You may have noticed the various letters that appear before and after some dog’s names. These are called “Titles”. There are several Clubs and Associations that offer titles. The most notable in the United States is The American Kennel Club (AKC). The AKC has many events in which titles are offered. AKC titles become an official part of a dog’s AKC record and are listed on the dog’s pedigree, on official certificates, and in event catalogs. Other titles are offered by other national associations and breed clubs and also become a part of the dog’s name but are not recognized by the AKC in the dogs official pedigree record. Some titles are listed as prefixes and some as suffixes. A listing of the various official AKC titles with their abbreviations can be found on the AKC website at: http://www.akc.org/events/titles.cfm

For example, this is Kanzu’s official name with all of his titles, a description of each and the granting association:

GCH TC Tigris African Treasure, RE MC FCh JOR CGC ET HIC VC

GCH Grand Champion
25 Grand Champion points and at least three Major wins under three different judges
AKC

TC Triple Champion
Received Dual Champion and awarded Agility Champion (MACH)
AKC

DC Dual Champion (Combination of Ch – Champion and FC – Field Champion)
AKC

RE Rally Excellent
Received after Rally Novice and Rally Advanced
AKC

MC Master Courser
AKC

MX Master Agility Excellent
Received after Novice Agility, Open Agility, Agility Excellent
AKC

MXJ Master Excellent Jumpers with Weaves
Received after Novice Agility Jumper, Open Agility Jumper, Excellent Agility Jumper
AKC

FCh Field Champion
American Sighthound Field Association (ASFA)

JOR Junior Oval Racer
National Oval Track Racing Association Other Breed (NOTRA-OB)

CGC Canine Good Citizen
AKC

ET Endurance Title
Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of the United States (RRCUS)

HIC Herding Instinct Test
Orange Coast Rhodesian Ridgeback Club (OCRRC)

VC Versatility Certificate
Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of the United States (RRCUS)