Championships
Every qualifying score is a step toward something bigger. This is where it leads.
How Qualification Works
Every trial is an opportunity to qualify for the annual championships. First place in any element earns a championship invitation. High In Trial and Reserve High In Trial both qualify as well, regardless of division. Earning HIT or RHIT in your own division also qualifies your team. Diamond Title holders — any team scoring 90 or above at any level — earn a championship invitation with each title, up to three per calendar year.
Qualifications earned in one calendar year carry forward to the championships held the following February. Everything is recorded automatically in DDT Pro. When the qualification lands, it is yours.
The Championship Event
Championships are held each February for all qualifiers from the previous year. The same format as every other DDT trial. The same nine categories. The same standard applied completely and equally to every team that earned their place in it.
What changes is the room. Every team in that search area qualified to be there. Every score on that day was built over an entire season of work. The standard sees all of it the same way it always has. What your team brings into that search area is what it was always going to come down to.
Preliminary Championships
Preliminary has two championship events each year. One in August for teams that qualify before the end of July, and one in February alongside all other divisions.
This is not a lesser event. It is a recognition of something DDT understands about Preliminary teams — they move quickly. The journey from a first trial to winning out of Preliminary can happen fast, and the sport wants to celebrate that at the right moment rather than ask a team to wait until February for recognition that is already earned.
Qualifying for August closes July 31st. Qualifications from August 1st through December 31st carry forward to February.
The Harmony Award
Presented at the Championships. Awarded to the search of the day that best demonstrates true harmony between dog and handler, as judged by the overseeing judge.
Not the highest score. Not the fastest find. The search that showed what this sport is really about. The moment where everything a team has built together became visible in a single run. Every judge who has ever watched a DDT search knows that moment when they see it. This award exists because that moment deserves to be recognised.
Annual Awards
Four annual awards are presented each year, recognising what the season as a whole revealed about the teams that competed in it.
The Expedition Award goes to the most improved team or the team that had a truly standout season. Nominated by judges and hosts before the end of December.
The Summit Award recognises the team with the highest average score across the year. Consistency over the entire season, not just a single standout day.
The High Peak Award goes to the highest single score of the year. In a tie, the second highest score decides.
The Harmony Award is presented at the Championships to the search of the day that best demonstrates true harmony between dog and handler.
Looking Ahead
DDT championships are growing alongside the sport. As the community builds on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond, the championships will grow to reflect the reach of what has been built. Every team that earns their place in that room is part of what that future looks like.
If you qualify at a level and move up before championships are held, you may still compete at the level you qualified at, provided you have not also qualified at your new level. Your qualification is yours. DDT Pro holds it until the day arrives.