The Westminster 136th Annual Dog Show starts tomorrow and I thought today would be a good day to share some fun facts about the Westminster Dog Show that you may not know.
* The Westminster Dog Show is held at Madison Square Garden in New York
* The Westminster Kennel Club was established in 1877, making it America’s oldest organization dedicated to the sport of purebred dogs.
* The first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show was held in 1877, making it America’s second longest continually held sporting event, The Kentucky Derby is first.
* Westminster pre-dates the invention of the automobile and the light bulb. Seriously!
* Since Westminster held its first show there have been 25 men elected President and 12 states have joined the Union.
* The first telecast of Westminster was in 1948, 3 years before “I Love Lucy” premiered.
* A portion of Westminster’s first show in 1877 went to the ASPCA to establish a home for stray and disabled animals.
* The Empire State Building first honored Westminster by lighting its tower in the Westminster colors of purple and gold in 2004 and will do so again in 2012.
* Westminster was established in 1877, before the American Kennel Club which was established in 1884.
* In 1884 The Westminster Kennel Club became the first member of the American Club.
* The Westminster Dog Show is a benched show, there are very few benched shows left in the dog show world. At a benched show, dogs that are entered are required to be in assigned areas at all times when not being judged in the ring. This allows for interaction of dogs and their owners with spectators and other owners and breeders as an educational process.
Leroy is entered in a benched show in a few weeks up in Detroit, Michigan. We have only been to a benched show one other time with Sherman.
* There are 6 new breeds entered at Westminster this year.
American English Coonhound
Cesky Terrier
Entlebucher Mountain Dog
Finnish Lapphund
Norwegian Lundehund
Xoloitzcuintli
If you are planning on watching the Westminster Show on Monday and Tuesday night you can go here for the broadcast schedule.
The breeds show during the day and then the groups are televised at night.
Curious of just how much it may cost to to get to the Westminster Dog Show with your show dog? Check out this great article How To Win The Westminster Dog Show. It’s pretty safe to say that you will not see Leroy at this show anytime soon, unless of course we win the lottery, or if Mr.Scott discovers a hidden love for the Newfoundland.
So who are the front runners for this years show? Check it out here and here and then check out this persons predictions on the The Straight Poop, make sure you check out their Working Group predictions.
And last but certainly not least, see what Billy Wheeler has to say about the show in his interview, Inside Westminster. Billy Wheeler writes a blog called Dog Show Poop and also writes a column for Best In Show Daily. I had the pleasure of meeting him in Florida this past December, and he knows dog shows!
So who is it going to be? Any guesses?
Here are mine:
Are you kidding? I’m not even going to try and guess!
