Futurity

Many people have heard this word time and time again but do not really know what it is about and what the mindset is behind it. The BFCA’s Futurity in a sense is the Breeder’s Cup of Bichons. It is a very important and prestigious competition, not between the owners of Bichons, as in regular competition, but between those Bichon breeders who have put their heart and soul and dreams of the future into the planning of a successful breeding program. Breeders who enter the Futurity show must have confidence in their breeding programs, their breeding knowledge, and the quality of their breeding stock.

The Futurity process begins while the bitch is in whelp BEFORE the puppies are born!

Wait a minute, you say. If the puppies are not even born yet, how do I know whether they will be worthy of such an honor when they are born?

EXACTLY!! You just hit the nail on the head! This is precisely why the Futurity is so important and prestigious. By nominating the bitch while she is in whelp, the breeders take a stand and make a statement. Yes, they say, I am nominating my bitch and her unborn puppies for the Futurity because I believe that strongly in my choices. I have worked hard to review pedigrees and photos and have traveled to view stud dogs. I have spent hours analyzing faults and attributes. I have selected a stud dog, and I have bred my bitch to this dog because I believe it will be something extraordinary. No, I do not know exactly what these puppies will look like, but I have a good idea. Yes, I do believe that through experience, research and selective breeding, this yet unborn litter will contain future champions and puppies that are better than their parents. Yes, this is a breeder’s testimony, and I will put my money where my beliefs are and submit my nomination fee for this bitch and her unborn litter.

This Futurity competition is something exciting and fun. A chance to be proud of your contributions to the breed and to celebrate your fellow breeders.

BFCA Futurity Rules and Nomination Process

  1. GENERAL
    1. The person(s) nominating a litter and individual puppies for Futurity must be in good standing with AKC.
    2. Persons participating in Futurity are NOT required to be BFCA members.
    3. Correct and timely nominations of both the dam/litter and the individual puppies are required for Futurity Show eligibility.
    4. Do not send nominations by Certified Mail or Air Express letters.
    5. Nomination forms are available from the Futurity Secretary as well as online at BFCA’s website (www.bichon.org)
    6. Nominations are ONLY accepted on the approved Futurity forms available from the Futurity Secretary or on the BFCA website.
    7. Nomination fees must be paid by check/money order payable to BFCA in US funds. Checks returned for any reason will invalidate that nomination until the check is made good and all bank charges incurred by BFCA are reimbursed prior to time deadlines.
    8. All monies paid are Non-Refundable, with these exceptions: overpayments made in error, and nominations arriving too early or late for the age of the class. Money is not returned for misses (ie bitch didn’t get pregnant from the breeding). Individuals recruited to judge Futurity will have his/her money returned upon request. Requests must be made 30 days before the Futurity date. If you enter Futurity but not the regular class as required, there will be no refund issued.
    9. The Futurity Secretary can participate in the Futurity process; however, the puppies nominated must be shown by another qualified exhibitor.
    10. All correspondence, nominations, and nomination fees (by check/money order payable to BFCA in US funds) are to be sent to the Futurity Secretary.
    11. Each breeding household (ie persons living under same roof) or each breeding kennel name may only nominate ten (10) total owned or co-owned bitches per Futurity year.
    12. Each puppy shown in Futurity at our National Specialty must also be entered in a regular class at the National Specialty.
    13. The postmark date on the nominating envelope is the official date of nomination for determining eligibility. (This is different from the entry deadline date for entering the show via the show Superintendent.)
    14. The breeder must calculate the time of conception with the time of the Futurity as the puppy must be 6 months of age and not older than 18 months of age at the time of the Futurity event.
    15. The Futurity will consist of six classes:6-9 months; 9-12 months; 12-18 months for dogs and bitches. Winners of each of these classes will compete for Best in Futurity and Best of Opposite Sex to Best in Futurity.
  2. NOMINATION OF LITTER
    1. Nominations must be made by the breeder(s) or co-breeder(s).
    2. Nomination must be made after breeding, but BEFORE puppies are born.
    3. The postmark date on the nomination envelope is the official nomination date.
    4. The nomination of the litter makes all puppies in the litter eligible for individual nomination.
    5. The fee to nominate a litter is $25.00 US per litter and is non-refundable. Write the dam’s AKC # on your check or money order.
    6. There is no ineligible zone. All litters nominated for bitches that will whelp after the closing date of the prior Futurity and before the beginning 18 month date of the next Futurity, will be added to the next Futurity by extending the 12-18 month class to include the date in the ineligible zone. All litters nominated for bitches that will whelp after the closing date of the prior Futurity and before the beginning 18 month date of the next Futurity, will be added to the next Futurity by extending the 12-18 month class to include the date in the ineligible zone. If a bitch is due right on the borderline dates, you may keep her litter eligible in both Futurities by entering the litter in both and paying for both. Based on the actual whelping date, the litter will then remain eligible in one or the other Futurity. Occasionally, the opposite happens when Futurity year dates overlap. The same concept is applied the litter may be nominated for both years and the puppies may be nominated for both Futurities also by paying double fees at each level. However, you must choose which Futurity you will show in. You can only show a puppy in one Futurity. If you decide to show the puppy in the 6-9 months class, you may not show that puppy again in the 12-18 months class the following year.
    7. Upon receipt of your litter nomination form and appropriate fee, a form will be mailed to you that will include the assigned Futurity litter number as well as your tear sheets for 3-month and 6-month puppy nominations. You will NOT receive any reminder notice after you receive this form with tear sheets. If you do not receive this form for 3 & 6 months nomination forms, the Secretary did NOT receive your litter nomination.
    8. It is strongly recommended that both the sire and dam of the nominated puppy have health screening/testing current at the time of the breeding and/or when frozen semen is collected. BFCA health committee recommends (but not limited to) OFA for hips, yearly eye certification exam, and yearly patella certification. Health screening/testing certificates are required to be submitted with each litter nomination form. Based on these submitted certificates, each catalog entry will indicate current, incomplete, or not current. If no health testing certificate is submitted with the litter nomination, the catalog entry will indicate no record of health screening/testing was submitted.
  3. 3-MONTH PUPPY NOMINATION
    1. Complete 3-month nomination tear sheet which was mailed to you by the Futurity Secretary after he/she received your litter nomination.
    2. Mail the completed 3-month nomination tear sheet to the Futurity secretary. The postmark date on the envelope is the official nomination date for eligibility.
    3. Whelp date must be provided at time of 3-month nomination.
    4. 3-Month nominations must be postmarked no later than 3 months after whelping date.
    5. With your 3-Month nomination, include your check/money order of $10.00 US per puppy kept in nomination. Write your Futurity litter # assigned to your litter on your check/money order.
    6. If you wish to know that your 3-month Futurity nomination was received by the Futurity Secretary, please include your e-mail address or enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
  4. 6-MONTH INDIVIDUAL PUPPY NOMINATION
    1. Complete the 6-month nomination tear sheet for each puppy you wish to keep nominated which was mailed to you by the Futurity Secretary after he/she received your litter nomination.
    2. Mail the completed 6-month nomination tear sheet to the Futurity Secretary. The postmark date on the envelope is the official nomination date for eligibility.
    3. 6-Month Individual puppy nomination form must be postmarked no later than 6 months after whelp date.
    4. The Sire’s AKC Registered name Must be provided. For a multiple sired litter, copy the form and complete one nomination form per Sire with his puppies kept nominated on his respective nomination form.
    5. NOTE:For puppies turning 6 months old between the Specialty show entry closing date and the Futurity judging date, the eligibility deadline for submitting the 6 months puppy nomination form is the same date as the Specialty show closing date.
    6. Be sure to circle the Futurity Class in which the puppies will be shown.
    7. Futurity entries in the 6-9 months class must arrive no later than the Specialty Show entry deadline date.
    8. With your completed 6-Month nomination form, enclose your check or money order in US funds for $25.00 per puppy kept in nomination. Write your Futurity litter # assigned to your litter on your check/money order.
    9. On the 6-Month nomination form, you must include each puppy’s gender, AKC registration number, proposed name, and new owner (if any). The proposed name can be changed at a later date, but the new name must have the same AKC registration number.
    10. Any changes in the identifying information which will be included in the National Specialty catalog must be received by the Futurity Secretary six (6) weeks prior to Futurity judging. Failure to provide such information will result in disqualification.
    11. If you wish to know that your 6-month Futurity nomination was received by the Futurity Secretary, please include your e-mail address or enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
  5. REQUIREMENTS TO ENTER JUDGING
    1. Each nominated puppy must be entered in one of the regular classes in the BFCA National Specialty where the puppy will be shown in Futurity.
    2. Futurity entry must be indicated as well on the regular class entry form by putting Futurity Class and age division in the box on the entry form for Additional Class.
    3. Futurity entry must include the age class division (ie Futurity 6-9 months; 9-12 months; 12-18 months).
    4. Puppies are eligible only for the first Futurity Stake Show that is held in conjunction with the first BFCA National Specialty Show held on or after the date the puppy reaches six (6) months of age.
    5. Individuals handling the puppies in Futurity Competition are limited to the breeder, co-breeder, owner, co-owner.
    6. The Futurity Secretary can participate in the Futurity process; however, the puppies nominated must be shown by another qualified exhibitor.
    7. In the event that an exhibitor has two or more eligible puppies to be shown in the same class, one puppy can be shown by an alternate person that is not a professional handler in any country as defined by the AKC.
  6. SELECTION OF JUDGES
    1. Paul Flores will be the judge of BFCA’s Futurity Stake Show in 2025.
    2. Judges selection process for Futurity Stake Shows after BFCA’s first Futurity Stake Show will be the same as the process for selecting a Sweepstakes judge.
  7. SEQUENCE OF JUDGING
    1. Judging sequence will be Dogs divided by age class; Bitches divided by age class.
    2. Winners of all the above classes will compete for Best in Futurity and BOS to Best in Futurity.
  8. DIVISION OF FUTURITY SHOW MONIES
    1. Fees received for each class, less 30% (25% for expenses and 5% for the breeder of the Best in Futurity winner), will be used as prize money in that class.
    2. If divided by sex, money for that age class will be halved.
    3. Prize money is divided as follows:
      1. 1st place 40%
      2. 2nd place 30%
      3. 3rd place 20%
      4. 4th place 10%
    4. Prize monies are revised if there are less than four (4) entries in a class.
    5. All prize monies are paid to the exhibitor in the ring.
    6. A special award of 5% of the total prize monies will be paid at each Futurity show to the breeder of the Best in Futurity winner.
  9. RIBBONS
    1. Class placements will receive a ribbon.
    2. Best in Futurity and BOS to Best in Futurity winners will each receive a rosette.
  10. RECORDS
    It is recommended that those who have made entries in the Futurity Show have copies of all pertinent information regarding acceptance of nominations, name changes, etc., available at the time of judging.

For additional information, contact:

Donna DeMartini
Futurity Secretary
Bichon Frise Club of America
9180 Los Lagos Circle S
Granite Bay, CA 95746

Phone: 916-847-0151
Email: [email protected]

Timeline for 2025 show (dates for 2026 show are TBD):

The Futurity Judging date for 2025 is May 8, 2025.

The 1st possible date to nominate a litter is September 5, 2023; this is the 1st possible date of conception for a litter to be born 9 weeks before November 8, 2023, which is the date that makes a puppy 18 months old (the oldest a nominated puppy can be) on May 8, 2025, the Futurity judging date.

Since a nominated puppy must be at least 6 months of age on the Futurity judging date of May 8, 2025, this puppy must be born on November 8, 2024. For a puppy born on November 8, 2024, the person nominating individual puppies from this litter (i.e. 6-Month nomination form) will need to submit their individual nominations prior to the puppies actually turning 6 months of age since the entry closing date is in early April (approximately a month prior to the show date). This also means that any puppy born after November 8, 2024, will be too young to be entered in the 2025 Futurity Show. This also means that this puppy’s litter must have been conceived 9 weeks before November 8, 2024, which is September 5, 2024. Therefore, the last possible litter conception date to qualify for the 2025 Futurity show is September 5, 2024.