[Sunnie]

Kendra, I am pretty new to showing but you are correct in that just because a dog has a CH in front of it's name does not equate to being a quality dog. There ARE many levels of championships, but they do not get a CH in front of their name until they have won MANY shows. They need to have won 15 points and of those points 2 of the shows have to have been "majors" meaning they competed again SEVERAL dogs and not just 1 or 2. when they compete in a smaller show that is not a major, they usually only win 1 point for a win. so it takes many small wins and at least 2 major wins (by different judges) before they become a champion. and because so many health issues are NOT noticable when judging them, they still could be a not so good representation of the breed. But to me.. my logic would be if my dog had a serious problem, then I would not want to show them because you are only fooling yourself. how much pride would one get out of showing a dog to championsjhip that they knew had a genetic defect? so yes, having the CH in front of the name of many dogs in the pedigree certainly gives you a better feeling about the chances of it being a better quality dog, it isn't always the case. and you also want those CH lines to be in the first 2 generations.. the further back they are, the less significant they are. remember that even someone breeding proven CH to CH thruout their entire lines does not mean they will produce all champion quality dogs. they are lucky if they get one CH out of a litter. the longer they have been breeding and the better the breeder is at knowing which dogs will contribute the best qualities to their program, the more likely they will have healthy quality puppies.