Westminster Kennel Club

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is a prestigious all-breed conformation show that has been held in New York City annually since 1877. Currently, the breed and Junior Showmanship competitions are held at Piers 92 and 94, while the group and Best in Show competitions are held at Madison Square Garden. The number of entries is so large at nearly 3000 that two days are required for all dogs to be judged.

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is one of a handful of benched shows in the United States. Dogs are required to be on display in an assigned location (bench) during the entirety of the show except when being shown in the ring, groomed for showing, or taken outside to eliminate, so that spectators and breeders alike have an opportunity to see all the entered dogs. (In the more common unbenched shows, dogs are required to be present only at assigned ring times.)

The Westminster show was first held on May 8, 1877, making it the second-longest continuously held sporting event in the United States behind only the Kentucky Derby, which was first held in 1875. (Both events were held even during the World War years.) The show originated as a show for gun dogs, primarily Setters and Pointers, initiated by a group of hunters who met regularly at the Westminster Hotel at Irving Place and Sixteenth Street in Manhattan. They decided to create a kennel club called the Westminster Kennel Club specifically for the purpose of holding a dog show. The prizes for these first shows included such items as pearl handled pistols, of use to the hunters and terriermen who worked these dogs in the field.

Held at Gilmore's Garden (Madison Square Garden) the Westminster show drew over 1200 dogs and proved so popular that its scheduled three days was extended to four, with the club donating proceeds from that fourth day to the ASPCA for creation of a home for stray and disabled dogs.

The Westminster Kennel Club predates the formation of the American Kennel Club by seven years, and became the first club admitted to the AKC after AKC's founding in 1884. Breed parent clubs (e.g., the Afghan Hound Club of America) create the standards for judging their breeds, with the AKC administering the rules about shows and judging.

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