AKC obedience titles in order, OTCH points and title tracker

The AKC obedience titles in order are BN, CD, CDX, UD, UDX, OM, OGM and then the OTCH, and every obedience Q is a score of at least 170 out of 200 with more than half the points on each exercise. BN is optional, so plenty of dogs start at CD. Your dog needs its CD to enter Open and its CDX to enter Utility, and once it has the UD, the Open B and Utility B runs start counting toward everything after it.

The titles and numbers come from the AKC Obedience Regulations, Chapters 3 to 8 and 16. The A classes are for newer handlers: in Novice A, for example, the handler has never handled a dog that earned a Novice, Open or Utility title. After your dog finishes a title from an A class it can stay in that A class for 60 more days before moving to B.

The obedience row on our AKC title tracker page lists this ladder next to every other AKC sport, and the obedience jump heights are on the dog jump height chart. If you’re weighing obedience against rally, our AKC rally page compares the two side by side.

For a CD your dog needs qualifying scores in Novice at three AKC licensed or member obedience trials, and a qualifying score means 170 or more out of 200 with more than half the points on every exercise. Novice has six exercises: heel on leash and figure eight, stand for examination, heel free, recall, sit stay (get your leash), and a group sit and down stay. There’s no minimum number of dogs in the class, so a Q in a class of two counts the same as a Q in a class of twenty.

Novice A is for dogs without a CD, handled by their owner or a family member who has never handled a dog that earned a Novice, Open or Utility title. Novice B is open to anyone handling, so trainers and experienced handlers enter B. Beginner Novice (BN) is a gentler optional start with five exercises, all on leash except the recall, and a dog with a CD can still enter Beginner Novice B. Dogs can compete from 6 months old, and mixed breeds enter through AKC Canine Partners once spayed or neutered (minimum ages for every sport).

Once your dog has its UD, every Open B or Utility B score of 190 or more earns OM points, and 200 of them earn an Obedience Master title, with at least 60 from each class. The points go by score: 6 for 190 to 191.5, 9 for 192 to 194.5, 12 for 195 to 196.5, and 15 for 197 to 200 (Obedience Regulations, Chapter 7, Section 3).

Each 200 points is a level, and points past 200 carry over to the next one: OM1, OM2 and so on up to OM9. Finishing the 10th level, 2,000 points in all, earns the OGM, Obedience Grand Master, which is awarded only once. For a sense of scale, a dog scoring 195 in both classes every trial earns 24 points a trial, so the first OM takes 9 trials (216 points), and the OGM takes 84.

OTCH points come from your placement (1st to 4th) and the number of dogs in competition in Open B or Utility B, and a qualifying score of 197 or better earns 1 point if the schedule gave none. Dogs that were excused or disqualified by the judge don’t count toward the number in competition (Obedience Regulations, Chapter 8, Sections 2 and 5).

Open B OTCH points

Utility B OTCH points

Utility B starts paying at 3 dogs and Open B at 5. Small Utility B classes have their own higher scale in Hawaii (up to 13 dogs) and in Alaska and Puerto Rico (up to 10 dogs). The helper below uses the regular scale, so check Chapter 8, Section 5 for trials there.

How the helper works: it finds your class size in AKC’s table for Open B or Utility B and reads the points for your placement. If that’s 0 and the score is 197 or more, it gives the 1 point instead. It adds the OM points for the score from the OM table and tells you whether a first place had enough dogs to count toward the OTCH. One example: 1st of 15 in Utility B with a 196 is 14 OTCH points and 12 OM points, and that first counts.

To enter the AKC Obedience Classic your dog needs the title for its class plus three Qs in that class during the qualifying period, July 1 to June 30, or one High Scoring Dog in the Regular Classes award from that class. Masters is the exception and asks for scores of 193 or better. The Classic is held in December alongside the AKC National Championship in Orlando, and Regular and Preferred dogs compete together in the same classes.

Preferred dogs qualify the same way with the PCD, PCDX or PUTD and the Preferred classes. Your dog can enter one class only, the highest it qualifies for. A Novice dog can earn up to two Open Qs in the period and still enter Novice, and an Open dog up to two Utility Qs. The details are in AKC’s Classic criteria for the next event, and AKC’s Obedience Classic Eligibility Report (under Competitor Reports in the AKC Shop) shows where your dog stands. Dates and entries are on the Obedience Classic page.

AKC publishes obedience rankings for all dogs and within each breed, with lists for Novice, Open and Utility and a separate list by OTCH points. The class lists take dogs in the A and B classes that don’t have an OTCH yet. The OTCH list counts only points earned after a dog’s first OTCH. AKC posts mid-year and year-end lists on its obedience rankings page, and All American Dogs (AKC’s listing for mixed breeds) get their own row in the breed lists.