What Is a Dog Show? The 165-Year History Behind Crufts, Westminster and Best in Show (Part 1)

Dog Show Stories · Part 1 of 2

What Is a Dog Show? The 165-Year History Behind Crufts, Westminster and Best in Show

The man who built the world's biggest dog show swore he never owned a dog. The first show ever held gave away a shotgun. And the most popular breed in America has never won. Here is how dog shows really began.

At Kim's Pups, a Korean breeder that raises Coton de Tulear, Mini Bichon Frise, Maltipoo, Poodle, Pomeranian and Maltese puppies for families around the world, we live with breed standards every day. Those standards were written by and for dog shows. So before we show you what a show-dog's life looks like in Part 2, this first article answers the question we get asked most: what is a dog show, and where did it come from?

Watch: the story in 78 seconds

What is a dog show, really?

A dog show is a breed-standard competition. Every recognised breed has a written standard maintained by a kennel club, such as The Kennel Club in the United Kingdom, the American Kennel Club (AKC) in the United States, or the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI), which covers most of Europe, Asia and Latin America, including Korea through the Korea Kennel Federation. The standard describes the ideal size, proportions, head, coat, colour, movement and temperament of that breed.

In the ring, the judge examines each dog by hand and watches it move, then asks one question: how close is this dog to its standard? Dogs are never asked to fight, race or perform tricks. Many first-time viewers assume Best in Show goes to the cutest or most glamorous dog on the night. It does not. A Pekingese and a Great Dane can stand side by side in the final because each is being measured against its own ideal, not against each other. This is the single most misunderstood thing about dog shows.

The first dog show: Newcastle, 1859, with a shotgun as the prize

The very first dog show was not a grand event. On 28 June 1859 a group of sportsmen in Newcastle upon Tyne added a "Sporting Dog Show" to a poultry exhibition. Only two breeds were entered, Pointers and Setters, about sixty dogs in total, all of them male, handled and judged entirely by men. The show was sponsored by two gun makers, so the winners did not receive a trophy. They received a pair of custom double-barrelled shotguns.

The idea spread quickly across Victorian Britain. Within a few years dog shows were being held in Birmingham, Leeds and London, breeds multiplied, and people began arguing about what a "correct" Pointer or Setter should look like. That argument needed a referee.

1873: The Kennel Club and the invention of the breed standard

In 1873 The Kennel Club was founded in London to bring order to the chaos. It published the first stud book, set show rules, and, most importantly, formalised the idea of the breed standard, a written description of the ideal dog of each breed. From that moment a dog show stopped being a beauty contest and became what it still is today: a search for the dog closest to its standard. Every kennel club in the world, including the AKC (founded 1884) and the FCI (founded 1911), follows this model.

Charles Cruft: the dog-biscuit salesman who built the biggest show on Earth

Charles Cruft never set out to be a showman. He was a travelling salesman for Spratt's, a maker of dog biscuits, and he first organised a dog show on the company's behalf at the 1878 Paris Exposition. In 1891 he launched his own event in London under his own name. "Cruft's Great Dog Show" grew every year, and today Crufts, held at the NEC in Birmingham since its centenary in 1991, is listed by Guinness World Records as the largest dog show in the world.

Here is the twist. Charles and his wife Emma insisted for decades that they did not own a dog, only a cat, so that nobody could accuse them of favouring one breed. After Charles died in 1938 his memoirs were published, and in them he admitted he had kept at least one Saint Bernard. Emma ran the show for one more year, then sold it to The Kennel Club in 1942, which has run it ever since.

1. 1859First dog show, NewcastlePointers and Setters only. Prize: a pair of shotguns.
2. 1873The Kennel Club is foundedBreed standards and the first stud book bring rules to the sport.
3. 1877First Westminster show, New YorkPlanned in a hotel bar. Entries included General Custer's Staghounds and Deerhounds bred by Queen Victoria.
4. 1891First Crufts, LondonA dog-biscuit salesman's side project becomes the biggest show on Earth.
5. 1942The Kennel Club takes over CruftsEmma Cruft sells the show after running it alone in 1939.
6. 1991Crufts moves to BirminghamThe centenary show moves from London to the NEC, where it is still held.
7. 2026150th WestminsterAmerica's second-oldest continuously held sporting event, after the Kentucky Derby.

Westminster: the show that was born in a hotel bar

Across the Atlantic, a group of hunters who met regularly at the bar of the Westminster Hotel in Manhattan decided in 1877 to hold a dog show of their own. They named it after the bar. The first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show drew more than a thousand dogs, among them two Staghounds from the pack of the late General George Custer and two Deerhounds bred by Queen Victoria. It was so popular that it was extended by a day, with the extra proceeds donated to the ASPCA.

Westminster is now the second-oldest continuously held sporting event in the United States, behind only the Kentucky Derby, and celebrates its 150th show in 2026. One famous oddity: the two most popular breeds in America, the Labrador Retriever and the Golden Retriever, have never won Best in Show at Westminster. Every year the headlines ask whether this will finally be the year, and every year it isn't.

The world's biggest dog shows, ranked by size

Entry numbers change every year. Figures above are from the organisers' own announcements for the 2025 and 2026 shows.

How does a dog win Best in Show?

A dog show is a tournament, and every dog has to climb the same ladder on the day:

1. Class winner. Dogs first compete within their breed in classes divided by age and sex, such as puppy, junior and open.
2. Best of Breed. The class winners meet, and one dog is named the best of its breed that day.
3. Group winner. Breeds are sorted into groups (toy, hound, terrier, working and so on; seven at Westminster, ten under FCI rules). Each group produces one winner.
4. Best in Show. The group winners enter the final ring together, and the judge chooses the single dog that is closest to its own breed's ideal.

In Part 2 we follow one champion dog through this entire year, from the day a breeder picks a puppy to the night it stands under the final spotlight, and explain why people spend a fortune chasing a prize worth almost nothing.

Why a Korean breeder cares about dog shows

Dog shows are where breed standards are tested in public, and breed standards are what responsible breeding is built on. At Kim's Pups our Coton de Tulear, Mini Bichon Frise, Maltipoo, Poodle, Pomeranian and Maltese puppies are bred from parents selected for health, temperament and conformation to the standard, and our team handles dogs at championship shows in Korea and abroad. Knowing what the standard looks like in the ring is how we know what a healthy, correct puppy looks like at home. If you would like to learn about an individual breed's history and standard, visit our Breedpedia, or read our complete guide to the Coton de Tulear.

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