MINE'S BIGGER THAN YOURS

CH Coventry Vanity Fair
Winner 2008 Palm Springs KC

Abby asks, "What are the biggest dog shows in the country?" Well, there's big and then there's BIG. By sheer numbers of entries, this coming weekend's shows in Indio CA hosted by the Palm Springs Kennel Club are the largest with over 3000 in the regular classes on Saturday and Sunday. Those numbers are substantially down from 2008 when there were over 4000 entries.

CH Cilleine Masquerade
Winner 2008 Evansville KC

The second largest shows are the ones in Louisville KY in mid March. This year the Saturday event sponsored by the Evansville KC, the largest of a four day cluster that starts on a Thursday, drew almost 3700 entries. Next comes the Saturday event the third weekend of January in Portland OR put on by the Dog Fanciers Association of Oregon which attracted over 3400 entries, the largest show in a five day weekend that spans Thursday to Monday.

CH Roundtown Mercedes Of Maryscot
Winner 2008 DFA of Oregon

These three weekends account for eight of the ten largest shows in the US. The AKC does have a list of every show, all breed and /limited breeds/specialties, with numbers from 2007 and 2006.

CH Efbe's Hidalgo At Goodspice
Winner 2008 Montgomery County KC

However, the BIG shows, the most prestigious AKC shows, are the Eukanuba National Championship and the Granddaddy of all dog shows, Westminster. Even a breed winner at Westminster has bragging rights for life. Following closely behind is the all Terrier event, the Montgomery County Kennel Club show. Some Terrier breeders (Not this one) would rather win a Montgomery County than a Westminster.

CH Galilee's Pure Of Spirit
AKC 2008 Highest Scoring Dog in Conformation

I also want to put in a pitch for the Eukanuba warm up events in Long Beach. The three shows hosted by the Beverly Hills, Los Encinos, and Long Beach kennel clubs prior to the big event provided us the biggest thrills of 2008. The final at the Friday Long Beach show was my favorite of the year. It was the first time in my memory that we got to see the number one ranked dog from six of the seven groups all in the same final. That show was won by the 2008 highest scoring dog in conformation, the Giant Schnauzer, CH Galilee's Pure Of Spirit. It may not have been a really big show, but it was damn near perfect.