Kennel Club plans for a new model when allocating Challenge Certificates from 2024 onwards.The Kennel Club has announced that it plans to introduce a new model when allocating Challenge Certificates for shows held from 2024 onwards.

In some cases breed clubs which hold championship shows with good entries will be offered a second set of CCs in a year. The KC says that this is a move designed to give a boost to the show scene and provide more opportunities for specialists to judge at CC level.

It is estimated that the implementation of the new model for the 2024-2028 period would result in 20 breeds retaining their present number of sets of CCs, while 39 breeds would lose one or more sets at group and general shows. However, 104 breeds would gain one or more sets at breed club and/or group and general shows. There will be a net increase in CCs of over 200 sets over present allocations which themselves are 352 more than would have been available had the old allocation system been adhered to.

Like the old system had it been observed in recent years, the new CC allocation is to be based upon breed entry figures in preceding years coupled with the need to have a fair geographic spread of CCs throughout the UK.

The KC says that the existing model was last fully applied in 2011 for the 2014 allocation and is now well out of date, with many anomalies, for example the lowest entry breed does not have the lowest CC allocation. The creation in 2019 of the new ‘all breeds’ shows, which caused the minimum number of CCs on offer in some of the numerically smaller breeds to rise from seven to twelve, has highlighted the need for a new model, which is now being introduced. The ‘all breed’ show system also made a withdrawal of CCs from general championship shows more difficult to apply, with the burden of losses necessarily focussed on the non ‘all breed’ shows.

Many breeds are now ‘off the existing scale’, as some with increased entries have had none or too few CCs allocated, while other breeds have experienced decreased entries but no CCs have been withdrawn. This means that breeds, exhibitors and shows are not being treated proportionately across the board. To apply the existing model to breeds would have resulted in a net loss of 352 sets of CCs across the championship show scene.

The new model will be based on average numbers of dogs entered at shows over a five-year period, and the CC model and stud book bands will be linked together.

The KC says that the key objectives of this new approach include: “sustainability and transparency of the allocation; fairness across all breeds; the potential to boost entries; separate allocations for breed clubs and general societies; encouragement of partnership shows with associated cost reductions for organisers and exhibitors”. It adds that the latter point has the potential to be a major consideration when the show scene returns to normal in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Entry data will now be published annually and along with the model can be used as an early warning system to indicate where action is needed by breeds to maintain entries and consequently the breed’s CC allocation. Similarly, the system can be used to indicate where a breed is on the point of moving up to the next stage where an increase in CCs is possible. As the allocation will be in five-year periods, breeds will have more time to increase entries and influence their CC allocation, and shows will have more time to plan ahead. It is hoped that this transparent approach will inspire clubs to strive for improvement.
The Board has directed that there will be no reduction in the number of CCs available at breed club level in the 2024-2028 round. However, from the data provided elsewhere in this issue, breeds can see where the breed club allocation would have been reduced.

The Kennel Club has announced that the offer of ‘joint’ show allocations in a handful of breeds will cease from 2024 and the rotation of CCs at breed club level will no longer feature in the new way forward. The Kennel Club will be in talks with breed clubs where the new allocation may not be clear-cut, to work together to find a way forward for the breed club allocation. This follows last month’s announcement of an offer of a guaranteed championship show for a period of at least ten years as an incentive for breed clubs to amalgamate where appropriate for the breed.

Kathryn Mansfield, Kennel Club Secretary, said: “It is only right that all breeds should be treated fairly when CCs are allocated, which is why it was necessary to review the model we use to decide the number of CCs available for each breed. In this round there will be no reduction in the number of CCs allocated to breed clubs but additional CCs will be allocated, with the positive result that new clubs could be offered a championship show and some clubs will be offered a second championship show in a year.

“As with any undertaking of this size, we appreciate that the ‘devil will be in the detail’. In this respect, we know we are going to have to enter into dialogue with some breed clubs but please rest assured we will do so with a sympathetic ear.”

The most recent CC allocation covers 2019-2023 for general and group shows and 2022/2023 for breed clubs. The full allocation to clubs and general and group championship shows using the new model is expected to be announced during the first quarter of 2021. To this end the Kennel Club will NOT expect clubs to apply for championship status as in previous years. The Kennel Club will notify clubs and societies individually of their championship status.

Enquiries about the CC allocation should be emailed to sass@thekennelclub.org.uk.