Point Systems of Various Species

Speaking of dealing with all sorts of species, I’ve also had the opportunity to model the point systems for a wide variety of them.  This week we launched a rabbit breeding game (laugh if you will, it's been the most successful first week of any site I've launched since 2003) and there was a different point system for that as well.

How do they compare to each other?

To ‘champion’ a dog or bitch (it’s not a bad word, I even use it around our pastor) you have to earn 15 points in shows with a maximum of 5 points in any one show.  The way you earn those points is a tad bit complicated but it boils down to winning your sex.  The amount of points you earn for doing that depends on how many dogs were entered, the breed, and where you were showing.  Among the 15 points, at least two of the shows have to be ‘majors’ where you earn at least 3 points.

Different regions have different entry requirements for different breeds based on the popularity of that breed in the region.  Showing a dog in a region where that breed is popular will require more entries to earn 3 points than showing that same dog in a region where the breed is virtually non-existent.

The most straightforward method of calculating points for any of the species.  Dogs are ranked by how many other dogs they defeated.  The top dogs in the nation at the end of the year earn a spot at Westminster.

If you think people spend a bunch of money on steers, just look at dogs.  It’s not the slightest bit uncommon for somebody to spend six-figures over the course of a year to campaign a dog to win a breed at Westminster.  Imagine a show cattle world where it is acceptable to run ads in industry publications touting the quality of your still showing steer (well, actually, it kind of IS starting to happen).  That’s not only acceptable in the dog show world, it’s almost a requirement for the top end dogs.

It falls victim to a similar ‘hauling contest’ that other species do.

There are numerous point ranking systems for each of the species but they’re relatively small and specialized in comparison to other types of animals.

The most popular one, and I’m not just saying this because I’m in Texas, still has to be the TJLA which is detailed here…

It’s a time tested system that has worked for 35-years.  The primary complaint about it would probably be the ‘hauling contest’ nature of it.  There’s not enough differentiation in points to significantly reward winning and it makes sure that how much diesel you burn is almost as important as having the top animal.

My gosh is it complicated.  Different point systems for different events and different point systems for different breeds within the same event.  Some events care only about earnings, some earn points based on how many events won, some are just how many animals you have beaten, etc.  There’s nothing at all uniform about it and going into detail on each one would triple the length of this blog post.

Cats

You earn winners ribbons for winning a class and once you have 6 ribbons your cat is a champion.  Once your cat is a champion you start earning points toward a grand championship which requires 200 points.

There’s also another point system for spayed and neutered cats that runs parallel to the championship system that is called the premiership.

I actually like this one the best.  The top five rabbits in a class earn points based on how many were entered in the class.  A rabbit earns 6 times the amount of entries for first, 4 times the amount of entries for second, 3 times the amount of entries for 3rd, etc.  It prevents the hauling contest nature of Texas jackpot points.

Take an example of two animals as an example.

Animal 1 – Places 1st of 10 in two shows.

Animal 2 – Places 6th of 10 in five shows.

In the rabbit system, Animal 1 would earn 120 points (10 entries * 6 * 2 shows) and Animal 2 would earn nothing.

In the TJLA system, Animal 1 would earn 90 points (45 points * 2 shows) and Animal 2 would earn 100 points (20 points * 5 shows).

I don’t think anybody would take five 6th place finishes in a class of ten over two wins in the same size of classes.  It’s not a problem (if it even is a problem) unique to the TJLA, it happens in dogs as well.