Utility Dog (suffix)
OTCH: Obedience Trial Champion (prefix)
Rally
RN: Rally Novice (suffix)
RA: Rally Advanced (suffix)
RACH#: Rally Champion (prefix)
2022 AKC Rally National Championship, held July 8, at the Roberts Centre/Royal Canin Ring in Wilmington, OH.
Therapy Dog
THD: Therapy Dog (suffix)
THDA: Therapy Dog Advanced (suffix)
THDD: Distinguished Therapy Dog (suffix)
Tracking
TD: Tracking Dog (suffix)
CT: Champion Tracker (prefix)
Trick Dog
TKN: Trick Dog Novice (suffix)
TKA: Trick Dog Advanced (suffix)
TKE: Trick Dog Elite Performer (suffix)
Now you can understand Jackson the Irish Setter’s registered name. If you break it down, it’s “Grand Champion Gold, Grand Champion, Ramblin’ Red Slamdunk Buckpasser, Rally Novice, Master Hunter, Dock Novice, Advanced Canine Good Citizen, Trick Dog Advanced.” What an accomplished dog! And if you and your dog put in the time and effort, you can earn titles like that too.