How to Read & Understand the Titles Awarded to Retrievers

Some times it is difficult to read and understand titles mentioned in pedigrees of dogs belonging to retriever group. I have made an effort to find and explain those awards and titles. Please read & understand the titles awarded to retrievers by following organizations on dog’s pedigree:-

1. The American Kennel Club (AKC)
2. The United Kennel Club (UKC),
3. The Hunting Retriever Club (HRC)
4. The North American Hunting Retriever Association (NAHRA)
5. The Canadian Kennel Club (CKC)

AKC Titles
Competitive titles (Shown before a dog’s name on an AKC pedigree):
1. NFC – National Field Champion
2. NAFC – National Amateur Field Champion
3. FC – Field Champion
4. AFC – Amateur Field Champion
5. CH – Champion
6. DC or Dual CH – Dual Champion (CH + FC)
7. OTCH – Obedience Trial Champion

Noncompetitive titles (shown after the dog’s name on an AKC pedigree):
1. MH – Master Hunter
2. SH – Senior Hunter
3. JH – Junior Hunter
4. CD – Companion Dog
5. CDX – Companion Dog Excellent
6. UD – Utility Dog
7. TD – Tracking Dog
8. TDX – Tracking Dog Excellent
9. UDT – Utility Dog Tracker
10. UDTX – Utility Dog Tracker Excellent

UKC Titles
These titles appear before a dog’s name.
1. GR HR CII – Grand Hunting Retriever Champion
2. HR CH – Hunting Retriever Champion
3. HR – Hunting Retriever
4. U-CD – UKC Companion Dog
5. U-CDX- UKC Companion Dog Excellent

NAHRA Titles
These titles appear before a dog’s name.
1. GR HR CH – Grand Master Hunting Retriever
2. MHR – Master Hunting Retriever
3. WR – Working Retriever

CKC Titles
Competitive titles(appearing before the dog’s name):
1. CNFC – Canadian National Field Champion
2. CNAFC – Canadian National Amateur Field Champion
3. CFC- Canadian Field Champion
4. CAFC – Canadian Amateur Field Champion
5. CAN CH- Canadian Champion

Noncompetitive titles(appearing after the dog’s name):
1. CAN CD – Canadian Companion Dog
2. CAN CDX- Canadian Champion Dog Excellent
3. CAN UD – Canadian Utility Dog
4. CAN WCX – Canadian Working Certificate Excellent
5. CAN WCI – Canadian Working Certificate Intermediate
6. CAN WC – Canadian Working Certificate

Breed Club Titles
These titles are recognized only by the individual breed clubs and appear after the dog’s name:
1. WDQ- Working Dog Qualified
2. WDX or WCX- Working Dog Excellent
3. WD or WC – Working Dog or Working Certificate

Stars
**: Two Stars indicate dogs with competitive field trial placements.
***: Three Stars indicate dogs that are qualified All-Age competitive field trial dogs, but have not satisfied the requirements of an FC or AFC title.
****: Four Stars indicates this dog is a sire or dam with five or more offspring that have the aforementioned two or three stars, or five or more offspring that have completed FC or AFC titles.