Reserve Earns No Points

Here's a fact that surprises many newcomers: Reserve Winners does not earn any championship points.

Only Winners Dog and Winners Bitch earn points from the regular class competition. Reserve gets a nice ribbon and an honorable mention, but zero points.

There is one exception: if the Winners dog is later disqualified (for example, due to a health issue discovered after the show, or a rule violation), the Reserve Winners would "move up" and receive the points that Winners would have earned.

This is rare, but it's an important safety net in the system. It's also why the Reserve selection is taken seriously by judges — they need to identify the true second-best dog.

Up next: Learn about Best of Winners, where Winners Dog and Winners Bitch finally compete against each other.