ABC Futurity – History, Purpose, Rules, and Forms

The American Brittany Club Futurities are Field Stakes and Shows established in the late 1940’s to showcase the breeding programs of Brittany breeders throughout the country; and designed to encourage and reward the Brittanys who are promising representatives of the breed in conformation and in the field. Such recognition is important to the breed for continued breed improvement. At its core, the Futurity is a Breeders Stake and seeks to highlight and reward the breeders who are the backbone of our Breed, as well as the owners. This will be accomplished through the awarding of a cash purse derived from both nominating fees and forfeits. Brittany dams and their litters are nominated by their breeder within 60 days of whelping. The nominating breeder must be a full member of the ABC and sign the litter nomination form. All breeder purse winnings will be paid to this nominating breeder. Litter nominations are accepted up until 6 months after whelping, but late fees apply. The nomination application is available in the American Brittany Magazine, and can also be downloaded from the ABC website. Puppies from a nominated litter are then eligible to compete in the Field and Show Futurities held in the year that they turn 2 years old, provided a final forfeit fee has been paid by the owner. The owner must be a current full member of the ABC at the time of the Sectional Futurity competition. Example: A puppy born in 2015 would be eligible to compete in 2017. The Futurity Secretary will supply Breeders with the paperwork and instructions for the new puppy owners so that they can pay the Final Forfeit. It is the breeder’s responsibility to ensure that owners receive this paperwork before the October 1st deadline of the Final Forfeit. Final forfeits are accepted until December 31st, but late fees apply. Owners will have the option of competing in 1, 2, or all 3 Sectional Futurities (Eastern, Central & Western). Once the final forfeit(s) have been paid, the Futurity Secretary will mail a premium containing the entry form for the appropriate Sectional Futurity Field/Show events. The standards for both the field and show events are established by the ABC Futurity Committee and approved by the ABC Board of Directors.

General Eligibility, Conditions and Rules

For the current rules, see ABC Policy Book – Futurity

1. All litters nominated must be registered in one of the following stud books: AKC, or CKC , whelped on or after January 1st through December 31st in a given calendar year. (2016)

2. The nominating breeder needs to be a current full member in Good Standing of the ABC when the litter is nominated and the closing dates of the Sectional Futurities in which puppies from their nominated litter compete. They must sign the Litter Nomination form, and any breeder purse checks will be paid to this designated nominated breeder. If the membership has lapsed at the time of the Sectional Futurity, the purse will revert back to the ABC Futurity Administrative Fees.

3. The owner of the futurity nominated litter sire is not required to be a member of the ABC, but it is encouraged.

4. All dogs competing in the American Brittany Club Futurity must be individually registered with the American Kennel Club (AKC), Canadian Kennel Club (CKC).

5. The primary owner of record is the owner who submits and signs the final forfeit. The primary owner needs to be a current full member in Good Standing of the ABC when submitting Final Forfeits and at the time of competing at the event. If the membership has lapsed at the time of the Sectional Futurity event(s), any purse winnings will revert back to the ABC Futurity Administrative Fee.

6. If a Futurity nominated puppy is sold, eligibility will continue to the new owner, provided the new owner meets the Futurity membership requirements. 7. It is recommended that all sires and dams of nominated litters have DNA profiles on file with the AKC. (2015) (2016)

Litter Nomination

Nominations of litters must be made within 60 days after the pups have been whelped, at which time the litter nomination must be paid. Litter nominations are accepted up until the puppies are 6 months of age, but late fees apply. Payment will entitle each puppy of this particular litter to be entered in the ABC Futurities Field (All-Age or Gun Dog) and/or Show provided the Final Forfeit requirement is met. The current fees are set by the ABC Board of Directors and can be found on the futurity form in “The American Brittany” magazine and on the ABC Website. The litter nomination fee is currently set by the Board of Directors (See Appendix 1). Late litter nominations will be accepted as late as 180 days from whelping. Late fees for 61-90 days and 91-180 days are set by the Board of Directors (See Appendix 1). Late fees are in addition to the standard litter nomination fee. No litter nominations will be accepted after the litter turns 6 months old. The postmark will determine the fee for late nominations.

Final Forfeit

Before October 1st of the year following a pup’s birth year, those owners wishing to compete in the Futurity must pay a final forfeit on entry forms furnished by the ABC. This Final Forfeit allows the dog to participate in any selected Sectional Futurity Event which includes the Field (All-Age or Gun Dog) and/or Show upon fulfillment of requirements above. The current fees are set by the ABC Board of Directors. The Final Forfeit fee for the field and show is set by the Board of Directors (See Appendix 1).

For those not meeting the final forfeit deadline, a late fee, as determined by the Board of Directors (See Appendix 1), for each field and each show entry (plus the regular forfeit fees) may be paid by December 31. No forfeits will be accepted after December 31st. The postmark will determine the fee for late nominations.

Futurity Event Entry

The futurities are to be held during the spring season. Both All-Age and Gun Dog Field Futurities, and a Show Futurity will be offered at each of the three Sectional Futurities. On the final field entry, the participant must declare either the All Age or Gun Dog stake. Note: a field nominated dog cannot compete in both field stakes at a Sectional Futurity and must declare Gun Dog or All-Age. They can opt to run Gun Dog in one Section and All-age in another. Current entry fees are set by the Board of Directors and will be found on the forms provided by the ABC Futurity Secretary in the Section Futurity premium. In addition, the Entry Fee must be paid by the closing date of the Sectional Futurity in which the puppy is intending to compete. The closing date will be listed on the premium, and the date of the drawing. No dog may participate until its AKC, CKC, been received by the ABC. The current entry fees for the field and show events are set by the Board of Directors (See Appendix 1). (2016) Note: The primary owner must be a current full member of the ABC at the time of the Sectional Futurity competition, and the nominating breeder must be a current full member of the ABC to receive any purse winnings. Show classes shall be divided by sex and age as follows:

• Senior classes shall be for dogs whelped January-April
• Intermediate classes shall be for dogs whelped May-August
• Junior classes shall be for dogs whelped September – December

Ella Conable, ABC Field Trial Hall of Fame inductee (2001), was known to generations of Brittany enthusiasts as a friend, mentor, competitor, and tireless advocate for the breed and the ABC Futurity program.

The American Brittany Club Futurity – a breeders stake – was started as a field event in the late 1940’s. Those who were breeding bitches and wished to participate in the first trial, paid a forfeit on bitches bred after October 30, 1946. An additional forfeit was due when the puppies were whelped in 1947. The following summer (August 1948) an individual nomination was due on any pups the owners deemed were of a quality to compete in the stake. A final fee was due on those same pups just before the stake was run. After expenses were deducted, the monies were divided among the four placing dogs with 2/3 of the purse going to the owners of the winners and 1/3 going to the breeders. The first stake was held near Detroit and run in September, before the trial season began. Peg B of Loufel, owned, bred and handled by Lucien Ufford was the winner. The next couple of years the Futurity was held at Crab Orchard, IL, in conjunction with the Illinois Brittany Club’s fall trial. In 1951 it was again at Crab Orchard, but this time as part of the Nationals, where it remained (except for the 1967 Futurity) until 1974. The Futurity was strictly a field event until 1963 when Ann White inaugurated the Bench Futurity. In this event, the dogs are separated by sex into three age brackets; senior, intermediate and junior. The three class winners compete for first place; a reserve winner (second money) and a second reserve (third money) are chose in each sex. First place dog and bitch compete for the two top money spots; Best in Futurity and Best of Opposite Sex to Best in Futurity. The forfeits for the bench futurity are paid in the same manner as the field forfeits. Doc’s Shotgun Popper, owned by Dr. John Schuckert, won Best in Futurity at the inaugural event. Best of Opposite Sex went to Holley Haven Marty Star. The show was judged by Jerome Halle who had also judged the first ABC Specialty Show. With the addition of a bench futurity, a Dual Award was also offered in 1963.  It was to be given to the dog who placed in the field and either placed in the show against competition or was a champion at the time of the show. The first Dual Award went to Pinoak Sue owned by Dave and Mable Olund in 1963.

When the Bench Futurity began, breeders had the option of nominating their litter for either field, bench or both. In 1967 the Futurity rules were changed so that a litter nomination covered both field and bench and the choice was made by the owner at the time of the final forfeit. At about this same time, the ABC was being pressured by the AKC to make the Futurities AKC Sanctioned events. This would have had little impact on the Bench Futurity other than requiring that Futurity entries also be entered in a regular class in the Specialty Show. The Field Futurity presented a bigger problem in that it allowed the running of bitches in season, unheard of in AKC trials at that time. When it became apparent that conditions at Crab Orchard were making the running of the Nationals increasingly difficult, and with little hope of improvement, the Lake Murray Grounds at Ardmore were offered as one alternative. As a way of “checking them out” the Board of Directors voted to hold the 1967 Futurity in the Spring of 1968. At the Board Meeting held at Ardmore in February, 1968 the problems of AKC sanctioning were discussed and the Board voted to limit all participation in the Futurities to ABC members and their immediate families.

With a few simple rules and only the couple of changes mentioned earlier, the futurity prospered. The number of litters nominated, the individual forfeits paid and the number of starters increased during the 50’s and 60’s. Four of the five years from 1968 through 1972 saw entries between 102 and 129. In 1973, the first major change was made effective with the 1974 running; the futurity would be split off from the Nationals and run as three sectional events. The Eastern would encompass the East Coast and East Central Regions; the Central would be held within the Central and Midwest Regions and the Western in the West coast Region. Dogs from eligible litters could be enrolled in any or all of the Sectional Futurities at the time the final forfeit was paid. Initially the sectional futurities were kept as Fall trials, but over the years they have moved to the Spring of the year following. During the early years of the split, entries in the 50-60 range were common and the Central very often drew 70-80 dogs. In the recent past, an entry of 40 is on the high end of the scale.

In the last few years, the ABC Board has made other major changes to the Futurity program, including a National Futurity Run-off (both field and show) for Sectional winners and additional qualifying participants; adopting a “Standard of Performance”; accepting full year nominations (breeding dates October 30 through October 29; whelping dates the full calendar year following, i.e., January 1 through December 31); the addition of an individual forfeit “late penalty” and the elimination of Champions from the Dual Award point schedule.

In 1996 the Futurity Committee was asked to outline recommendations for the addition of a Gun Dog Futurity to accompany the All Age Futurity. The committee report was submitted to the ABC Board at the 1997 meeting. They approved the Gun Dog Futurity under these rules; to be run in conjunction with the All Age futurity and Bench Futurity. Judged on Gun Dog Standards and to be foot handled. It can be run consecutively or concurrently, at the host club’s discretion. The July forfeit could be paid for either All Age or Gun Dog or both. At the time of running, those that paid both field forfeits had to make the choice between All Age or Gun Dog as no dog could participate in both events at the same sectional futurity. The Gun Dog Futurity would have its run-off in conjunction with the Gun Dog Nationals. The first class of Gun Dog Futurities ran in the spring of 2000 with the run-off held at the May ABC Gun Dog Nationals. 

A legacy article by former Futurity Secretary and Chairman Judy Robin, describing how breeders historically nominated their litters for the ABC Futurity.

The American Brittany Club Futurities are Field Stakes and Shows established to showcase the breeding programs of Brittany breeders throughout the Country.

Brittany Breeders, who must be members of the ABC, nominate their litters with the Futurity Nomination Secretary within 60 days of whelping. The nomination application is available in the American Brittany Magazine, and can also be downloaded on the ABC website. Puppies from a nominated litter are then eligible to compete in the Field, and Show Futurities held in the year that they turn 2 years old, provided a final forfeit fee has been paid by the owner.

Example: A puppy born in 2006, it would be eligible to run/show in 2008.

The Final Forfeit/Running Secretary will supply Breeders with the paperwork and instructions for the new puppy owners so that they can pay the Final Forfeit. It is the breeder’s responsibility to insure that owners receive this paperwork before the October 1st deadline of the Final Forfeit.

Owners will have the option of competing in 1, 2, or all 3 Regional Futurities (East, Central & West). Once the final forfeit(s) have been paid, the Final Forfeit/Running Secretary will mail or email an entry form for the appropriate Regional Futurity Field/Show events.