Beginning on Saturday, nearly 3,500 dogs from 211 breeds will compete for the highly sought-after Best in Show honor at the 146th Westminster Dog Show.
The American Kennel Club hosts the Westminster Dog Show, an event where thousands of dogs representing hundreds of breeds from across the country compete in agility, obedience, and conformation competitions.
The competition’s goal is to assess breeding stock, and winners are chosen based on their potential to advance and better the next generation of canines.
The Westminster Kennel Club is America’s second-oldest continuously running sporting event, trailing only the Kentucky Derby, and was founded in the 1870s by a group of dog lovers. Think of it as the dog world’s Super Bowl.
From its inception in 1877 until 2020, the Westminster Dog Show was held in New York City. However, last year, it was moved to the historic Lyndhurst Estate in Tarrytown, New York, making it the first Westminster Dog Show to be held outside. The competition returns to Lyndhurst this year.
The Westminster Dog Show starts on Saturday, but the majority of the most anticipated events will be televised on FOX, FS1, FS2, and on the FOX Sports app from Monday through Wednesday.
For judging, each dog is divided into one of seven categories: hound, toy, terrier, herding, working, sporting, and non-sporting. Dogs receive points for each dog they defeat; the more dogs competing, the more points each dog receives for a victory.
When it comes to appearance, movement, temperament, and specific physical traits like height and weight, coat, colors, eye color and shape, ear shape and placement, feet, tail, and more, dogs are assessed based on how closely they resemble a written standard describing the ideal dog in their breed.
Then there is a process of elimination. The four dogs selected as Best in Breed in their respective groups then compete in Best in Group, with the group winner then moving on to compete for the overall Best in Show award.
The ninth annual Masters Agility Championship, which airs on Sunday, kicks off Westminster weekend. At the Masters Agility Championship, hundreds of dogs will take part in two preliminary standard agility rounds (jumps and weaves). Of the 50 finalists, 10 will compete in five different height classes in the finals on Saturday evening. Purebred and All-American (mixed breed) dogs may participate in the competition, which is judged on completion of the course in a timely manner and without errors.
Verb the Border Collie won the 2021 championship last year, making it his second victory in three years.
The Masters Obedience Championship will resume the competition on Monday. Utility and signal exercises make up the first round of the competition, but the real action happens in the finals when all teams put on a six-minute routine to display their skills in range of obedience.
The Junior Showmanship Finals and Group Judging will take place on Wednesday after Breed Judging on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday night, the seven group winners will compete for Best in Show.
Tuesday: Breed Judging and Junior Showmanship Preliminaries, 8 a. m. -4:30 p. m. Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting, and Herding Groups, 7:30–11 p. ET (FS2) Group Judging m. ET (FS1).
Wednesday: Breed Judging and Junior Showmanship Preliminaries, 8 a. m. -4 p. m. ET (FS2) Junior Showmanship Finals, 7-7:30 p. m. Sporting, Working, and Terrier Groups, followed by Best in Show, ET (FS1), 7:30–11 p m. ET (FS1).
The Mudi, a medium-sized, adaptable farm dog from Hungary originally bred to herd the most difficult sheep and cattle, and the Russian toy, a diminutive, square-built toy dog that was once a favorite breed of the Russian aristocracy, are the two new breeds making their Westminster Dog Show debuts this year.
Last year’s seven finalists were Boy the West Highland White Terrier, Jade the German Shorthaired Pointer, Wasabi the Pekingese, Mathew the French Bulldog, Connor the Old English Sheepdog, and Bourbon the Whippet.
However, Wasabi the Toy Group Pekingese of the Toy Group won the highly sought-after WKC ribbon and Best in Show title, defeating 2,499 other dogs of 208 breeds (and 44 international entries!). It was the breed’s fifth overall victory overall and the Toy Group’s tenth.
The Sporting Group has won the most (20 times), followed by the Terrier Group (47 times), with a Wire Fox Terrier as the most recent winner in 2019. Only twice have the Herding Group won, with the most recent victory coming from a German Shepherd in 2017. The breed with the most individual victories is the Wire Fox Terrier (15).
Only seven dogs have ever won Best in Show twice at Westminster, including Smooth Fox Terrier Warren Remedy, who won the top honor three times in a row from 1907 to 1909.
Despite consistently ranking among the most frequently entered breeds, neither the Golden Retriever nor the Labrador Retriever has ever won the Best in Show award.
The United States has produced the most Best in Show winners overall (64), followed by the United Kingdom (37) and Canada (six), with just one each for Belgium, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
The Sussex Spaniel named Stump, who was 10 years old in 2009, was the oldest dog to win Best in Show, and the Rough Collie named Laund Loyalty of Bellhaven, who was only 9 months old in 1929, was the youngest. The only Collie breed to win Best in Show at Westminster is Laund Loyalty of Bellhaven.
Where is the Westminster Dog Show held? The show is held in New York each year. When is the Westminster Dog Show? The Westminster Dog Show dates and schedule as well as the event location are posted on the WKCs website each year. You can also find information about tickets and parking if you want to attend as a spectator.
An AKC champion is a dog who has accumulated at least 15 points at conformation shows and has at least two wins that are worth three points or more. You receive points when your dog has wins, such as Winners Dog, Winners Bitch, Best of Breed, Best of Opposite Sex, and Best of Winners. Points can vary depending on the show and the number of dogs in the class, so be sure to check the points being offered when planning your show schedule for the year. You can find a schedule of events on the AKCs website or through your national breed organization.
If you think your dog has what it takes, you must first qualify to enter the Westminster Dog Show. The WKC will invite some dogs to compete in the show, including the top five dogs from the qualifying show season and the National Breed Specialty Best of Breed winners. If your dog does not fall into these categories, you may still be able to apply to enter the show if your dog is an AKC champion. You must submit an entry form and the entry fee by the deadline listed on the WKC website.
If you want to enter your dog in the Westminster Dog Show, it is important to understand how the shows work to make sure that your dog meets the qualifications to be competitive. Conformation classes are only open to purebred dogs, so your dog must be a registered, recognized breed with the American Kennel Club (AKC).
Winning the top spot at a show takes more than showing up with a dog with excellent conformation. Your dog must be prepared for the show ring and be able to walk and jog well on a leash and be able to stand still while the judge is examining him. You can show your dog yourself, although many owners hire professional dog handlers to show their dog.
Westminster is the second-longest continuously held sporting event in the country, second only to the Kentucky Derby.
More than 1,200 dogs competed in the first Westminster, which has grown in popularity since. Millions of people can watch it live on television in addition to those who attend in person. Currently, nearly 3,500 dogs compete during Westminster Week events.
To determine which dogs will triumph and advance one step closer to that championship, shows are held all over the United States throughout the year. Dogs first compete with members of their own breed. After that, the Best of Breed champion competes in their respective AKC divisions. They are the terrier, hound, herding, working, sporting, non-sporting, and toy groups. The dogs that most closely match the breed standard established by the parent clubs take home the best of their group award. The dogs are competing against the standard, not against one another. The reason these events are called conformation shows is because the judges do not choose which dog in the ring has the best appearance; rather, they choose which dog best complies with the breed standard. The top dogs from each group are then advanced to the Best in Show competition. The top five dogs in the country, as determined by the number of dogs they have eliminated by winning throughout the year at local dog shows, as well as Best of Breed winners at AKC National Breed Specialty Shows, receive invitations guaranteeing a spot in the Westminster show.
Michelle A. Rivera is the author of many books and articles. She graduated from the University of Missouri’s Animal Cruelty School and holds a Florida Animal Control Association certification. She is the CEO of her own nonprofit organization, Animals 101, Inc. Rivera is a dog trainer, veterinary technician, humane educator, former shelter manager, rescue volunteer coordinator, and animal-assisted therapist.
Everyone who exhibits dogs will give you the same response when you inquire about their motivations: love of the breed and a sincere desire to constantly advance the breed. There is almost no chance that a Labrador retriever bought from a pet shop that sells puppies from puppy mills will ever be able to compete in even a local dog show, much less a regional or Westminster. But if that same person had bought a well-bred Labrador puppy whose parents had participated in dog shows and, while they might not have won, at least accrued points toward a championship, he might have been able to enter his Labrador in a dog show and win. Only intact (non-sterilized) animals may compete because the entire purpose of dog shows is to display breeding stock. Otherwise, what would be the point?.
A dog may be invited to compete in the Westminster Dog Show once he has won enough competitions to become the best. Since only 3200 dogs are permitted to enter Westminster, there is fierce competition. The top five champions of each breed are invited, but there are non-invited categories of dogs that are welcome to compete even though they are not invited. These are dogs that may have participated in qualifying events and gained championship points, but who did not place among the top five in their breed.
Finding dogs with the traits of the breed they represent is the whole point of showing dogs and having them compete against one another. For each breed, the American Kennel Club creates a “breed standard.” This standard outlines every requirement a dog must meet in order to belong to a specific breed. This is what makes a purebred dog a purebred. While a breed may vary in size, color, and temperament, there are many other characteristics that are common to all members of that breed, including their coat texture, anatomy, ancestry, and the original reason they were bred. The goal of the competition is to identify the breed’s best representatives so that they can mate with other champions to supposedly produce litters of ideal offspring.
FAQ
Can any dog enter Westminster?
The Best of Breed or Best of Variety competition at Westminster is the first level of competition. An entry there with only dogs of one breed is judged by one person. One dog or more than 50 dogs may be entered in the contest. All champions are entered in the Best of Breed Class.
How much does it cost to get a dog to Westminster?
The entrance fee for the Westminster Dog Show is $100, according to a Yahoo Finance report. However, getting your dog ready for the show will cost you much more; in some cases, as much as $250,000.
Do you have to be invited to Westminster?
Strict entry requirements, such as how many other dogs they have defeated in breed competitions, determine which dogs are invited to compete. If a non-invited dog has won a certain number of significant dog show awards, they may also participate.
How many points does my dog have?
Click “View Points/Summary of the Title Progression for this Dog” to see the total number of points your dog has accrued in an AKC competition. You can now access point data and title advancement for all AKC competitions, including conformation, obedience, agility, field trials, hunting tests, and all other AKC competitions.