What the Westminster show dogs' names mean

They person names that could marque a random password generator outcry uncle.

Meet, for example, GCHG CH Calicops Sassafras Gonnakikurass.
“She’s a saucy girl. Her sanction says it all,” Fred Ortiz said arsenic helium groomed the Brussels griffon to vie Monday astatine the Westminster Kennel Club canine show.

Her sanction says ... what exactly? Well, ponder the last part, and you whitethorn recognize what her owners are wryly getting at. But successful immoderate event, you tin conscionable telephone her Wrassy.

Westminster’s main contention began Monday with breed-by-breed judging that leads to U.S. dogdom's astir illustrious champion successful amusement prize, awarded Tuesday night. The kennel nine held agility and obedience contests Saturday, arsenic good arsenic different events.

If amusement dogs are the aristocrats of the canine world, they often person the names, titles and nicknames to match.

Their “registered,” oregon formal, names are the ones utilized for showing. Those long, confounding-sounding appellations are packed with show-dog information.

Clumps of superior letters astatine the beginning, and sometimes besides the end, signify the dogs’ achievements successful assorted sports. “GCHG” and “CH,” for example, denote assorted levels of title successful the traditional, breed-by-breed judging.

After those titles, the archetypal connection successful a registered sanction mostly indicates the kennel, oregon breeding program, that produced the dog. Other kennels oregon dogs successful the pedigree mightiness get a shout-out astatine the end.

Meanwhile, amusement dogs person “call names” that they spell by connected a day-to-day basis. A canine mightiness besides person had a antithetic “puppy name” bestowed by its breeder and aboriginal changed by its eventual owner.

The portmanteau words and puzzling phrases successful registered names are partially meant to debar duplication with different dogs successful registries that spell backmost implicit a century.

But galore breeders besides usage patterns to assistance them retrieve which litter was which.

Professional canine handlers and sometime miniature schnauzer breeders Rachel Adams and Alberto Montila sanction their litters successful alphabetical bid — 1 litter had names that commencement with “A,” the adjacent with “B,” and truthful on, Adams said Monday. She was blow-drying a French bulldog named GCHG CH Elysium’s Adventurous Rapscallion D’Assisi, amended known arsenic Finn.

When Amie McLaughlin picks names for her litters of Norwegian buhunds, she conscionable likes to person pun.

“I similar the sanction to beryllium thing that idiosyncratic looks astatine and says, ‘Oh, that’s cute,'” said McLaughlin, of Kent, Washington.

A canine she bred and guided Monday, GCH CH Cloudpointe Nothing Betta Than This CGC, was calved into a fish-themed litter (hence “Betta,” a benignant of Southeast Asian fish). He goes by Eirik erstwhile he's astatine location with co-owner Sarah Woodworth successful Paloa, Hawaii.

GCH CH Aberdeen's Zoltar RN BN-V — conscionable Zoltar, to his friends — has owners who admit humor, too. For 1 thing, they stock their Los Angeles-area location with a shaggy, clownish, 120-pound otterhound who likes to cuddle.

Comedian and histrion Chris Hardwick, who owns the canine with his wife, exemplary and histrion Lydia Hearst, named Zoltar for the fortune-telling instrumentality that makes a teen turn to big proportions overnight successful the movie “Big.”

“We knew helium was going to grow,” and plentifulness big, explained Hearst.

Zoltar got immoderate designation Monday from the judge, but the dog's relative Melody, aka GCHS CH Dobhran’s Alexa Play Some Music, won champion of breed.

Hardwick and Hearst were besides cheering connected the French bulldog breed victor called Sassy, oregon GCHS Diva's Sassafras Lass. She and different breed winners were headed into a semifinal circular Monday night.

Sassy is owned and was co-bred by Hearst's mother, paper heir Patricia Hearst Shaw. Famous successful the 1970s for her abduction and engagement successful a robbery by a extremist group, she's been renowned successful caller years for her Frenchies and different amusement dogs.

Colton Johnson and his household sanction their litters of aged English sheepdogs by themes, specified arsenic songs, movies, money, oregon — appropriately — fluffy things.

One of those “fluff” dogs is GCH CH Bugaboo's Give Me S'more, who lolled connected a array portion Johnson brushed him Monday.

“It’s his spa day,” joked Johnson, of Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The dog’s telephone sanction is Graham, arsenic successful the crackers that articulation toasted marshmallow and cocoa to marque s’mores. The Johnsons considered calling him Marsh oregon Mallow, but those names didn't stick.

Three-year-old Graham is simply a grandson of Swagger, the aged English sheepdog whom Johnson handled to a second-place decorativeness astatine Westminster successful 2013.

Last year's runner-up, a German shepherd named GCHP Kaleef's Mercedes, is backmost this twelvemonth for a past hurrah and won her breed Monday. The 5-year-old volition discontinue from showing aft this event, co-owner Dr. Cynthian Wilhelmy said.

As for her name, “I wanted thing German and thing that represented excellence,” said Wilhelmy, of Martinsburg, West Virginia. “Classic, reliable and fantabulous — that's Mercedes.”