Evolution of The Dog Show – Part 3

By Amy Fernandez

Precisely 100 years ago AKC unveiled its third version of Rules Governing Dog Shows. It covered lots of territory, but the primary objective was regulating Best In Show competition, which by then had become the proverbial albatross around its corporate neck. After the first debugging in 1913 this newly minted legislation got a truly raucous test drive at Westminster 1916, an event that remarkably showcased every issue overlooked and disregarded in the first revision.

The show kicked off with the American debut of the recently imported Wire Fox Terrier, Wycollar Boy. Curiosity about his unfathomable purchase price exploded after his spectacular opening day win. The impact of that jawdropping decision cannot be underestimated. None other than Winthrop Rutherford, AFTC president, a world-revered Fox Terrier authority, and history’s only three-time Westminster winner, put this newcomer Best of Breed from the classes over international top contenders.

Wycollar Boy instantly became the odds-on BIS favorite. Then he ventured into the special “Open Class for Dogs and Bitches of any Breed” to face eight challengers from six breeds including his sire, Ch. Wireboy of Paignton, a British-American superstar, and Ch. Raby Dazzler, who he had beaten under Rutherford two days earlier. George Thomas, who possibly wasn’t the best judge for that class since he had imported and brokered both Wireboy and Raby Dazzler, put up Wireboy. But it wasn’t over yet. The BIS lineup of 30 dogs featured the usual jumble of winners, losers, multiple representatives from several breeds, and the unexpected appearance of the 1915 BIS winner, Ch. Matford Vic. The first Wire to take Westminster, she walked out as the first to do it twice. Overall, Westminster’s Wire competition included judges overturning earlier decisions and ignoring ethical propriety, losers challenging winners, multiple winners in one breed, and massive press coverage every step of the way. Thankfully, similar protocol mishaps in other breeds didn’t merit equal scrutiny.

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Posted by Alex on Jul 16 2018. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.