| A course -- One of the three trial courses AKC herding trials offers. It is an arena course, with panel obstacles and a fence line pen. |
| AHBA -- American Herding Breeds Association. One of the sanctioning bodies for herding trials open to all herding breeds. They have several courses, HRD (Herding Ranch Dog) ; HTD (Herding Trial Dog); HTAD (Herding Trial Arena Dog). They also have two test levels, HCT and JHD (Herding Capability Tested and Junior Herding Dog). There's also a "large flock" course under development. |
| AKC -- American Kennel Club |
| ATDs -- An ASCA herding title standing for Advanced Trial Dog sheep. In ASCA, when the dog earns an advanced title on all three classes of stock (sheep, ducks or cattle) they receive the title of WTCH (pronounced "witch") which means Working Trial Champion. The titles, in order, are: STDc,d,s; OTDc,d,s; ATDc,d,s. (Started Trial Dog, cattle, ducks, sheep; Open Trial Dog, cattle, ducks, sheep; Advanced Trial Dog, cattle, ducks, sheep). ASCA also has Post-Advanced and Ranch Trial titles. |
| B course -- On of the three trial courses the AKC herding program offers. It is an open field course, styled on the traditional Border Collie trials. It is open to all herding breeds like all AKC herding events, but one sees mostly Border Collies running on this course. |
| BC -- Border Collie |
| Ch -- Champion |
| HC -- Herding Champion. A title AKC bestows on the dog when it has earned 15 points in competition in the advanced class. Points are earned based on the number of dogs competing in the advanced classes and one must win at least twice and one of those wins must be for a "major" (3 - 5 points). |
| HCT -- Herding Capability Tested |
| HIAc,d,s -- Herding Intermediate A course, Cattle, Ducks, Sheep |
| HIT -- High in Trial |
| HRD III -- AHBA title. There are three levels to AHBA trials: I, II, III, with III being the highest. When a dog has earned the level three title, they can start earning points towards the AHBA Herding Champion title (HTCh) |
| HS -- Herding Started - AKC title - no longer used as now all AKC herding titles are course and stock specific |
| HIBc,d,s -- Herding Intermediate B course, Cattle, Ducks, Sheep |
| HSAc,d,s -- Herding Started A course, Cattle, Ducks, Sheep |
| HSBc,d,s -- Herding Started B course, Cattle, Ducks, Sheep |
| HSCc,s -- Herding Started C course, Cattle, Sheep. The C course is a tending course, only cattle or sheep are used. |
| HT -- Herding Tested. AKC's lowest level herding title. This is a non-competitive, pass/fail test |
| HTD --See above under AHBA |
| HXAc,d,s -- Herding Excellent A course, Cattle, Ducks, Sheep |
| HXBc,d,s: Herding Excellent B course, Cattle, Ducks, Sheep |
| MACH -- Master Agility Champion |
| MX -- AKC Agility
title - earned by getting 10 clean runs in Excellent B on the standard
course. MXJ -- AKC Agility title: earned by getting 10 clean runs in Excellent B on the jumpers course. |
| OA -- Open Agility |
| OAJ -- Open Agility Jumpers |
| OTCh -- Obedience Trial Champion |
| OTDd -- ASCA herding title. This is the mid level title, it stands for Open Trial Dog, ducks |
| OTDds -- ASCA herding title. This is the mid level title, it stands for Open Trial Dog, ducks, sheep |
| Pro-novice -- A class offered at Border Collie herding trials. It is for open level handlers and their young dog(s) or a novice handler with a pro-trained dog. With some variations depending on what part of the country you are in, the course will consist of an outrun, lift, fetch, drive, cross-drive and pen. |
| PT -- Pre-Trial Tested. AKC's second level herding title. This is a non-competitive, pass/fail test. |
| Started -- AKC and ASCA definition for the lowest trial classes in herding trials. The other levels are Intermediate (AKC) or Open (ASCA) and Advanced (both AKC and ASCA). |
| STDds -- |
| U-CD, U-CDX, U-UD --These are obedience titles from the United Kennel Club (UKC). UKC is the second oldest purebred dog registry in the United States. They sanction conformation shows and obedience trials, among other things. |
| UD -- AKC obedience title meaning Utility Dog. Utility is the highest level of competitive obedience in AKC. From the Utility class one can compete for OTCh points. |
| UDX -- Utility Dog Excellent, an obedience title |
| USBCHA -- United States Border Collie Handlers Association. The sanctioning body for Border Collie trials. It is only in USBCHA sanctioned trials one can earn the points required to be invited to the National Finals. |
| WTCH -- See ATDs |
