The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is one of a handful of benched shows in the United States. Dogs are required to be on display in their assigned locations (show benches) during the entire show except when shown in the ring, groomed for showtime, or taken outside to urinate or defecate. This type of presentation allows spectators and breeders alike to have an opportunity of seeing all the entered dogs. (In the more common unbenched shows, dogs are required to be present only at assigned ring times.)[1]
The event had been long-associated with the various incarnations of New York City's Madison Square Garden. In 2021 and 2022, the event was postponed to June from its past February scheduling, and moved to Lyndhurst mansion in Tarrytown, New York due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, the event moved again, this time to Arthur Ashe Stadium.
History
Westminster Hotel, Irving Place and 16th Street
The first Westminster show took place on May 8, 1877, making it second only to the Kentucky Derby, in terms of continuously held sporting events in the United States. (Both events were held despite the Great Depression, World War, and pandemic years.) The show originated as a show for gun dogs, primarily Setters and Pointers, initiated by a group of hunters who met regularly at the Westminster Hotel at Irving Place and Sixteenth Street in Manhattan.[2] They decided to create a kennel club called the Westminster Kennel Club specifically to hold a dog show. The prizes for these first shows included such items as pearl-handled pistols, which were of use to the hunters and terriermen who worked these dogs in the field.
Held at Gilmore's Garden (Madison Square Garden) the Westminster show drew over 1,200 dogs. It proved so popular that it took four days instead of the three days originally scheduled. The club donated proceeds from the fourth day to the ASPCA for creation of a home for stray and disabled dogs.
The Westminster Kennel Club predates the formation of the American Kennel Club by seven years and became the first club admitted to the AKC after AKC's founding in 1884. Breed parent clubs (e.g., the Collie Club of America) create the standards for judging their breeds, with the AKC administering the rules about shows and judging.
Dogs are judged by how closely they conform to a written description of the ideal specimen of that breed (the breed standard). While many breeds no longer need to perform their original jobs and are bred mostly for companionship, they are still judged on their innate ability and physical makeup to perform their original jobs. Standards also include items that seem somewhat arbitrary such as color, eye shape, tail carriage, and more.
Today, Westminster takes place over two days and nights. During the day, the dogs compete against other dogs of the same breed at Piers 92 and 94. Each Best of Breed winner (BOB) advances to the Group level. There are seven groups: Sporting, Hound, Working, Terrier, Toy, Non-Sporting, and Herding. Group competition occurs during the evenings. The seven Group winners advance to Best in Show, the final round of the show. During Best in Show, also held at Madison Square Garden, a judge will select one of judging them as the Best In Show winner. Since 2014, the show allowed mixed-breed dogs to compete in an agility event.[3]
Westminster has held competitions in Junior Showmanship for handlers ages 9–18 since 1934. The eight finalists all receive scholarships for post-secondary schooling. The Club, through the Westminster Kennel Foundation also awards veterinary school scholarships for students from six schools yearly.[citation needed]
A Pug at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in 2013.
The winning dog becomes "America's Dog" for the coming year. The reign begins with a media tour on the day following the show. Following the tour, the winner makes appearances on nearly all television network morning shows and visits the Observation Deck at the Empire State Building. The New York Stock Exchange also invites the winner and related handlers to ring the opening bell.[citation needed]
In October 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, the 2021 show was postponed from its usual scheduling to June, and re-located from Madison Square Garden to the grounds of the historic Lyndhurst mansion in Tarrytown, New York, north of Midtown Manhattan. Organizers stated that the changes were intended to allow for the event to be held in compliance with public health guidance.[4]No outside spectators were admitted.[5] On December 30, 2021, citing the current surge of Omicron variant in New York City, it was announced that the 2022 show—initially scheduled for January 24–26—had been postponed indefinitely.[6] On February 8, 2022, it was announced that the 2022 show would once again be postponed to June and held at Lyndhurst.[7]
In 1884, the AKC began requiring that all dog participants be registered with the AKC and recognized for conformation show competition. In 2016, there are 199 breeds and varieties eligible for Westminster. Because of the show's popularity and prestige, starting in 1992 the AKC limited entries by requiring that dogs must have already earned their breed championship before appearing at Westminster. Later, the Westminster Kennel Club amended that rule; dogs only need one of the two required "major wins" towards their championship titles. However, they do not need to be finished champions to enter.
Since 2020, the requirement that a dog be a Champion was reinstated by the Westminster Kennel Club and the entry limit decreased to 2,500. The conformation show was also spread over three days instead of the traditional two days, due to the unavailability of one of the usual venues for the event.[10]
The top five dogs in each breed (based on breed points earned in AKC conformation showing through October 31 of the preceding year), as well as the Best of Breed winner from each breed's national specialty show, receive printed invitations by mail and are eligible for early entry. After that entry deadline passes, other dogs with at least one "major win" may enter, up to a cut-off entry total of 2800 dogs.
There is no prohibition against a winner competing again in future Westminster shows. Seven dogs have won multiple Westminster championships: six dogs in consecutive years (including Warren Remedy, the only three-time champion of the event), and one dog in non-consecutive years. Since 1972, however, there have been no repeat winners.
Dogs of all breeds, including mutts, may participate in the show's agility competition. There is a title for the highest-ranking mutt in the agility round—the "All American Dog."
Stump being awarded Best in Show at the 2009 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
Through the 134th Westminster Show (February 2010), Best in Show has been won by the Terrier group 45 out of the 103 times that the prize has been awarded since 1907,[11] more than twice as many wins as any other group. The single breed that has won the most is the Wire Fox Terrier, which has won 15 times. Two of the most popular dog breeds in the United States—the Labrador Retriever and Golden Retriever—have never won Best in Show.[12] The dogs are marked for Best in Breed and then proceed to compete in Best in Group, and finally in the grand prize competition of Best in Show.[13]
The oldest dog to win Best in Show was a Sussex Spaniel named Ch. Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee (a.k.a. Stump), at ten years of age in 2009. The youngest dog to win was a Rough Collie named Laund Loyalty of Bellhaven, at nine months old in 1929.[14] One dog, a Smooth Fox Terrier named Ch. Warren Remedy won Best in Show three times (1907–1909), and six other dogs have won twice.[15] Males have won Best in Show 68 times as opposed to females who have won 35 times.[16]
Announcers
For many years, Roger A. Caras was known as "the Voice of Westminster" for providing the narration for the breed descriptions during the show.[17]
In 2001, Michael J. LaFave was named show announcer at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.[18] He was replaced by Jim Fagan in 2010 but returned in 2011.[19]
On July 28, 2015, Fox Sports announced that it had acquired rights to the event under a 10-year deal beginning in 2017. For the first three years, the coverage was split between FS1 and then-sister channel Nat Geo Wild. For 2017, daytime breed judging was hosted by Justin Kutcher, Paula Nykiel and Jason Hoke and primetime coverage hosted by Chris Myers and Gail Miller Bisher. In 2018, daytime bred judging was hosted by Kutcher, Kimberly Meredith, and Don Sturz in 2018, while Hoke joined the evening booth of Myers and Bisher. In 2019, the judging experts were swapped, with the day event hosted by Kutcher, Meredith, and Hoke and evening event by Myers, Bisher, and Sturz.[30] For 2022, Sturz was named Judge for Best in Show, and the Hoke will return to the main booth.
After the sale of the National Geographic channels to Disney as part of its acquisition of 21st Century Fox (which excluded the Fox broadcast network, news, and national sports properties, which were retained by a new entity known as Fox Corporation), FS2 replaced Nat Geo Wild as the secondary broadcaster of the event in 2020. John Strong replaced Kutcher as host for daytime breed judging and Fox hosts were Myers, Bisher, and Sturz. For 2021, the agility competition and the final night of judging aired on Fox for the first time.[4]
Popular culture
The 2000 comedy film Best in Show takes place at the fictional "Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show," based in part on Westminster. The show was won by a Norwich Terrier named Winky.
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog has used the setting of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show three times in his skits; ostensibly, he was the winner in the "Best Insult Comic Dog" category at Westminster 1997.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) is a registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the United States. In addition to maintaining its pedigree registry, this kennel club also promotes and sanctions events for purebred dogs, including the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, an annual event which predates the official forming of the AKC, the National Dog Show and the AKC National Championship. The AKC is a non-member partner with the Fédération Cynologique Internationale. The AKC recognizes 200 dog breeds, as of 2022.
The Staffordshire Bull Terrier, also called the Staffy or Stafford, is a purebred dog of small to medium size in the terrier group that originated in the northern parts of Birmingham and in the Black Country of Staffordshire, for which it is named. They descended from 19th-century bull terriers that were developed by crossing bulldogs with various terriers to create a generic type of dog generally known as bull and terriers. Staffords share the same ancestry with the modern Bull Terrier, although the two breeds developed along independent lines, and do not resemble each other. Modern Staffords more closely resemble the old type of bull terrier, and were first recognised as a purebred dog breed by The Kennel Club of Great Britain in 1935.
A dog show is an animal show, an event where dogs are exhibited. A conformation show, also referred to as a breed show, is a kind of dog show in which a judge, familiar with a specific dog breed, evaluates individual purebred dogs for how well the dogs conform to the established breed type for their breed, as described in a breed's individual breed standard.
Fox Terriers are two different breeds of the terrier dog type: the Smooth Fox Terrier and the Wire Fox Terrier. Both of these breeds originated in the 19th century from a handful of dogs who are descended from earlier varieties of British terriers, and are related to other modern white terrier breeds. In addition, a number of breeds have diverged from these two main types of fox terrier and have been recognised separately, including the Jack Russell Terrier, Miniature Fox Terrier and Rat Terrier. The Wire and Smooth Fox Terriers share similar characteristics, the main differences being in the coat and markings. They have been successful in conformation shows, more prominently in America than their homeland.
The Parson Russell Terrier is a breed of small white terrier that was the original Fox Terrier of the 18th century. The breed is named after the Reverend Jack Russell, credited with the creation of this type of dog. It is the recognised conformation show variety of the Jack Russell Terrier and was first recognised in 1990 in the United Kingdom as the Parson Jack Russell Terrier. In America, it was first recognised as the Jack Russell Terrier in 1997. The name was changed to its current form in 1999 in the UK and by 2008 all international kennel clubs recognised it under the new name.
Ch. Felicity's Diamond Jim, CD, RE, commonly known as James, was an English Springer Spaniel. He was the 2007 Best In Show winner at the Westminster Dog Show. It was his 51st Best in Show victory, and his last, as his owners chose to retire James after the win to focus him on his work as a certified therapy dog. He was handled exclusively by the same handler who took Ch. Salilyn 'N Erin's Shameless to a best-in-show at Westminster in 2000. In retirement he was recognised in 2008 by the English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association for his work as a sire and has produced many champion offspring, including Ch. Cerise Jesse James, as well as a loving family companion, Winston Henderson.
Championships are awarded to dogs who have passed through a process of selection at dog shows. Traditionally, a championship was received at a conformation show, but championships are now offered for dogs who have attained a high degree of perfection in other dog sports as well.
The National Dog Show is an all-breed benched conformation show sanctioned by the American Kennel Club and the Kennel Club of Philadelphia, which takes place on Thanksgiving each year and has been televised on NBC since 2002.
Ch. Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee, better known as Stump, was a male Sussex Spaniel who won Best In Show at the 2009 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Stump was the first of his breed to win that honor and, at 10 years old, the oldest dog ever to win the prize. He also won the Sporting Group at Westminster in 2004, the first such victory for his breed, and amassed 51 Best in Show awards throughout his career. One of his owners described him as "the most famous Sussex (Spaniel) that has ever lived".
Ch. Efbe's Hidalgo At Goodspice, also known as Charmin, was a male Sealyham Terrier who was the Best in Show at the American Kennel Club National Championship in 2007, World Dog Show in 2008, and Crufts in 2009. He also won the Terrier Group at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show in 2008.
Ch. Tickle Em Jock (1908–??), a Scottish Terrier, was the first of his breed to win best-in-show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in 1911, the fifth occasion it was awarded. He was originally sold for a sum of only £2 to Andrew Albright, Jr. Mr Albright would go on to later say he wouldn't sell the dog for $5,000. Jock was also noted in the media of the time for biting a judge's wrist just after winning best of breed at a dog show.
Ch. My Own Brucie was a male American Cocker Spaniel who was the Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in 1940 and 1941. He was sired by popular sire Red Brucie and died as a result of a kidney and liver ailment. Obituaries described him as the most photographed dog in the world.
Ch. Rocky Top's Sundance Kid was a Bull Terrier who is best known for being the 2006 Best In Show winner at the Westminster Dog Show handled by Kathy Kirk PHA. He is the first Colored Bull Terrier to win Best in Show at Westminster, with the only other victory for his breed going to a White Bull Terrier in 1918. He also won Best In Show at the National Dog show, and on retirement trained as a therapy dog. He is the most successful Colored Bull Terrier show dog of all time.
GCH Foxcliffe Hickory Wind, also known as Hickory, was a female Scottish Deerhound who was named Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in 2011. She was the first of her breed to have won the title.
Ch. Salilyn's Condor also known as Robert, was an English Springer Spaniel, best known for being Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in Feb. 1993. He was the first Westminster winner to sire another, when his daughter Ch. Salilyn 'N Erin's Shameless won Best in Show in 2000.
Ch. Rancho Dobe's Storm, also known as Storm or Stormie, a Doberman Pinscher, best known for being Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in both 1952 and 1953. He was the grandson of the 1939 champion, Ferry v. Rauhfelsen of Giralda. Born in California, he was sold to his New York–based owner Len Carey at the age of three months. At the age of sixteen months he won Best of Breed at his first adult dog show, something he would repeat in all 25 of the shows he was entered into, becoming undefeated in breed competition.
Ch. Torums Scarf Michael in Liverpool, England, was a Kerry Blue Terrier who is best known for being the 2000 Best in Show winner at Crufts, and 2003 Best in Show of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. He is the first dog to win the "Triple Crown" of dog shows, having also won the 2002 AKC/Eukanuba National Invitational Championship.
Ch. Warren Remedy (1905-1912) was a Best in Show winner of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in 1907, 1908 and 1909. A smooth-coated fox terrier owned by Winthrop Rutherfurd, she was the only dog to win Westminster three years in a row.
GCH Banana Joe V Tani Kazari, also known as Joe, is a 16 year old toy Affenpinscher that won Best In Show at the 137th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on February 12, 2013. Banana Joe was the first of his breed to win Best in Show at Madison Square Garden. This was his last show, and following it Joe went home to the Netherlands to be with his owner Mieke Cooijmans.
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