Page 28 - LeMagFall2014

One of the first things you learn in Briard culture when you get your first Briard is that Briards are
named by the letter of the year. This is a traditon carried over from the naming system in France for
purebred animals who will be registered registration.. It’s a neat system because a quick look at any
show catalog and you know the approximate age of a dog by the first word in its name (excluding
the kennel prefix). Nearly all breeders in the USA follow this system.

The system has undergone two changes over the years since it began in France. In the USA in 1973
we got caught a little off guard with the change so that Briards born that year could be found to be
named with either an I or a W as the first letter of its name. However, the change that year gave us
a 20 year system that is convenient and drops all the really difficult letters in the alphabet.

2015 is the L year. Not one of the tougher ones, nor was J in 2014. As always there are often some
clever naming done in any year but a few letters add to that challenge, as in I, U or V could send
breeders to dictionaries, data bases and common phrase lists to come up with useable names for
their pups.

Below is the letter chart through the years. with notations on the changed years. (note this chart was
specifically created for the Berger Picard Club of America for use in its Elevage Book from 2010 which
includes history of the breed. The book is still available from the BPCA. It is re-published here with
permission of its creator).

Letter Year Year Year Year
A
B 2005 1985 xxxxxxxx 1951
C
D 2006 1986 xxxxxxxx 1952
E
F 2007 1987 xxxxxxxx 1953
G
H 2008 1988 xxxxxxxx 1954
I
J 2009 1989 xxxxxxxx 1955
K
L 2010 1990 xxxxxxxx 1956
M
N 2011 1991 xxxxxxxx 1957
O
P 2012 1992 xxxxxxxx 1958
Q
R 2013 1993 1973* 1959
S
T 2014 1994 1974 1960
U
V xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx 1961
W
X 2015 1995 1975 1962 * In 1973 the French pure bred animal naming system
Y changed letters from W to I. This also created a convenient
2016 1996 1976 1963 20 year naming cycle.
** Prior to 1973, all letters of the Alphabet except ‘Z’,were
2017 1997 1977 1964 used in the French naming system for purebred registered
animals.
2018 1998 1978 1965
ASBC
2019 1999 1979 1966

xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx 1967

2020 2000 1980 1968

2021 2001 1981 1969

2022 2002 1982 1970 1945
1946
2023 2003 1983 1971 1947
1948
2024 2004 1984 1972 1949
1950
xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx 1973*

xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx

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