Conformation
	Conformation showing is the "beauty pageant" of dog shows - also known as "the breed ring". This is where the title of Champion is earned, with the abbreviation CH being placed at the beginning of a dog's registered name. Conformation shows award points to the winners for each individual breed, and then additional points may be earned if a breed winner advances through its Group and on to Best In Show. Points are determined by the number of dogs of each sex entered for any given breed. The maximum number of points that can be earned at a single show is five. A dog needs a total of 15 points in order to obtain a CH, with at least two shows having enough dogs competing to result in at least three points being awarded. There are seven Groups - all AKC recognized breeds are divided amongst these. The Groups are Sporting, Working, Terrier, Hound, Non-Sporting, Toy and Herding. Conformation showing is a process of elimination. For each breed, one individual dog is chosen as Best of Breed. That dog will advance to the Group judging, along with all the other Best of Breed winners for breeds also listed in that Group. The dog who is chosen as the Group winner then advances to the final round for Best In Show. Each of the dogs in Group and Best In Show judging are not being compared to each other - rather, they are being judged as to how closely they represent the accepted written standard for that particular breed.