The 2024 NOHS Finals: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

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354 – February, 2025

By Caroline Coile

Another NOHS Invitational is in the books. And one thing is clear: The NOHS Invitational is the red-headed stepchild of the AKC National Championship week.

I hate to say that. I’m fully aware that NOHS exhibitors have a reputation for whining. And I do think some of the whining aimed at this event is unfounded. I also agree that it has improved since its beginnings. But it still has such a long, long way to go–and the curious thing is, some of its major problems could be so easily remedied.

The Good

The NOHS Invitational attracted 831 entrants this year, which means it’s pretty much holding steady. By the way, that’s more than the median-sized dog show these days. There were entries in almost every breed. Since entries are limited to the top 10 ranked NOHS dogs in every breed, no breed had more than 10 entries, but quite a few had 7 or 8, and a few had 9. Many people traveled from the west coast–one even came from Alaska–and some mentioned they came just for NOHS and not for the regular AKC National Championship show.

Many exhibitors spoke of showing year-round in order to place in their breed’s Top 10 NOHS, and some showed mainly for NOHS rather than regular wins because they consider their breed too handler-dominated. This translates into lots of extra money for clubs and for the AKC.

Click here to read the complete article
354 – February, 2025

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Posted by AnthonyA on Feb 16 2025. 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.