What Are the Versatility Awards? And…What Is the Versatility Awards Program?

This is an exclusive award given by the German Shorthaired Pointer club of America to members of the GSPCA for their achievement in obtaining titles and or points in the many different venues that AKC offers!  The Award was created to encourage members to expand their participation in the many different activities that are recognized within this program.

The Versatility Certificates can be earned on achievements in the following venues: Conformation; Field; Hunt/Water Test; Obedience/Rally/Therapy; Agility/Flyball/Dock Diving; Tracking/Scent Work/Barn Hunt; and Other (currently FastCAT and Coursing).  This program is a tiered approach and will encourage the single focused enthusiast who has only participated in one activity to try out the many other and different activities that a GSP can do!

A system of point values has been established based on the titles that can be earned in each of these venues (refer to the chart of qualifications.)

The original program represented by the VCX started in 1998.  Two additional levels were added in 2006.  Major updates occurred in 2015 (adding the “other” category and the requirement for Hunt/Field credit in the VCX), 2021 (adding Scent Work and mainstreaming Dock Diving with Agility), and in 2024 (changing minimum requirements and adding Barn Hunt to the Scent Work category).  The program’s intent is to offer a meaningful, achievable, and verifiable recognition that the club can embrace.  If the title is too easy, it isn’t meaningful.  Even the lowest level title should challenge the owner so that, when earned, the title is treasured!

The owner must apply for this title.  This application form is available here.  The GSPCA Versatility Chairman will maintain a central record keeping function to track the history of this title so that the winners, over time, are recorded in the official GSPCA records.  GSP’s with accomplishments earned before this program was created are eligible for the award.  Members wishing to recognize dogs must file the application and if not available on the AKC web site provide documentation on the dog’s achievements.   The date of the submission of the request will determine the criteria used to determine if a GSP is eligible – not the date of the title – and all OWNERs of the GSP must be members of GSPCA at the time of the application.  Certificates can be awarded retroactively and/or posthumously with proper documentation. 

These awards are only offered and presented to GSPCA members in good standing and the awards will look great on your dog’s resume!

There are Three Versatility awards: