The Judge Selects Winners

From the assembled class winners, the judge selects one dog as Winners Dog and awards the purple ribbon.

This is the single most important placement in the regular classes because Winners is the only placement that earns championship points. First place in a class earns a blue ribbon and advancement, but no points. It's the purple ribbon that counts toward a championship.

The number of points earned depends on:

• How many class dogs were competing (across all classes, not just the winner's class)
• The breed being shown
• The AKC division where the show takes place (there are 15 divisions across the US)

After Winners Dog is selected, the entire process repeats for bitches. The judge goes through all the classes for bitches, and the first-place winners return to compete for Winners Bitch — another purple ribbon and another set of championship points.