I did not mean to offend you. Yes, I’ve no doubt with many dogs it’s trying. And many will never make it except maybe in 10 years a`la Salamander story.
‘Needless to say, it takes more than entering any dog of that breed “more than once a month” to finish it, at least by the average owner/handler.’
Perhaps I should’ve said “once a week” - because most are endlessly shown relentlessly for weeks on end all weekend.
My main point is there are TONS of “champions” every year. Anyone can see them at any given show - you can’t deny that. How often do you go to a show and find no Champions are there in the Specials class?
At any given show, indeed, Champions are a dime a dozen. It’s not as if they’re rare, which is what Joe Schmoe expect on hearing such a word.
“It currently takes far more Papillons in competition to qualify for a major than it does German Shepherds just for comparison.”
GS have been hugely popular for some 7 decades on end, so I’m pretty aware of dogs needing lots of opponents to get points and majors, regardless of Papillon schedules here and now, or whatever division of the country.
The object in dog shows is simple. You show your dog against others to narrow down the best breeding stock. How would it help to keep the purebred gene pools healthy if only one or two specimens out of 3,000 dogs representing well over 150 breeds were singled out as a “champion”?
Obviously, if a breeder knows nothing of gentics nor of breed standards, structure, temperament nor health, breeding two champions together isn’t going to insure a litter of pups that adhere to that breeds’ standard. There is only so much a championship can indicate. It doesn’t indicate pedigree, for example, or freedom from some hidden disease. And, it doesn’t insure that the champion from 2 parents will produce puppies of the same or better quality than itself.