Westminster And Crufts – The World’s Two Most Iconic Dog Shows

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370 – February, 2025

By Anna Szabó

Today, this may not be common knowledge, but dog shows actually predate the establishment of the first kennel clubs. History recognizes an 1859 Setter and Pointer show in Newcastle upon Tyne as the first ever dog show (its American coequal was the Illinois Show for Setters and Pointers in 1874), prior to which dog competitions of various sorts had been held in pubs and gentlemen’s clubs throughout Great Britain. It was conceded that to bring order out of the sudden and chaotic growth of competitive dog exhibitions, the establishment of kennel clubs as governing bodies was imperative.

Soon after, the first dog show society was created in Birmingham and The National Dog Show–currently one of England’s and the world’s largest dog shows with overall entries around 9-10,000 dogs–has been organized by the Birmingham Dog Show Society ever since.

It wasn’t until 1873, however, that Mr. Sewallis Shirley and twelve other like-minded men founded The Kennel Club (now called The Royal Kennel Club) in the United Kingdom. A little more than a decade later, representatives of twelve dog clubs from across the United States gathered together in Philadelphia and established The American Kennel Club in 1884. The RKC and AKC, with all their ups and downs, have since been the two most influential kennel clubs in the world.

The Shows That Have Come To Define the Sport Itself

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370 – February, 2025

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Posted by AnthonyA on Feb 17 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.