If you have been searching for just the right puppy, you may have come across certain abreviations for titles and certifications and wonder what they mean.  I show in the AKC obedience ring,  and in the european show ring.  I have not yet titled a dog in the schutzhund field, but plan to soon with Ally and I'm training Karma, Fanny, and Trina for the sport as well.   I can tell you it is quite a intensive process.  Training starts young, very young, and is a daily job that takes extreme dedication, and quite a bit of money.  I prefer the schutzhund training because it involves the "whole dog".  Schutzhund is a three phase sport, involving obedience, tracking, and protection.  People tend to balk at that word, protection, but lets face it, our breed is one born to protect.  Early on the schutzhund field a pup is taught to play tug with a person, (usually a man), other than yourself, with you standing behind him.  By doing so you teach your pup to work independently in front of you.  The dog learns in play, and eventually gets to where he is big enough, and bold enough to grab onto the sleeve on the "helpers" arm.  We teach the dog to be under control during this work, and when the helper drops, or "slips" the sleeve, he is safe from further attack.  This is the key difference between personal protection work, police work, and schutzhund work.  The dog is not taught in schutzhund work to attack the man, but rather bite the sleeve on the man.  If a dog is titled in schutzhund, you will see the abreviations after the dogs name, with the level he or she has acheived.  If you see this title, you can bet someone has put major time and effort into this dog.  In order to be schutzhund titled,  a dog has to earn an endurance degree,  AD.  An AD is a 12 mile trot alongside his owner while the owner rides a bike.  A traffic test is part of the AD showing the dogs control and nerves in a busy situation. A dog also has to earn a BH,  obedience degree before schutzhund titling.  The BH is much more intense than the AKC,  CD title.  It involves a very long downstay under distraction, and a gun test to show the dogs nerves.  After all of this,  a dog is ready to trial for his schutzhund degree.  Each level gets progressively harder.  Once a dog is schutzhund titled, he may go for his conformation rating.  This title is found in front of the dogs name.  It is common to see a SG (very good) rating for working bloodline dogs,  and a V (excellent) rating for conformation bloodline dogs.  A VA (select excellent) can only be earned at a Sieger show,  and is a very coveted title.  Before a dog is titled in Schutzhund, he can be shown conformation, but puppies can earn only a P (promising),  VP (very promising), and older dogs can only earn a SG (Very Good) before titling.  A dog has to be more than just AKC registered to show in schutzhund, he has to be tattooed, and registered with a organization such as Schutzhund USA.  After a dog is schutzhund titled, he or she may be Korklassed.  Korklasse is abreviated with a KK, then the rating level or 1 or 2.  L is for Lebenszeit which means for life.  A dog has to be "kored" twice in their life.  For example KKL1 means korklassed for life, recommended for breeding.  A Kormiester examines the dogs conformation and nerves and recommends, or not, that dog for breeding.  A level 1 is the best rating.  A dog with weak nerves, or broken and missing teeth cannot be recommended for breeding.  A dog with serious structural faults will not be recommended for breeding.  There are many titles not in this tutorial, and if you have any questions about something you see on a pedigree, feel free to ask.   Had enough info yet?  If not read on!!  To stay on the european line of conversation,  hips certified in Germany will read "A" stamp, then the rating of Normal, Fast (almost normal), or noch zugelassen, (acceptable).  All dogs used for breeding in germany must have an "A" stamp.  Hips are certified at 12 months and up in this way.   A note on the difference between working bloodline, and conformation bloodline dogs:  Working line dogs are generally more "drivey" (high energy) than conformation bloodline dogs.  Conformation bloodline dogs generally make better household pets, as most working line dogs MUST work, or they will find their own work to do (and it's not usually work you want done!)

 

Onto AKC.  I choose to show my dogs in the european ring conformation, because I do not believe what they are looking for in the AKC ring translates to a dog with a body that is able to stand up under "work".  I do show in the AKC obedience ring though.  It is where I got my start in showing, and will always show there.  An entry level title is called a CD, which means Companion Dog.  It is a on leash, and off leash test of a dogs workablity under distracting circumstances.  The next level is a CDX, which means Companion Dog Excellent.  It involves all off leash work, and jumps with a dumbell, drop on recall, and is conciderably more involved than a CD.  The next level is a UD, Utilty Dog, and involves hand signals, and sent discrimination, with increasingly difficult heeling excersizes.  UDX, Utilty Dog Excellent,  OTCH,  Obedience Titled Champion, are other very advanced AKC titles.  Dogs in the USA have hip certifications by the OFA,  Orthopedic Foundation for Animals.  The OFA is a foundation set up to judge the quality of a dogs hips.  Ratings include, Excellent, Good,  Fair,  and Dysplastic.  Dogs have to be 24 months of age to recieve a final OFA rating, but can be prelimed at any time to evaluate a dogs hips for his age group.  I require in my guarantee that a dog is prelimed at 12 months old to better guide my breeding program with early information on hip quality.  If I have to wait 24 months for feedback on what is being produced by breeding pairs,  several more litters will already have been produced.  There is so much more than just genetics that play into hip development.  In our schutzhund sport, our dogs are worked very hard at a young age, and hip quality must be revealed early to show if the dog can withstand the rigors of training.  It is the goal of every ethical breeder to produce dogs with sound hips, that will last the lifetime of a dog.  Dogs that are to be OFA'd should be microchipped or tattooed to prove that the dog being examined, is actually, that dog.  AKC requires this to honor the X-rays evaluation. 

 "Whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot about puppies."