Register of Merit (ROM)

The prestigious Register of Merit (ROM) title is awarded to sires and dams of progeny competing in the conformation and performance rings. The qualifications are different for the sire than for the dam as the sire will probably have more progeny in his lifetime than the dam. Progeny earning Performance titles must have earned at least a Major Reserve in Conformation to be eligible for ROM points. At least one owner of the sire or dam must be a member of the GSDCA. Data is compiled based on the calendar year.

In order for a sire to become eligible for the ROM designation, the following requirements must be met:

a) His point total must be 100 or more.
b) The points must be earned by ten or more progeny.
c) Five of these progeny must achieve the AKC title of Champion or the Parent Club designation of ROM.

In order for a bitch to become eligible for the ROM designation, the following requirements must be met:

a) Her point total must be forty or more.
b) The points must be earned by four or more progeny.
c) Two of the progeny must achieve the AKC title of Champion or the Parent Club designation of ROM.

The top ROM sires and dams along with all inactive and new candidates are listed each year in the Red Book and in the GSD Review.

Many, many thanks to the committee who spend countless hours compiling and reporting on these statistics to highlight these top producing GSDs.

View the 2022 Active ROM Sires here

View the 2022 Inactive ROM Sires here

View the 2022 Non-ROM Candidate Sires here

View the 2022 Active ROM Dams here

View the 2022 Inactive ROM Dams here

View the 2022 Non-ROM Candidate Dams here

Purposes and Objectives of the ROM Program

To accurately compile and report the standings of German Shepherd sires and dams.
These figures may be compiled from AKC data; the GSDCA Review; online show results; show,
Futurity and National catalogs; and from the owners of the dogs, provided it can be
verified.

Some mistakes may be made in these compilations because they are currently input manually.
This makes keeping records of a dog or bitch’s progeny more difficult and sometimes potential points may be overlooked unless the owner of the sire or dam notifies the chairperson that the progeny has achieved a win entitling it to be listed as a qualifier.

Please advise ROM Chair Chris Carter if you think your dog qualifies.

REVIEW

ROM sires are featured in the July issue, and ROM dams are featured in August. Each new ROM sire/dam receives a full
page with a list of their contributing progeny.

In addition to the new ROMs, Lists will be published of Active ROM sires and dams, Inactive ROMs, and ROM candidates – up and coming sires and dams who may become ROMs in the future.

Even though a dog is deceased its name will remain on the Active list until its points become stable. If a dog’s total is unchanged for 3 years, it will be moved to the Inactive list. Dogs who are on the Inactive list who subsequently earn more ROM points will return to Active status.

RED BOOK

The yearly Red Book also includes the Active, Inactive and Candidate lists, and highlights the names of the new ROMs for the year. But the primary focus of the Red Book is on the Top 20 Living Sires and Dams based on lifetime total points. Those are the GSDs who get pages in the Red Book, rather than the new ROMs who are featured in the Review.

Register of Merit Point System

Conformation Competition

3 Pt 4 Pt 5 Pt

Show Show Show

BOB or BOS from Specials 6 8 10

BOB or BOS from Classes 3 4 5

Winners 3 4 5

Reserve Winners 1 2 3

Bonus points are awarded as follows:

Championship title 10

Select rating 10

Grand Victor/Victrix 15

Futurity Victor/Victrix 3

Maturity Victor/Victrix 3

Award of Excellence 10

Performance Competition – points awarded only to sires and dams of progeny who have won at least a major reserve

CD (Companion Dog) 5

CDX (Companion Dog Excellent) 10

UD (Utility Dog) 15

UDX (Utility Dog Excellent) 5

OTCH (Obedience Trial Champion) 10

Obedience Victor/Victrix 15

TD (Tracking Dog) 5

TDX (Tracking Dog Excellent) 10

VST (Variable Surface Tracker) 10

TC (Temperament Certification) 5

HT (Herding Tested) 3

PT (Pre-trial Tested) 4

HS (Herding Started) 5

HI (Herding Intermediate) 10

HX (Herding Excellent) 15

HC (Herding Champion) 10

NA/NAJ (Novice Agility/Jumpers) 5/3

OA/OAJ (Open Agility/Jumpers) 10/8

AX/AJX (Agility Excellent/Jumpers) 15/13

MX/MXJ (Master Agility Excellent) 5/5

MACH (Master Agility Champion) 10

RN (Rally Novice) 4

RA (Rally Advanced) 8

RE (Rally Excellent) 12