What is a Concurrent Specialty?
The short answer is: a Concurrent Specialty is similar to an Independent Specialty, but held by a parent breed club on the premises of another club’s dog show.
Another common type of event is called a Designated Specialty, where a particular breed’s class in an All Breed or specific Group (like Herding) show is requested by the breed parent club to be considered a Specialty.
Why would PCA ask to hold a Concurrent Specialty on the same day as their National or “Regional” Specialty? This allows more than one opportunity per day to compete. So there might be two possible chances that day for class dogs to win points or a major on that day.
Example — On a given day:
- Designated Specialty – At an All Breed show, or a Group show, the Puli Class is designated as the Puli Parent Club’s National Specialty. The Best of Breed winner is therefore the Puli Best in Specialty Show (BISS) winner and is also able to go on to compete in the All Breed group competition.
- Concurrent Specialty – PCA requests and is approved by the host club to hold another, independent Specialty at the same showsite on the same day. Entries are limited to 100, and the winner does not compete in the All Breed or Group show’s Group competition.
To repeat, the Best of Breed winner of a Concurrent Specialty is not eligible to compete in the larger show’s Group competition, since the Concurrent Specialty is not part of that show, other than being on the same premises. The upside is there are more chances to win and possibily more majors for class dogs.
Note: A breed’s Parent Club like PCA can hold only one National Specialty per year. Other Specialties are simply called “a Parent Club Specialty show.” PCA often terms their Parent Club Specialty show on the non-National day as a “Regional Specialty.” And PCA can also apply to hold a Concurrent Specialty on that day
That covers the important issues, but if you want more details, this is from AKC’s website’s Frequently Asked Questions:
Concurrent Specialty: A specialty club may offer an independent specialty on the same date and at the same site as an all-breed or group show. Specialty clubs must submit an event application and a judges panel for the concurrent specialty. The host club must provide permission to the specialty club to hold a concurrent specialty and that permission must be submitted to the AKC. The specialty club may offer sweepstakes and special attractions as part of their concurrent specialty. There is a limit of one hundred (100) total entries per ring per judge per day for the concurrent specialty. The limit includes any entries in sweepstakes or special attractions held in conjunction with the concurrent specialty. There is a limit of one hundred (100) total entries per ring per judge per day for the breed judging in the host show. The limit includes any entries in sweepstakes or special attractions held in conjunction with the breed judging in the host show. The breed judging at either the all-breed show or the concurrent specialty may occur first, but the scheduling must accommodate Group judging. This includes regular judging, sweepstakes, and special attractions. The judging in the concurrent specialty must not be stopped to accommodate entries that are participating in other competition. If a conflict occurs, the exhibitor must choose which competition they want to participate in.
