2019 Westminster Dog Show - A Closer Look -

The 143rd Annual Westminster Dog Show is just two weeks away. And if you have ever wondered what goes on during the event, which dogs participate or how they determine the winners, I am about to give you a closer look.

In fact, if you have Netflix, there is a wonderful series entitled “7 Days Out” and their first episode focuses on the days leading up to last year’s contest. It gives an up close look at several of the furry competitors as well as their human owners and handlers. The show peaks inside the personal highs and lows of what it takes to bring a dog to the industry’s top event.

Among those profiled are relative newbies Mike and Phyllis Gowen from Marion Oaks, FL who are owner/handlers of their harrier, Champion Blythmoor’s Jump At The Chance, known as Emmy. Also covered are professionals like Hernan and Allison Pacheco, also from Florida, and their boxer named MBIS GCH Vixayo’s Golden Hammer, aka “Thor”.

Some of the participants who appear in the Netflix episode do make it past the first round and win their Best of Breed. Though, as you all know, it was a Bichon Frise named GCH Belle Creek’s All I Care About Is Love which eventually earned the ultimate prize for the week.

There are a little over 200 breeds that will be competing at this year’s event. In a previous post, I looked at the two newest AKC-approved breeds eligible to compete for Best in Show. The Nederlandse kooikerhondje (pronounced NAY-dehr-lahn-seh KOY-kehr-hahnd-jeh) originates in the Netherlands and is “a true sporting dog being keen, swift, tough, attentive and energetic.” The grand basset griffon Vendéen is a shaggy, low-eared hound originally from France and bred for duck-hunting.

The official Westminster website has some great educational resources to explain about many facets of both the competition itself and the industry. Their Dog Show 101 primer breaks down how it all works. “At Westminster, males and females compete separately within their respective breeds, in three regular classes: Bred by Exhibitor, American-Bred, and Open. First place winners from each class compete in the Winners Dog or Winners Bitch classes. Males and females are judged separately. The winner of these classes receives the championship points. The Winners Dog and Winners Bitch then compete with the champions in the Best of Breed class. In this class there are three top awards:

— Best of Breed – The dog judged that is judge Best of Breed that day.
— Best of Winners – The dog judged as the better of the Winners Dog and Winners Bitch.
— Best of Opposite Sex – The best dog that is the opposite sex to the Best of Breed winner.

Four placements are awarded in each group. Only the group winners advance to the Best in Show competition. From among these seven dogs the judge selects the Best in Show winner.”

This year, the finals for the Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting and Herding groups are scheduled for Monday at 7:30pm while the Sporting, Working and Terrier groups compete on Tuesday evening at the same time in Madison Square Garden. The event finale follows that night. FS1 (Fox Sports 1) will once again broadcast the show and you can find a full TV schedule at westminsterkennelclub.org/tv-schedule.

Here’s a rundown of all the groups and their respective breeds: [source]

Herding Group :
These breeds move livestock. Herding dogs work closely with human shepherds, and their natural responsiveness makes them highly trainable.
» Official AKC Breed Standards for Herding Group (PDF)

Hound Group :
All hound breeds pursue warm-blooded quarry. The sleek, long-legged sighthounds use explosive speed and wide vision to chase swift prey, like jackrabbits and antelope. Tough, durable scenthounds rely on their powerful noses to trail anything from a raccoon to an escaped convict.
» Official AKC Breed Standards for Hound Group (PDF)

Non-Sporting Group:
These breeds have two things in common: wet noses and four legs. After that, this group is a patchwork of breeds whose job descriptions defy categorization in the six other groups.
» Official AKC Breed Standards for Non-Sporting Group (PDF)

Sporting Group:
Breeds in this group were created to assist hunters on feathered game. Retrievers, built for swimming, specialize on waterfowl. The hunting grounds of setters, spaniels, and pointing breeds are grasslands where quail, pheasant, and other tasty game birds nest.
» Official AKC Breed Standards for Sporting Group (PDF)

Terrier Group :
Short-legged terriers were created to go underground in pursuit of rodents. Long-legged terriers dig out varmints rather than burrowing in after them. The group’s “bull” breeds were created long ago for ghastly “sports” like bull baiting and dogfights but are today companion dogs.
» Official AKC Breed Standards for Terrier Group (PDF)

Toy Group :
They come in enough shapes and coat types to satisfy any preference, but all toy dogs are small enough to fit comfortably in the lap of their adored humans. In a way, toys are “working dogs”—they work at being attentive, affectionate companions.
» Official AKC Breed Standards for Toy Group (PDF)

Working:
These are dogkind’s punch-the-clock, blue-collar workers. They pull sleds and carts, do rescue work, guard flocks and homes, and protect their humans.
» Official AKC Breed Standards for Working Group (PDF)

What is important to remember is that each canine is judged against a written standard describing the ideal dog – first of their breed or class and then of their group. Those standards are maintained and published by the governing body – in this case the American Kennel Club (AKC). As dogs were originally bred to do specific jobs like hunting, guarding, tracking, or companionship, the standard describes how a dog should look in order to carry out its job. General appearance, movement, and temperament along with specific physical traits such as height and weight, coat, colors, eye color and shape, ear shape and placement, feet and tail are all taken into consideration. [source]

You can find specific information for breed and group standards in the PDF links above as well as on the AKC website. For instance, with the Chihuahua (my personal favorite) the dog should be “graceful, alert, swift-moving… and have a saucy expression.” They should have “large, erect type ears, held more upright when alert, but flaring to the sides at a 45 degree angle when in repose, giving breadth between the ears.” And forget about discouraging fat-shaming! Chihuahuas can’t weigh more than 6 pounds (or 6.5 pounds if they are competing in England.) In fact there are variations in breed standards from the AKC and the United Kennel Club (UKC). You can read it here, but that is a topic for another day. Other points that will disqualify a Chihuahuas according to the AKC include a) broken down or cropped ears b)docked tail, bobtail c)in Long Coats, having too thin of a coat that resembles bareness.

Judges also have to have extensive knowledge of all the breed standards. If you are interested, you can read the AKC Measuring and Weighing Dogs Study Guide. Here is also a video discussing how they measure the height and weight of a dog properly.

LIST OF BREEDS BY GROUP
HERDING GROUP
Australian Cattle Dog Australian Shepherd Bearded Collie Beauceron Belgian Malinois Belgian Sheepdog Belgian Tervuren Bergamasco Berger Picard Border Collie	Bouvier des Flandres Briard Canaan Dog Cardigan Welsh Corgi Collie Entlebucher Moutain Dog Finnish Lapphund German Shepherd Dog Icelandic Sheepdog Miniature American Shepherd	Norwegian Buhund Old English Sheepdog Pembroke Welsh Corgi Polish Lowland Sheepdog Puli Pumi Pyrenean Shepherd Shetland Sheepdog Spanish Water Dog Swedish Vallhund

HOUND GROUP
Cirneco Dell’Etna Dachshund English Foxhound Grand Basset Griffon Vendeen Greyhound Harrier Ibizan Hound	Irish Wolfhound Norwegian Elkhound Otterhound Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen Pharaoh Hound Plott Portuguese Podengo Pequeno	Redbone Coonhound Rhodesian Ridgeback Saluki Scottish Deerhound Sloughi Treeing Walker Coonhound Whippet

NON-SPORTING GROUP
American Eskimo Dog Bichon Frise Boston Terrier Bulldog Chinese Shar-Pei Chow Chow Coton De Tulear	Dalmatian Finish Spitz French Bulldog Keeshond Lhasa Apso Lowchen Norwegian Lundhund	Poodle Schipperke Shiba Inu Tibetan Spaniel Tibetan Terrier Xoloitzcuintli

SPORTING GROUP
American Water Spaniel Boykin Spaniel Brittany Chesapeake Bay Retriever Clumber Spaniel Cocker Spaniel Curly-Coated Retriever English Cocker Spaniel English Setter English Springer Spaniel Field Spaniel	Flat-Coated Retriever German Shorthaired Pointer German Wirehaired Pointer Golden Retriever Gordon Setter Irish Red and White Setter Irish Setter Irish Water Spaniel Labrador Retriever Lagotto Romagnolo Nederlandse Kooikerhondje	Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Pointer Spinone Italiano Sussex Spaniel Vizsla Weimaraner Welsh Springer Spaniel Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Wirehaired Vizsla

TERRIER GROUP
Airedale Terrier American Hairless Terrier American Staffordshire Terrier Australian Terrier Bedlington Terrier Border Terrier Bull Terrier Cairn Terrier Cesky Terrier Dandie Dinmont Terrier Glen of Imaal Terrier	Irish Terrier Kerry Blue Terrier Lakeland Terrier Manchester Terrier Miniature Bull Terrier Miniature Schnauzer Norfolk Terrier Norwich Terrier Parson Russell Terrier Rat Terrier	Russell Terrier Scottish Terrier Sealyham Terrier Skye Terrier Smooth Fox Terrier Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier Staffordshire Bull Terrier Welsh Terrier West Highland White Terrier Wire Fox Terrier


TOY GROUP
Affenpinscher Brussels Griffon Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Chihuahua Chinese Crested English Toy Spaniel Havanese	Italian Greyhound Japanese Chin Maltese Manchester Terrier Miniature Pinscher Papillon Pekingese	Pomeranian Poodle (Toy) Pug Shih Tzu Silky Terrier Toy Fox Terrier Yorkshire Terrier

WORKING GROUP
Akita Alaskan Malamute Anatolian Shepherd Dog Bernese Mountain Dog Black Russian Terrier Boerboel Boxer Bullmastiff Cane Corso Chinook	Doberman Pinscher Dogue de Bordeaux German Pinscher Giant Schnauzer Great Dane Great Pyrenees Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Komondor Kuvasz Leonberger	Mastiff Neapolitan Mastiff Newfoundland Portuguese Water Dog Rottweiler Samoyed Siberian Husky Standard Schnauzer Tibetan Mastiff St. Bernard

Now, we have not even ventured into the arduous process it takes to actually be allowed to compete at Westminster. I will also save that for another article. But if you want to see a list of the top dogs to watch out for, you can review the list for each breed at http://infodog.com/show/westminster/breed.htm.

For now, I will conclude with a note about judging in the ring and answer a common question I hear. First, yes; personality, attitude and performance does matter. Some dogs have that something extra in their step. Others don’t shine so bright. And the ones that don’t like to perform in front of people never make it off the couch. Not all dogs, no matter how physically perfect, are meant to be show dogs. And secondly, what happens if a dog has an “accident” in the ring? Well don’t worry. You’ll be glad to know that judges are very understanding and won’t hold it against them.