Deja Vu All Over Again: A Chicago Show Reinvents Itself

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98 – April, 2024

By Sarah Montague

I first heard about the Great American Dog (GAD) show last year, when David Frei mentioned that he was excited to have been asked to be part of a revival. So for a while—and this will embarrass him—I thought of the event as “David’s new show.” Frei was, of course, for many years the broadcast voice of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, and now presents The Kennel Club of Philadelphia’s National Dog Show (taped in advance) over the Thanksgiving weekend.

But Frei is more than a spokesperson. He’s a champion of the sport and of opportunities to bring the fancy to a wider public.

So when Scott Pfeil and Erika Wyatt approached him about reviving the legendary International Kennel Club of Chicago Dog Show this past August, he was on board.

The IKC was originally established in 1900 as the Chicago Kennel Club. For years, it hosted the all-breed International Kennel Club of Chicago Dog Show, which became a prestigious local tradition welcoming millions of competitors and guests.

More recently, it was acquired by Louis and Seme Auslander, who moved the show to the suburbs in 2016. Where, says Frei, it languished. “It just kind of escaped everybody’s minds.”

Click here to read the complete article
98 – April, 2024

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