When you begin going to dog shows you need to know the dog show lingo. That way you'll understand what people are saying and know how to communicate. These are terms used at AKC dog shows.

Terms:

- The American Breed Class is a regular class open to all dogs six months old, which were whelped  in the United States. Its parents must have mated in the U.S.A.  The exception is champions.

- The term angulation means the angle made when bones meet at the joint.

- Agility Trials are competitions in which the dogs surmount or negotiate jumps and obstacles.

- An All-Breed Show is a conformation show and any bred can show.

- When a trainer uses a treat to attain a dog's attention causing him to seem alert it is called baiting.

- The bench show is one in which the dogs are seated on benches, when they are being shown. This allows the attendees, breeders, and exhibitors to view and discuss them.

- The champion is the title given to a dog that defeats a specific number of dogs in designated competitions during a series of shows.

- The exhibitor is the person that brings a dog for showing and shows him in the correct class.

- A  fancier  is someone that has a keen interest and normally is actively involved in some part of the sport of purebred canines.

- The gait is how the dog moves. It is one indicator of  the dog's condition and structure.

- To groom is brushing, trimming or combing the dog's coat.

- A handler is someone that shows the dog in the ring or that works him at an event such as a field trial.

- The command to heel tells the dog to remain close to his handler.

- In whelp means a dog is pregnant.

- The keel is the outline of the chest; it is round.

- A match show means no championship points are given at that show.

- A standard is determined for a breed. A dog is measured out when his measurement is not within the limit for the breed.

- The miscellaneous class is a transition point from which breeds try to gain complete AKC recognition.

- To move is to gait a canine in a patten a judge proscribes.

- Moving close means that the dog's hocks turn inward and his pasterns drops towards the ground, moving parallel to each other.

- Moving straight describes a balanced gait in which the inclination angle starts at the shoulder and legs stay mainly straight going from these points to the pads of the dog's feet. This is while his legs extend. This can also start from the hip joint.

- The pedigree is the written record of at least three generations of the dog's ancestors.

- The credits the dog earns towards a championship are called points.

- The physical and mental health of the dog is called soundness.

- When the dogs limbs and body are posed to design a pleasing look it is called stacking.