If you are new to the dog show world, or if you aren’t part of it at all, it may be news to you that some titles a purebred dog can earn is specific to their breed. These are typically called “Parent Club Titles,” and when a dog is entered in an AKC event, the show or event superintendent or secretary may choose to include the recognized Parent Club titles in the catalog (though they aren’t required to include it). We confess to being suckers for dogs who’ve earned titles relevant to the work for which they were bred. A good example is the Bloodhound. The AKC offers tracking titles (you can read all about them here), but the American Bloodhound Club offers “Man Trailer” titles which may be seen at the end of a Bloodhound’s registered name as MT (man-trailer), MTI (man-trailer intermediate) and MTX (man-trailer excellent).

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Right about now, you might be wondering what the difference is between tracking and trailing. Both require a dog, a harness and a handler, and both have three levels of competition, but similarities end there. Tracking tests a dog’s ability to follow human scent and identify articles (like clothing) along the way. As Jeff Schettler put it in an article for Police K-9 Magazine,  tracking is a dog’s nose in the tracks made by a human on a soft surface.

Trailing, on the other hand, is training a dog to follow a particular human’s scent pattern wherever it might lie — on the ground or in the air — rather than following a specific set of tracks. Put another way, it’s the dog’s ability to distinguish and follow one person’s scent and identify that person.

A Bloodhound can do both, though experienced owners suggest that it’s best to have tracking aspects firmly established in the dog before trying trailing

But we’ve digressed.

Not surprisingly, the Dalmatian Club of America offers road trial performance events designed to assess a Dalmatian’s ability to “coach”, or follow horses. The Dalmatians are off lead, but the exhibitors compete as the dog’s handler on horseback, in a horse-drawn cart, or in a carriage. There are three levels of Road Trial Competition, and you can read more about them here.  When following a Dalmatian’s registered name, these titles – CC, RD, and RDX –  indicate coaching or road dog titles.

In the late 1980’s, the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Club put in place tests designed to evaluate the innate working abilities of the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. The Basic Retrieving and Tolling Test (or BRT) is a test unique to the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Club.  It includes a land test, a tolling test, and a water test, all of which evaluate natural instincts, the dog’s memory, and a level of training and control that would enable the Toller to participate in a typical upland or waterfowl hunt. When seen at the end of a Toller’s name, the letters, WC, WCI AND WCX indicate the level of completion of these tests.

Carting/Drafting Titles are offered by several breed clubs, and depending upon the test level of carting or drafting, these clubs include the American Rottweiler Club, the American Bouvier des Flandres Club, the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of America
Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Club of America, the St. Bernard Club of America, and the Mastiff Club of America.

Again, you may be wondering what the difference is between carting and drafting. The AKC explains it this way: “The main difference in a weight pull cart and a drafting cart is that in a drafting cart, the dog is literally “one with the cart” between the shafts alongside him and must learn how to turn a solid object whereas in weight pull, the dog can freely step from side to side and the cart still doesn’t move.” Carting and drafting titles after names in the respective breeds are indicated by the letters, CS, CI, CX, CST, CIT, CXT, NDD, DD, NBDD, BDD, and TDD.

Image credits: Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, both photos of Siberian Huskies, and Bloodhound photos all shared from the AKC website with consent.