VA, V, SG, G & U mean? What does Schutzhund mean? What is an “A” stamp?

VA = the “Excellent Select” group. In German, Vorzugliche Auslese. (auslese for short) Each year only about 12 VA titles are given for the female and the male categories in each country where a Sieger Event (National Show) is held. It’s the cream of the crop group, those who will end up with the most breedings in general as one of the parameters is, for the males, that they have a proven track record for producing good, or better than themselves, progeny. Only Schutzhund titled dogs (males must have SchH3) Females SchH1, and kored (officially critiqued/reviewed dogs) can obtain a VA or V rating.

The next group is the still extreme high title of “V” (Excellent) show rating. In German Vorzuglich. In the World Championship (Germany is considered the World Championships) each year the participation is around 2,000 total!!!. A GSD birth rate of 23,000 in Germany, so, only 1% of that group end up qualifying for the show.
The Argentine Sieger Show is the 2nd largest with around 1,200 each year, then the numbers dwindle substantially from country to country.
The dogs go through extensive pre-selection as well. Many weekly shows, regional’s and club shows, all around the country before they even attempt to enter the Sieger show with some sort of assurance that they place as high as they hope. They must be shown throughout the show season (from March thru August) in front of as many top judges as possible to obtain the necessary exposure (indoctrination almost). The German show circuit is not for the faint of heart . It is not cheap and the competition is ferociously serious. For females, their pedigrees and their conformation needs to be perfect to score extremely high. The judges can, from a quick pedigree review, understand the lines these females come from and combined with their conformation predict where their placement should be after reviewing the many participants.
The SG rating stands for SEHR GUT, meaning “Very Good”. These ratings are extremely high when extended to the young dogs classes for untitled dogs. An SG1 dog from Germany will sell for $50,000 just because his future is more than likely a VA rating. Not always, because he is too young to show off his own progeny. But, the statistics are on their side. And SG rating in the adult groups is behind the V rating group. It depends where that V rating ends, it could be VA 10, V100, then the SG’s follow behind it.
The G rating stands for Good. Naturally, this group is behind the SG group. In either the Adult or Young dogs classes.
The A rating stands for Ausreichend. Meaning Sufficient.
The M rating stands for Mangelhaft. Meaning Faulty.
The U rating stands for Ungenugend, which means Insufficient. Usually only a very small amount of dogs end up with a U rating.
The 0 rating stands for Failed Bite work or biting/attacking the judge (instead of the helper)
The EZ rating is either the owners choice to pull the dog before entering or during the show with a vet’s excuse for an illness or injury contracted during the show.

The German Hip quality rating. Three German ratings, A1, A2, A3

A1: Normal NON deficient hips
A2: Fast Normal. Near normal hips.
A3: Noch Zugelassen. Still allowed for breeding, Fair hips.