To "make a Champion," or, more correctly, become a Champion of Record, a dog must win a total of fifteen points.  These fifteen points must include two major shows and be won under at least three different judges.  A major show is a three, four, or five-point show, and since the maximum number that can be won is five, it must take even a top winning dog at least three shows to finish his championship.

Insisting that a dog win two major shows convinces us that the dog is capable of winning at shows where, because enough dogs are entered, you can reasonably expect to find an entry representative of the breed.  Points are awarded to the dog who goes Winners Dog and to the bitch who goes Winners Bitch - and to these two only.

There are five regular classes in each sex in each breed: Puppy, Novice, Bred by Exhibitor, American Bred, and Open.  The winner of each of these classes competes for Winners Dog or Winners Bitch.  For example: the winner of the Puppy Dog Class, the winner of the Novice Dog Class, the Bred by Exhibitor Class, the American Bred Class, and the winner of the Open Dog Class will, immediately after the judging of the Open Dog Class, come into the ring to compete for Winners Dog and Reserve Winners Dog.  Then the classes for bitches will begin.  The winners of the Puppy Bitch Class, Novice Bitch Class, Bred by Exhibitor Bitch, American Bred, and the winner of the Open Bitch Class will, immediately after the judging of the Open Bitch Class, compete for Winners Bitch and Reserve Winners Bitch.

The judge, immediately after judging winners, also names a Reserve Winners Dog and a Reserve Winners Bitch, and this dog, the Reserve Winner, will receive the points if for any reason, usually infraction of certain rules of eligibility, the points are taken away from the winner.  The Winners Dog and the Winners Bitch, immediately after the judging of Reserve Winners Bitch automatically go into the Best of Breed Class, the class in which Champions are entered, and will then compete for Best of Breed together with any champions of that breed that may be entered in the show.

Immediately after choosing Best of Breed, the judge will choose his Best of Winners from the aforementioned Winners Dog and Winners Bitch in the event that neither of these two was placed Best of Breed.  After selecting Best of Winners, the judge will choose a Best of Opposite Sex to Best of Breed.