A Few Interesting Facts About The Famous Westminster Dog Show
Friday, January 8th, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed
This article will describe facts and information about the oldest and most well known dog show of all, The Westminster Dog Show that takes place in New York City every year. This show is a celebration of purebred dogs that have gone through dog training NYC or dog training Philadelphia to become one of the top dogs in their particular breed to compete in this prestigious event. Many people have seen this show which is televised nationally right after the Thanksgiving Day parade in New York at some time in their life. And no matter how old you are, the Westminster Dog Show is older.
The Westminster Kennel Club created the dog show in NYC in 1876. This year’s event will be the 144th annual dog show. That makes it the 2nd longest continuously held sport in the United States. The oldest sporting event is the Kentucky Derby which is only one year older than the dog show. Because of it’s longevity, it has been dubbed America’s Dog Show. People, particularly Americans love this strong sense of history that is tied to an event such as this one and it continues to succeed in ratings as far as how popular it is among Americans.
It originally started by the kennel club to gather other people who have a love and appreciation of purebred dogs and to help to bring out the absolute best in each breed which will only make them grander for the future. People actually traveled from far away by train to go to and enter their purebred dog in the first shows. Some of the breeds that were represented back in the beginning either no longer exist now or are called by a completely different name. A lot can change over the course of 134 years after all.
Today, there are more than 2,500 various champion canines from 173 different breeds or varieties. Americans have long been dog lovers and most American households have at least one dog in for their pet. It continues to happen in New York as it has the entire time is has existed and a few years ago, the Madison Square Garden, where the show takes place, sold out completely for the 2 day event due to it is rising popularity.
In order to get a dog to make it to the Westminster Dog Show, it takes an incredible amount of work from the best dog trainers in the world. Often, dogs are chosen directly from a litter to be show dogs and they live a life similar to any other conditioned athlete. These dogs are used to competing at different levels of dog shows and fly all over the country for the chance to make it to the largest event of all, The Westminster Dog Show. The ultimate prize is known as Best in Show and that is the top overall dog of the show in the entire competition. Last year’s Best in Show was a beagle that was the first hound ever to win this title.
