RULES FOR THE BULLDOG CLUB OF AMERICA 2024 TOP-20 PLUS
PURPOSE
The Bulldog Club of America Top-20 Plus Competition will showcase top-winning Bulldogs based on AKC statistics compiled for a certain time period detailed below and will be governed exclusively by these Top-20 Plus Competition Rules (the “Top-20 Plus Rules”) as they shall be interpreted by the Top-20 Plus Steering Committee in its sole authority (referred to herein as the “Top-20 Plus Committee”). This event is intended to educate and entertain Bulldog exhibitors, fanciers and judges while spotlighting a select group of dogs that 1) defeat the highest numbers of Bulldogs during a specified time period or 2) earn eligibility to participate in another manner as set forth in the Top-20 Plus Rules. This competition is an added incentive for breeders and owners to strive to breed and show Bulldogs that excel in structure, movement, health, temperament and conformation as described in the Bulldog breed standard.
The Top-20 Plus Competition culminates at the Top-20 Plus Competition Gala (the “Top-20 Plus Gala”), held during the BCA National Show Week. Exhibition and judging of the entries for the Top-20 Plus Competition will take place during the Top-20 Plus Gala. The Top-20 Plus Gala is a Semi-Formal/Formal attire event for attendees, spectators, judges, and participants. Business suits or Black Tie/Tuxedo and cocktail/evening clothes are considered appropriate attire for the event, although no one will be refused admission for more casual dress.
The Top-20 Plus Competition is a BCA “Special Attraction” rather than an AKC-Sanctioned event and is therefore not governed by AKC’s Rules Applying to Dog Shows or other AKC rules, procedures or policies except as may be otherwise provided herein.
ELIGIBILITY
For the 2024 edition of the Top-20 Plus Competition, a Bulldog owned or co-owned by a BCA member may qualify for the Top-20 Plus Competition in two different ways. In each case, for a Bulldog to be eligible for entry in the Top-20 Plus Competition, at least one owner of the Bulldog must be a member of BCA as provided herein. The first way to qualify is to be among the twenty (20) Bulldogs which have accumulated the highest number of Bulldog breed points from AKC conformation event competition during a specified qualifying period will be “Breed Point Qualifiers.” The qualifying period (the “Qualifying Period”) may vary from year to year depending on the dates for the BCA National Show. For the 2024 Top-20 Plus Competition, the Qualifying Period began October 1, 2023 and will end September 30, 2024. The breed point standings will be determined using the sum of breed point totals as published by AKC for each month of the Qualifying Period. The Top-20 Plus Committee will post the then current standings of the top twenty-five (25) Bulldogs periodically on the BCA website and the BCA Nationals 2024 website for interim periods during the Qualifying Period at its discretion, including standings for the first six months of the Qualifying Period as soon as those results are available.
The second way for a Bulldog to qualify for the Top-20 Plus Competition is through the BCA Divisions. Top-20 Plus Competition is a “Plus” because in addition to the Breed Point Qualifiers, each participating BCA Division is given the opportunity to qualify additional Bulldogs as follows. Each Division wishing to make additional Bulldogs eligible for the Top-20 Plus Competition must designate in advance a specialty or other show which will be held within the Division during the Qualifying Period as that Division‘s Qualifying Event (“Qualifying Event”) for the Top-20 Plus Competition and must notify the Chair of the Top-20 Plus Committee of that designation prior to the date of the Qualifying Event. The Bulldog selected as the Best of Breed winner of each properly designated Qualifying Event will be invited to enter the Top-20 Plus Competition so long as at least one owner of the Bulldog is a member of BCA on the date of the Qualifying Event and on the date entries close for the Top-20 Plus Competition. Bulldogs which qualify for the Top-20 Plus Competition as a result of winning a Qualifying Event within a Division and satisfying the BCA membership requirement shall be referred to as “Division Qualifiers.” Any Division that fails to designate a Qualifying Event in accordance with these Top-20 Plus Rules, including providing the required advance notification to the Chair of the Top-20 Plus Committee, shall not be permitted to have a Division Qualifier.
In prior years, the Top-20 Plus Committee also designated the winners of certain prominent events as what were referred to as Committee Qualifiers. At the Top-20 Plus Gala, especially during judging, no distinction or identification whatsoever shall be made among the entered Bulldogs as to whether each is a Breed Point Qualifier or a Division Qualifier. The audience in attendance at the Top-20 Plus Gala will be asked to adhere to this same rule. Collectively, the Breed Qualifiers and Division Qualifiers will be referred to as “Qualifying Dogs.”
Without regard to whether an entered Bulldog is a Breed Qualifier or a Division Qualifier, no dog may participate in the Top-20 Plus Competition unless on the date of that Bulldog’s qualification and on the deadline for entry to the Top-20 Plus Competition, at least one owner or co-owner of the Bulldog was a member of BCA. The date of qualification shall be the last day of the Qualifying Period for each Breed Point Qualifier or the date of the Qualifying Event for each Division Qualifier. In addition, in order to enter or participate in the Top-20 Plus Competition, no owner, co-owner or handler of the Qualifying Dog can be under any kind of suspension of privileges from AKC or BCA as of any of those dates.
Dogs owned or co-owned by any member of the Top-20 Plus Committee are permitted to participate in the Top-20 Plus Competition and, if qualified, compete at the Top-20 Plus Gala; provided that the member has not participated to any extent in the selection of judges.
When the official AKC breed point statistics for the entire Qualifying Period are available, the Top-20 Plus Committee will compile the official invitation list of the Breed Point Qualifiers. The Top-20 Plus Committee will use its best efforts to notify the owners of a Breed Point Qualifier soon after the Bulldog’s qualification becomes known. The Top-20 Plus Committee also will confirm invitations for each Division Qualifier no later than near the end of the Qualifying Period. If any owner of a Bulldog has a question at any time about whether his or her dog has qualified, please contact the Top-20 Plus Committee Chairperson at the number shown in the BCA Directory. Qualifying Dogs are not required to be AKC champions of record in order to enter the Top-20 Plus Competition.
ENTRY, MUSIC AND ADMISSION
The Top-20 Plus Committee will send, as early as reasonably possible and well in advance of the deadline for entry, an entry form for the Top-20 Plus Competition to be held at the Top-20 Plus Gala to at least one owner of each Qualifying Dog. A completed entry form, together with payment of an entry fee (the amount of which shall be determined by the Top-20 Plus Committee and printed on the entry form), must be returned by the entry deadline to the person and address indicated on the entry form in order for any Qualifying Dog to compete at the Top-20 Plus Gala. A biography of the dog of no more than 400 words must accompany each entry, along with a photograph exclusively of the dog, and a three-generation pedigree to be used for the Top-20 Plus Gala Catalog. All of the foregoing must be returned as provided on the entry form no later the deadline for entry, which is expected to be approximately one month before the date of the Top-20 Plus Gala.
In addition, each entrant will be asked to choose an approximately three (3) minute piece of music to be played while the entered Bulldog is exhibited. Music must be selected and the selection sent to the Top-20 Plus Committee Chair by the date indicated in each dog‘s invitation or entry form.
Payment of the entry fee entitles the participant to one full admission to the Top-20 Plus Gala, including a voting ticket which can be exchanged for one People’s Choice Ballot. Additional admissions to the Top-20 Plus Gala for other owners, co-owners, handlers, breeders or other parties with an interest in any entered Bulldog must be purchased separately. The Top-20 Plus Committee would like to encourage everyone attending the 2024 National Show, including parties with an interest in an entry, to purchase an admission to the Top-20 Plus Gala, and plan to dress accordingly. The Top-20 Plus Committee also kindly asks all participants in the 2024 National Show to respect the Top-20 Plus Committee’s decision not to allow anyone without an admission to pass through security and enter the room for any portion of the Top-20 Plus Gala, including judging. Therefore, to reiterate, interested individuals are strongly encouraged to purchase admissions to the Top-20 Plus Gala so that they may enjoy the full experience of having a connection to a Qualifying Dog.
THE TOP-20 PLUS STEERING COMMITTEE
The Top-20 Plus Steering Committee, or Top-20 Plus Committee as referenced in these Top-20 Plus Rules will be made up of the Chairperson and at least two committee members chosen by the Chair. Each year the Top-20 Plus Committee must include at least one person from the Show Committee for that year.
THE TOP-20 PLUS EVENT COMMITTEE
The Top-20 Plus Committee may, in its discretion, appoint in any year a Top-20 Plus Event Committee (the “Event Committee”) made up of BCA members from the Division hosting the Top-20 Plus Gala and led by an Event Chair. The Event Committee would be responsible for organizing and executing the details and logistics at the host hotel for the Top-20 Plus Gala in a particular year. The purpose of the Event Committee is to ensure that those individuals responsible for the specifics of the Top-20 Plus Gala are integrated with the BCA National Show Committee and will strive to make the Top-20 Plus Gala a marque event during the National Show Week. The Event Committee is also responsible for preparing a budget for the Top-20 Plus Gala and may present sponsorship opportunities as are available and requested. The Top-20 Plus Committee will provide oversight and advice to the Event Committee and will be responsible for the qualification process and other actions unrelated to the Top-20 Plus Gala itself. The suggestion is for an Event Committee of between two and six volunteers, principally in order to have adequate resources for the set-up of the Top-20 Plus Gala itself. Any member of the Event Committee in any year may own, co-own or handle a Bulldog that is a Qualifying Dog for the Top-20 Plus Competition at the Top-20 Plus Gala for that year so long as that Event Committee member (and any immediate family member) has not participated in any way in the selection of judges for the Top-20 Plus Competition.
THE TOP-20 PLUS GALA
The Top-20 Plus Competition will come to an exciting close as the feature of the Top-20 Plus Gala held at the host hotel Tuesday evening during the National Show Week. Admission tickets will be available for purchase individually or as part of the National Show sponsorships and packages. Again, no one will be allowed to attend any portion of the Top-20 Plus Gala without an admission.
No one who will be judging intersex competition for any show during the BCA National Show Week may attend the Top-20 Plus Gala prior to completion of his or her judging assignment. However, if any of those judges affected by this rule own or co-own a Qualifying Dog, that dog may be exhibited at the Top-20 Plus Gala by any person other than the judge or an immediate family member.
The Top-20 Plus Committee will appoint a teller committee for the Top-20 Plus Gala made up of two people who have not bred, owned or co-owned, at any time during the Qualifying Period, any dog competing in that year’s Top-20 Plus Competition. The teller committee will tally the votes submitted by the three judges; count the votes for the People’s Choice award; assume control of possession over the judges’ scoresheets and People’s Choice ballots during and after the Top-20 Plus Gala; and provide a summary of the vote to the Top-20 Plus Committee Chair.
JUDGE SELECTION
The Top-20 Plus Committee will select a judging panel for the Top-20 Plus Competition held at the Top-20 Plus Gala comprised of three judges who are highly experienced Bulldog owners, breeders, judges or handlers. There is no secondary requirement of any kind. No person who owns, co-owns, handles or plans to handle a dog in intersex competition at the BCA National Specialty in a particular year will be eligible to judge at the Top-20 Plus Gala that same year; provided that this limitation does not apply to individuals who exhibit in intersex competition only at a back up show during the National Show Week. In addition, no one on the slate of conformation judges (including sweepstakes judges) for any show of the National Show Week, or any pre-event show held in the same geographic area on any day during the week prior to the BCA National Show Week, or the immediate family members of any of them, shall be eligible to judge at the Top-20 Plus Gala.
Any member of the Top-20 Plus Committee who owns or co-owns a Qualifying Dog at any time during any portion of the Qualifying Period shall recuse himself or herself completely from the process for the selection of judges, even if that Qualifying Dog will not be entered at the Top-20 Plus Gala. There must be at least two members of the Top-20 Plus Committee able to select judges. If not, the BCA National Show Chair, the National President and the Event Chair can be asked by the Chair of the Top-20 Plus Committee to participate in the selection of judges so that at least two individuals are available to select the panel. Anyone added for purposes of selecting the judging panel is subject to the same rules requiring recusal as provided above.
Judges selected to judge the Top-20 Plus Competition will be asked to do so at minimal cost to BCA. The names of these judges will be kept strictly CONFIDENTIAL until the day of the Top-20 Plus Gala. The judges will be expected to sign a Nondisclosure Agreement, under which each judge will agree that the Top-20 Plus Committee shall have the right in its sole discretion to replace a judge who it determines has failed to adhere to the agreement.
RING PROCEDURE
Dogs will be called to the ring in a randomly pre-selected order. After a circuit around the ring, each dog will go to the ramp and be examined by each of the three judges. When each judge has recorded his or her scores on the scoresheet for the ramp examination, the dog will gait while being observed by all three judges. The judges will complete the score for gait and turn in their scoresheets to the ring steward for that dog as it is leaving the ring. Judges will not total the points given to each entry; the teller committee will tally the scores and write in the total score on each scoresheet. Upon the completion of all judging, the entered dogs will return to the ring to give the audience one last showcase and a final circuit around the ring.
Depending on the number of entries, the Top-20 Plus Committee may elect to use, as a means of effective time management, an advance judging period, prior to the scheduled time of the Top-20 Plus Gala, for the full examination of the dogs by the entire judging panel, to be followed by an abbreviated judging period, including gait, held during the Top-20 Plus Gala. If this procedure is used, the judges will complete the scoresheets for Head and Body during the advance judging period and will then complete the scoresheets for General Properties, including gait, during the Top-20 Plus Gala. The judges will not be permitted to change the scores given during the advance judging period while completing his or her scores at the Top-20 Plus Gala. This scheduling decision for judging shall be at the sole discretion of the Top-20 Plus Committee and will not be followed unless the Top-20 Plus Committee believes it to be a necessity.
SCORING PROCEDURE
The scoresheet to be completed by each judge shall be substantially similar to the form attached to these Top-20 Plus Rules as Exhibit B. That scoresheet has been derived from the current Bulldog Standard approved by BCA and reflects those revisions and abbreviations as the Top-20 Plus Committee deems advisable in its sole discretion so that the scoresheet describes breed characteristics in a simple, direct manner and can be easily understood by the judges. If a judge leaves blank any space in which there should be a score, the teller committee will assume a score of zero in that blank, unless other available information conclusively suggests a different assumption.
Scoresheets will be pre-printed and provided to the judges for each entry. The scores submitted by all three judges will be tabulated by the teller committee, and the Bulldog with the highest numerical score will be named the winner of the Top-20 Plus Competition and receive the cash prize that comes with winning. The scoresheets will be totaled separately by each member of the teller committee and then confirmed against each other to ensure accuracy. The teller committee shall retain all scoresheets and copies of any tabulated score summaries for one year from the date of the Top-20 Plus Gala.
In the event that more than one Bulldog shall have the same highest numerical score, the teller committee will retabulate the scores of only those dogs that are part of the tie by dropping the lowest score received by each of the dogs and then comparing the total score for each dog submitted by the other two judges. If any one of those dogs shall then have the highest numerical score among the dogs that had been tied, that Bulldog will be named the winner of the Top-20 Plus Competition. If no one dog has the highest numerical score based on this tabulation, the teller committee will repeat this process for all tied dogs by dropping the highest score received by each of these dogs and then comparing the total score for each dog submitted the other two judges. At that point if any one of those dogs shall then have the highest numerical score among the dogs tied, that Bulldog will be named the winner of the Top-20 Plus Competition. If there remains a tie for highest score after this second tie-breaker, then each of the dogs still tied after the second tie-breaker will be named a winner of the Top-20 Plus Competition by a tie and shall receive all the recognition that would have been bestowed upon them as a single winner.
The teller committee will provide a summary of the tabulated total scores and the winning Bulldog’s number, name and total score to, and only to, the Chair of the Top-20 Plus Committee, along with the winner of the People’s Choice award as described below. The winner will be kept confidential until the scheduled time for announcement during the BCA National Show Week (the date, time and location of which shall be publicized), which will not be prior to judging intersex competition for the BCA National Specialty that same week.
PEOPLE’S CHOICE
Admissions to the Top-20 Plus Gala may be purchased separately or as part of a National Show sponsorship or show package. Each attendee of the Top-20 Plus Gala, including owners, breeders and other parties with an interest in a Qualifying Dog, will receive with their purchase one (1) admission for the Top-20 Plus Gala together with one (1) People’s Choice voting ticket. To receive a People’s Choice Ballot, an attendee would go to the secure voting area prominently located at the Top-20 Plus Gala at any time during the Gala and exchange the voting ticket for one People’s Choice Ballot which will contain the numbers and names of each dog entered. Attendees will vote for a single entry. When the ballot is handed out, that attendee’s name will be checked off the voting list. No one is permitted to submit more than one People’s Choice Ballot. After receiving a ballot, each attendee is expected to complete his or her ballot prior to leaving the voting area and will place the completed ballot in the locked Ballot Box in that area. The ballot must be marked and turned in by the attendee before he or she leaves the voting area in order to be valid. Each attendee may exchange no more than one voting ticket for one ballot. Only those attending the Top-20 Plus Gala with an admission are eligible to receive a voting ticket or ballot and vote, and the voting area will close as soon as all attendees have had a chance to vote after the conclusion of the event. If any People’s Choice Ballots are found outside the voting area at the Top-20 Plus Gala, they cannot be voted and will be retrieved and immediately destroyed. When voting has closed, the completed ballots will be removed from the Ballot Box by the teller committee and held in their possession. A sample of the People’s Choice Ballot will be available for review by any attendee prior to voting. The ballots will be tabulated, and the Bulldog with the highest number of votes from valid People’s Choice Ballots will be named the “People’s Choice” winner. If there should be more than one dog with the same number of highest votes among all entries, the teller committee would try to break the tie as follows. The teller committee would cast one vote from each of the three judges for the Top-20 Plus Gala for the dog to which each judge gave their highest tabulated score. The winner selected as the People’s Choice will be announced immediately after the winner of the Top-20 Plus Competition is announced.
For purposes of these Top-20 Plus Rules, “immediate family” will have the same meaning ascribed to it under AKC rules.
RESERVATION OF RIGHTS May 1, 2024
The Top-20 Plus Committee reserves the right to modify the above-described Top-20 Plus Rules, as necessary and appropriate, and will use its reasonable best efforts to communicate any material revisions in theTop-20 Plus Rules to BCA members and other interested parties by posting the Top-20 Plus Rules on the BCA website or the 2024 National Show website.