In anticipation for the big show, I’d like to share some fun and interesting facts about the Westminster Dog Show:
- The first Westminster Dog show was held in 1877
- The Westminster Kennel Club was started by a group of hunting men who regularly met at the Westminster Hotel in New York City to promote interest in sporting (hunting) dogs, particularly setters and pointers.
- Prizes for these first shows were usually pearl-handled pistols!
- The Westminster Dog Show is the second oldest continuously held sporting event in the United States…second only to the Kentucky Derby, which was first held in 1875
- The show pre-dates the invention of the light bulb and the automobile, the building of the Brooklyn Bridge and Washington Monument, as well as the invention of basketball and the establishment of the World Series
- Since the first show, there have been 25 men elected president
- The first telecast of the show was in 1948, three years before I Love Lucy was premiered
- In 1884 the Westminster Kennel Club became the first member of the America Kennel Club (AKC)
- There have been a total of 299,o24 dogs entered in the past 134 shows.
- 6 new breeds will be competing in the 2011 Westminster Dog Show: The Boykin Spaniel, Bluetick Coonhound, Redbone Coonhound, Cane Corso, Leonberger, and The Icelandic Sheepdog
To watch the show: The Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting, and Herding group competition will be televised live Monday on USA Network from 8-9 PM ET and continuing on CNBC from 9-11 PM ET. The Sporting, Working, Terrier, and Best In Show competition will be televised live Tuesday on USA Network from 8-11 PM ET. Watch for me in the audience, I’ll be cheering for the Collies!