Annual Awards
Each year the Gordon Setter Club of America, Inc. recognizes those individuals that have out-performed all others. GSCA currently presents the following 16 awards in the areas of conformation, field, obedience, and agility:
Bench Gordon of the Year
Best of Breed Gordon of the Year
Brood Bitch of the Year
Stud Dog of the Year
Best Junior Handler
Gun Dog of the Year
Gun Dog (Retrieve) of the Year
Derby Dog of the Year
Dual Purpose Dog
Puppy of the Year
High Scoring Advanced Obedience Dog
High Scoring Utility Dog
Black & Tan Obedience Award
High Scoring Open Dog
High Scoring Novice Dog
High Scoring Novice Agility Dog
High Scoring Open Agility
High Scoring Agility Excellent Dog
Beauty, Brains, and Bird Sense Award
Owner Handled Gordon Setter of the Year
To receive an award, a dog must be owned or co-owned by a GSCA member, and only those points earned while the owner is a member will count. The awards are made on a calendar-year basis. Award winners will be announced and presented in conjunction with the conformation, obedience, and junior showmanship awards. Four placements are given in each category. Rotating trophies are presented for first place in each category.
Other criteria for the awards listed above are as follows:
Bench Gordon Setter of the Year: Awarded to the Gordon Setter accumulating the highest number of points (i.e., dogs defeated) from AKC Group and Best in Show placements.
Breed Gordon Setter of the Year. Awarded to the Gordon Setter winning Best of Breed over the largest number of Gordons in AKC point shows.
Stud Dog and Brood Bitch of the Year: Awarded to the dog and bitch who produced the most offspring earning champion titles. “Champion titles” include AKC field, obedience, and/or conformation champions.
Top Producer Awards. This designation is awarded to dogs with 10 champion get (AKC: bench, field, or obedience) and bitches with 6 champion produce (same criteria).* Titles need not be earned in a single year. This is an automatic award.
Best Junior Handler: Presented to the club member accumulating the highest number of points while showing a Gordon in Junior Showmanship competition. This is an automatic award with four placements. One point is awarded for each dog/handler team defeated.
High Scoring Novice, Open, and Utility Dog: Awards will be determined by the first three qualifying scores at each level, regardless of the year(s) in which they were earned as long as the third qualifying score falls within 2000. These are automatic awards, with four placements.
High Scoring Advanced Obedience Dog: Based on points tabulated using the First and Foremost system in Open and/or Utility, for dogs who have previously attained a title at that level of obedience. Example: A dog earned its CDX title in Open A on 11/10/00. On 11/11/00 that dog had a qualifying score in Open A. The November 11 score will count toward the Advanced Obedience Dog Award. This is an automatic award, with four placements.
The Black and Tan Obedience: Award will be awarded to the dog/handler team with the top five highest average annual scores from the regular obedience classes. The winner will be awarded a suitable trophy. This is an automatic award.
High Scoring Novice, Open, and Agility Excellent: Awards will be determined by the first three qualifying scores at each level, regardless of the year(s) in which they were earned as long as the third qualifying score falls within 2000. These are automatic awards, with four placements. Ties will be decided by course completion times.
Beauty, Brains, and Birdsense Award: This award will be automatically granted to any Gordon with an AKC conformation, obedience (including tracking or agility), and field title. However, if your dog’s field title is a WD or WDR, please send Cliff Schnepf copies of your three pass certificates.
For more information contact: Bill Dargay
Field Awards
GSCA offers field awards in the following categories: Gun Dog of the Year, Gun Dog (Retrieve) of the Year, Derby Dog of the Year, Puppy of the Year. There are four placements for each award. Field Awards Chair, Kerin Elduen, has prepared a form on which you should record American Field wins and placements. These are the only field wins/placements that must be supplied by the owner of an eligible Gordon. Tabulation of all other field wins/placements will be done by Kerin and the verification procedure previously described will be used.
Please direct any questions concerning field awards to:
Kerin Elduen