The abundance of abbreviations before or after a dog’s name in a pedigree are likely to confuse the new dog owner or prospective puppy buyer. Following a list of the most common abbreviations with no claim to completeness.
For the stud book abbreviations please refer to this post.
1) What is important?
Most important are the health results, e.g. a unilateral deaf dog can have a bunch of titles, but you probably still don’t want it in your dog’s pedigree.
2) What is important for me?
Next you should know which abilities you expect from your dog, a lot of what can be expected you can read from the Working Titles.
Health Results
BAER +/+ both sides hearing
*BAER +/- or -/+ unilateral deaf
*BAER -/- bilateral deaf
Hips Excellent (OFA) – A1 (FCI) – BVA 0-4 (UK/Australia) – normal (former German) – “-” (Netherlands until 2004)
Hips Good (OFA) – A2 (FCI) – BVA 5-10 (UK/Australia) – normal (former German) – “-” (Netherlands until 2004)
Hips Fair (OFA) – B1 (FCI) – BVA 11-18 (UK/Australia) – normal (former German) – “Tc” (Netherlands until 2004)
Hips Borderline (OFA) – B2 (FCI) – BVA 19-25 (UK/Australia) – fast normal (former German) – “Tc” (Netherlands until 2004)
*Hips Mild (OFA) – C (FCI) – BVA 26-35 (UK/Australia) – leicht (former German) – “+/-” (Netherlands until 2004)
*Hips Moderate (OFA) -D (FCI) – BVA 36-50 (UK/Australia) – mittel (former German) – “+” (Netherlands until 2004)
*Hips Severe (OFA) – E (FCI) – BVA 51-106 (UK/Australia) – schwer (former German) – “++” (Netherlands until 2004)
Elbows Grade 0 unaffected
*Elbows Grade I mild changes
*Elbows Grade II moderate changes
*Elbows Grade III severe changes
*Results with this asterisk should NEVER appear in a pedigree, dogs with this condition must be excluded from the breeding program
Though for comparative purpose here the BVA values are summed up, usually both hips are given separately, as even if only one hip is dysplastic, the overall grade is dysplastic. The same is true for FCI results: Hips A/C does not mean B but C!!!
Show Titles
CH – Champion
GCH or Gr CH – Grand Champion
C.I.B. – International Beauty Champion (FCI)
C.I.E. – International Show Champion (FCI)
C.I.T. – International Working Champion (FCI)
Sh Ch (UK – Show Champion)
BIS – Best in Show (achievement, not a title)
Working Titles
C.I.C. – International Race Champion (FCI)
C.I.AG. – International Agility Champion (FCI)
C.I.OB. – International Obedience Champion (FCI)
C.I.TR. – International Herding Champion (FCI)
JH – Junior Hunter (AKC)
SH – Senior Hunter (AKC)
MH – Master Hunter (AKC)
FC – Field Champion (AKC)
Cumulative Titles of Show and Working
C.I.B.T. – Cumulative Title of International Beauty and Working Champion (FCI)
DC or DUAL CH – Show and Field Champion (AKC)
Read here the Regulations for the FCI International Championship
Read here the complete list of AKC titles