Hi, I'm new to showing & was wondering is it a good idea to enter a dog in more than one class (not stakes) as at Midland counties there was a bitch in Puppy & Post grad.
The pup won puppy class then was 2nd in post grad.  I have entered a novice breed class and also a post grad class at same show.  Can I not go in either class when I get there or are you not allowed to pull out of a class. As the novice is not a crufts qualifier but post grad is, would I be better to just go in post grad? Please excuse my lack of knowledge!

I don't think you'd be allowed to go in the 2nd class if you weren't present for the first one. However, if you don't want to go in the second one you don't have to. However, if you won the first place and skipped the second you would not be allowed to go in the challenge. I've only withdrawn from a class once and I didn't exactly mean to - got last place behind some very inferior dogs (lame and poorly constructed, corroborated by others so not just my sour grapes!) and I was still moaning about it to my friends when I suddenly realised I was supposed to be a repeat entry in the next class which was now halfway through. Didn't bother to leap up and go in!

I find it is mostly people new to showing who enter in more than one class (in my breeds at least - I did myself couple of times in the beginning!) Nowadays it's just one class, and maybe a stake when it's a good one.

> However, if you won the first place and skipped the second you would not be allowed to go in the challenge.

I wonder what's the rule if you get first in one class and say third in the other. Would you still be allowed to go in the challenge? Given that practically there is no point, as the dog who already beaten you will be there.

Only unbeaten dogs go into the challenge.

The answer to the first part of this question can very much depend on the breed. For instance, my breed is numerically high at champ shows & for the majority of puppies, 1 class is certainly enough & I certainly wouldn't be entering a puppy in Post Graduate.

You have to compete in the first class you enter, in order to compete in the 2nd class. If you win your first class, you can not withdraw from your 2nd class to remain unbeaten.

>I wonder what's the rule if you get first in one class and say third in the other. Would you still be allowed to go in the challenge? Given that practically there is no point, as the dog who already beaten you will be there.

No, you wouldn't (or shouldn't) be allowed in the challenge. People used to sometimes say to me I should have entered just one class when my junior would win Junior but be 2nd or 3rd in PG or Limit because of maturity, but I was after JW points and in any case, if you can't beat the dog in the class, you won't beat him in the challenge, so it makes no difference that I can see.

On the subject of JW points, do you have to tally them yourself or are they tallied by the kennel club? How does it work? How many points for a win? How many needed? I confess I've been entering two classes per show, largely because it seems a lot of time and travel to just enter one class. The JW question is irrelevant to my boy, he's too old now but it would be useful to know for my new little girl.

In my breed with so few new pups,  if you enter one class your dog gets very little ring experience or competition, and there are rary enough dogs for JW points in puppy or even Junior.

> On the subject of JW points, do you have to tally them yourself or are they tallied by the kennel club? How does it work? How many points for a win? How many needed?

You keep a tally yourself & claim when you have 25 points(completing the relevant form. You get 3 points for first at a champ show & 1 point at open shows. The rules are changing.. cant remember from when they change though. I'm sure someone will do a link on the rules, as i'm in a bit of a hurry, if not I will do this evening.

Thank you.

https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/activities/dog-showing/already-involved-in-dog-showing/dog-show-awards/

That's great Lexy, thank you. Don't know how I missed that!