Challenge Certificates for Bolognese, by Chris Thatcher
You may have recently noticed a post on the website about three breeds being given Championship status. One of these breeds are our very own Bolognese breed. To those who do not exhibit their dogs or have ever been to a dog show, what does this mean? Well, Bolognese have up until now been classed as a Rare Breed with the Royal Kennel Club which meant that Bolognese as a breed cannot make up champions in the United Kingdom.
So, to try and explain there are four levels of dog shows that are licensed by the RKC (Royal Kennel Club), there are Companion Shows, these are usually run in your local area and are usually fund raisers. Next level is Limit Shows, this means that they are run by a Show Society but are limited to certain breeds/classes etc., Next level are Open Shows, again run by Canine Societies but are open to all Kennel Club Registered dogs. Open Show classes are usually for specific breeds with classes for puppies, juniors, veterans and all ages in between. A typical Open show may have anything up to about 300 classes.
At the top we then come to Championship Shows. These shows are also held by a Society but at a lot higher level than the Open Shows. These shows are held all over the United Kingdom, licensed by the RKC but have a lot more classes than the Open Shows. This is where you can make up a Champion dog over the course of time. So, we come back to the notice on the website about CC status. A CC means a Challenge Certificate or sometimes known as a Ticket.
The following was taken from the RKC website ‘A CC is awarded to the dog that the judge believes is the best dog and the best bitch within each eligible breed on the day. The judge will only award the CC if they believe that the winning dog is of such outstanding merit as to be worthy of the title of Champion. Any dog that wins three CCs (under three different judges, one of which must be when the dog is over a year old) is then awarded the title of Champion, which is one of the highest accolades in the show world and it entitles the dog to carry the letters Ch at the front of its name’.
This all sounds great but the RKC have only granted 3 sets of CC’s over the course of a year. The first set of tickets will be given at Crufts 2026, the second set at United Kingdom Toy Dog Show also held in March with the venue at Stafford and the third set will be at a British Bolognese Club show to be held in October again also at Stafford. If the same dog and the same bitch are lucky enough to win all three shows, there will be a Champion Bolognese male and female in 2026. If different dog and bitches win it could well take a very long time before there is a champion Bolognese in the UK.
I hope this explanation has given the non-show Bolognese owners an insight into the world of show dogs.
