ABC Futurity FAQ’s

Nominations are open to all breeders and owners who are members in good standing with the ABC or an ABC member club.

You cannot nominate but your co-breeder can nominate based on his/her ABC membership.

If the member or club is not in good standing at the time of nomination, the nomination cannot be accepted.

Yes, but the eligibility is based on the reinstatement date and not the original nomination date.

The nomination year is based on the year a puppy will be eligible to compete at the ABC Futurity. Puppies are eligible at an age from 6 months and not over 18 months. If you expect a litter to be whelped close to the dividing line between eligibility for one year versus another, the Futurity Chairman will select the year of eligibility based on the expected whelp date. If the actual whelp date changes the year of eligibility, then the eligibility and nomination number will be reassigned for the bitch.

A single bitch nomination is sufficient as the nomination applies to the bitch and her entire litter. For the resulting puppies, it will be necessary to do DNA testing to identify the sire for a puppy nomination.

A valid nomination requires 3 elements — complete information in all the fields of the nomination form, a signature of the owner (for mailed nominations only), and a payment. All this must be submitted before the nomination deadline.

A bitch nomination must be postmarked or time stamped for online nominations, before the whelp date. A puppy nomination must be postmarked or time-stamped for online nominations on or before the 4 month birth date. The postmark/time-stamp establishes the date of nomination and not the date the nomination is sent or received.

You can either request a hand cancellation at the post office to establish the postmark or use the online nomination and online payment. The online nomination establishes a postmark based on the later of either the online nomination or the online payment transfer.

If all previous conditions for nominations are met, then once the increased fee of $100 is paid, no later than 2 months before the first day of regular classes at the ABC Specialty, the nomination will be accepted.

This is not necessary as the postmark governs eligibility and not the date received. If you have reason to question the delivery services of the US Postal Office, you can use the online nomination option.

For an online nomination, you can keep a copy of the email. For a mailed nomination, you can contact the Futurity Chairman, but this should be avoided as a standard practice.

A confirmation will be returned to the nominator with a bitch nomination number or a puppy nomination number.

Mailed nominations are processed every 2 to 3 weeks and online nominations are processed every 1 to 3 weeks. Depending on when the nomination is received in this cycle, you can expect to receive a confirmation within a few days or after 3 or more weeks.

Because of the Spam blockers with AOL and other internet providers, an email containing the words “bitch nomination” may be directed to your Spam folder rather than your inbox. Please check the Spam folder before you decide that the confirmation is missing.

Yes, the bitch nomination number is needed to nominate a puppy and the puppy nomination number will be needed if there are questions by the Show Superintendent with the entry.

Since this number is required for a puppy nomination, you should contact the Futurity Chairman so this can be provided. Please retain the confirmation numbers returned with your nominations.

A canceled check may take up to 2 months to be returned to you. This is done to consolidate the number of deposits sent to the ABC treasurer. Consider this an extended float on your check writing privileges, courtesy of the ABC.

Yes, the Futurity nomination does not require an AKC registration number. However, the name used for the nomination must match the name approved by the AKC and used for show entries.

All name changes should be forwarded to the Futurity Chairman before the nomination list is sent to the Show Superintendent.

There is no need to forward changes in ownership.

No, this is not permitted.

No, you are not obligated to nominate all or any puppies just because the bitch was nominated.

No, we have simplified the entry process with the Show Superintendent who checks Futurity entries against an alphabetical list of puppy nominations supplied by the Futurity Chairman. This is why name changes must be forwarded to the Futurity Chairman.