Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show , or Westminster for short , is the oldest annual dog show in the world. It has been organized by the Westminster Kennel Club since 1877 and is now held in Madison Square Garden in New York City , USA . Participation is open to dogs of all breeds recognized by the AKC , although the number of dogs is limited to 2,500 animals.
The exhibition has a similar meaning in the North American exhibition circuit as the Crufts in Great Britain and the World Dog Show within the FCI .
history
The exhibition goes back to a group of hunters who met regularly at the Westminster Hotel in Manhattan . These hunters decided to found a club to hold an annual dog show and named it Westminster Kennel Club after their local hangout . The first Westminster exhibition took place on May 8, 1877 in the New York Hippodrome Gilmore Gardens and was primarily an exhibition for setters and pointers . More than 1,200 dogs were registered, so the duration of the exhibition was extended to four days instead of the originally planned three days. The proceeds from the fourth day were donated to the animal welfare organization ASPCA .
The Westminster Kennel Club was founded seven years before the American Kennel Club was founded and was the first club to be admitted to this umbrella organization .
Todays situation
Westminster will be held today on two days in February at Madison Square Garden held, usually on a Monday and Tuesday. The dogs are judged separately by breed, and from among them the best dog of each breed, the Best of Breed (BOB), is selected. The BOB dogs are then judged separately according to the seven AKC groups and the best dog in each group is selected. In the end, the group winners compete against each other to determine the best dog in the show , the Best in Show (BIS).
Conditions of participation
Since 1884, all dogs on display must be of AKC-recognized breeds . In 1992 the conditions of participation were changed so that the five best show dogs of each breed were set and the other places were only open to dogs with championship titles. The BIS winners may continue to be displayed at Westminster exhibitions.
The number of participants is limited to 2,500 dogs for reasons of space. Since 1992, the five best dogs of each breed have been invited, which are calculated from the number of dogs defeated at other exhibitions in the previous year. The remaining places are awarded on a first come, first serve basis to dogs with AKC championship titles and are usually filled on the first day of the registration deadline.
Statistics of the BIS
The most frequently awarded breed is the wire-haired fox terrier with 13 BIS titles. The youngest winner in 1929 was a nine month old longhaired collie , the oldest in 2009 a ten year old Sussex Spaniel . So far, seven dogs have won the BIS title twice and one dog three times. So far 69 males and 35 females have won the BIS.
According to breed groups, the BIS winners are distributed as follows:
- Terrier Group : 46
- Sporting Group : 19
- Working Group : 15
- Non-Sporting Group : 10
- Toy Group : 10
- Hound Group : 5th
- Herding Group : 1
reception
The exhibition will be published in 1984 in the television broadcast and now the sports program of USA Network aired. The Madison Square Garden is open during exhibition sell out. The organizers issue over 700 press passes to reporters from over twenty countries. During the exhibition, the Empire State Building will traditionally be illuminated in the exhibition colors of purple and gold.
The Best in Show dog will have considerable media coverage following the exhibition and will be invited, among other things, to ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange .
The mockumentary film Best in Show is part of the fictional Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show , which is heavily modeled on the Westminster Dog Show .
Web links
- Website Westminster Kennel Club (English)
- History of the exhibition (English)
- National Geographic article on the exhibition
literature
- Barnes, Duncan (ed.) (1983). The AKC's World of the Pure-Bred Dog . Nick Lyons Books. ISBN 0-87605-406-8 .
- Sifel, William F. (2001). The Dog Show: 125 Years of Westminster . William F. Stifel. ISBN 0-9705698-0-7
- Frei, David (ed.) (2010). The Westminster Kennel Club Guidebook . Latest edition of annual publication.
Individual evidence
- ↑ WestminsterKennelClub.org - Oldest Dogs To Win Best In Show ( Memento of the original from March 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ WestminsterKennelClub.org - Best In Show Awards By Breed (1907-2010) ( Memento of the original from March 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ WestminsterKennelClub.org - Multiple Best In Show Wins ( Memento of the original from March 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ WestminsterKennelClub.org - Best In Show Awards By Sex Of The Dog ( Memento of the original from March 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
