Green Star System

UNDERSTANDING THE GREEN STAR SYSTEM

by Marleen Collins of ourdogs.co.uk

My brief for this article is to explain to the uninitiated how a dog can achieve the title and honour of becoming Irish Annual Champion for its breed and how this differs from the title of full Irish champion. (As an example, I will use one of my own breeds, the Pembroke).

Hopefully, this explanation will be easier to understand than a declaration from the European Parliament. In Ireland a dog can only be awarded the title of Irish Champion if it wins a total of not less than forty Green Stars points provided one of the following conditions are included in the required total:

a) Four different wins of five points or more in the breed under four different judges.

b) Two wins of five points or more together with one win of ten points in the breed under three different judges.

c) Three wins of five points or more in the breed together with one group win under four different judges.

Two of the Green Stars must be won after the age of twelve months. It is worth noting here that Bearded Collies along with the other Collies, Corgis, Pyreneans etc. are classified as belonging to a seventh group, the Pastoral Group (the Working Group was split in two a some years ago as it was becoming too large).

And what is a Green Star I hear you ask?
A Green Star (GS) is a certificate won at an Irish Championship Show; each Green Star carries a number of points, commensurate with the Green Star Index, ranging from one to ten, which are determined by the number of eligible registered dogs and/or bitches actually exhibited in the breed classes. In lay man