Here in Ireland a dog must win forty Green Star points to be awarded the title of Irish Champion

NEW GREEN STAR SYSTEM FOR IRELAND

On Friday 3^rd November 2006 at the I.K.C. meeting of An Ard Chomhairle in Dublin, the delegates agreed to a change the Green Star system which has been in operation since January 1978. This is the first major change since the formation of the Irish Kennel Club in 1922. The new system will come into operation from January 2007 and will be subject to review in 2009.

The current points system will be replaced with a simple numerical calculation of seven green stars won under seven different judges. To ensure a smooth transition from old to new, a conversion will be applied from points already gained under the old system.

Points won under the old system will be transferred as follows –

1 - 5 points translates to 1 Green Star

6 – 11 points translates to 2 Green Stars

12 – 18 points translates to 3 Green Stars

19 – 24 points translates to 4 Green Stars

25 – 31 points translates to 5 Green Stars

32 points or more translates to 6 Green Stars

Grading will also be introduced at all Championship shows and only those dogs graded Excellent (or in the case of puppies -Very Promising) will be allowed to compete for the green star. There would be a stipulation that 1 Green Star must be won after the age of 15 months. Champions will also be eligible to compete for the green star.

There will no longer be any enhancement for Group wins.

The title of Annual Champion in each breed will be awarded to the dog with the highest number of Green Stars won in the calendar year. In the event of a tie, the award will be made to the dog with the greater number of Best of Breed wins.

Another change to note is the decision to implement 10 groups at all Championship shows from June 2007; these will mirror the F.C.I. groupings and will see some breeds move from their traditional home, for example Dalmatians move into Group 6 along with Beagles and Bassets, and moving into Group 5 will be the Pomeranian, Siberian Husky and Samoyed along with other Nordic and Spitz breeds, the merging of the Toys and remaining Utility breeds into the Companion Group 9, and the prospect of the Miniature Schnauzer and the Affenpinscher taking on the mighty St Bernard in Group 2. Dachshund will have their own group, Group 4 and the Gundogs will be split into Groups 7 and 8.

In operation since January 1978, the Original Green Star System in Ireland meant a dog must win forty Green Star points to be awarded the title of Irish Champion; subject to these wins having included:-

(a) Four wins of five points or more in the breed under four different judges or:-

(b) Three wins of five points or more, together with one win of ten points in the breed under three different judges or:-

(d) Two of the Green Stars must be won after the age of twelve months.

A Green Star (GS) is a certificate won at an Irish Championship Show; each Green Star is worth a number of points, calculated on the Green Star Index, ranging from one to ten, and is determined by the number of dogs and/or bitches actually exhibited in the breed on the day.

In Tibetan Terriers if five dogs are exhibited, then the Green Star for Tibetan Terrier dogs will be worth five points (this is known as a "major" and a dog needs at least four majors to become a champion. But because there tends to be more bitches exhibited at shows here, there has to be six bitches exhibited for the bitch Green Star to be worth five points. If only two bitches are exhibited then the GS value drops to one. If eight bitches are exhibited on the day then the value of the bitch Green Star increases to six points.

The value of the Green Stars keeps increasing in relation to the number of bitches and dogs exhibited until a maximum of ten Green Star points is reached - thus twelve bitches or more present on the day always give a Green Star value of ten points.

The Best Of Breed always takes the higher number of Green Star points on offer in the breed on that particular day. For example, if the dog GS was worth only two points with the bitch GS worth six points; and the dog goes BOB his GS value jumps from two to six points (the bitch still keeps her six points despite being beaten for B.O.B.). If on the other hand the bitch goes B.O.B. then the GS points remain as they were, with the bitch keeping her six points and the dog keeping just two.

If a dog is having a 'run' of good wins and the other exhibitors decide that they are not going to enter their dog just to "have it beaten" thus keeping the GS points low; by winning B.O.B. the dog can pick up more points. Likewise if a Tibetan Terrier wins the Utility Group then it takes the highest number of points awarded to any dog competing in the same group i.e., the B.O.B. Tibetan Terrier can enter the group with only six GS points, but when it wins the group the value increases to ten as it has beaten a Tibetan Spaniel with a GS win of ten points.

A dog may only use one Group win towards the title of Irish champion but all group wins during a year can be used to gain the title, Annual Champion. The title of Annual Champion is awarded annually in each breed to the dog or bitch which has won the greatest number of Green Star points in its breed with a minimum of thirty, to be won under not less than three different judges. Therefore it is possible for a dog or bitch to be annual Champion in the breed, yet not have achieved the title of Irish Champion; this sometimes happens in breeds that are numerically small, where dogs can win many Green Stars during a year, all worth less than five points.

Each dog or bitch winning an Annual Championship is entitled to put "AN 20--" after its registered name. Therefore when you are perusing a catalogue and notice that a dog has (AN ‘04) after it’s name then you know that it was the top winning dog in its breed under Irish Kennel Club rules in 2004. A dog winning Annual championship two consecutive years is awarded the title of Irish Champion. From January 2007 this system will be replaced by the new system.