Baggins Kennel is first and foremost a show kennel.
This means that we compete with other top kennels as a way to measure the success of our breeding program.
Show dogs are judged based on their conformance to the Shar-Pei standard, which defines the characteristics of the ideal Shar-Pei.
As you look over the many gallery pictures depicting show wins by Baggins Shar-Pei, you may notice little placards describing each win.
Here's a quick primer on what they are trying to tell you:
What happens at a show?
The main event at each show is the conformation competition.
At some specialty shows other competitive events take place, but the conformation event is the only route to points and championships.
The first stage of the competition is the class.
The entrants are divided into classes based on age, sex and whether they are already a champion.
The winner of each class of non-champions returns to the ring to compete for the "Winner's Dog" and "Winner's Bitch" awards.
These two animals receive points towards their championship.
The better of these two is also awarded "Best of Winners".
The number of points awarded is between 0 and 5, depending on the number of dogs in the competition.
Awards of 3 to 5 points are considered "majors".
A dog needs 15 points and two majors to become a champion.
The two non-champion winners then compete with all the entrants who are already champions.
The winner of this competition is awarded "Best of Breed".
If the show is a "Specialty", meaning a single breed is competing, then this is the end of the conformation.
Otherwise, the best of breed winners go on to compete at the "Group" level.
All "Best in Group" winners go on to compete for the "Best in Show" title.
National Specialty
Once a year, the top Shar-Pei in the country get together to compete in the National Specialty show.
This is the Super Bowl of the Shar-Pei show world, and Baggins Shar-Pei are among the most frequent winners at this elite level of competition.
Last updated on 11/14/2010