Lauren Rayman
Every Thanksgiving Day, the National Dog Show follows the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Many people enjoy watching both on Thanksgiving morning before or while preparing for dinner.
This year was the 17th Annual National Dog Show. This dog show is a very big deal for the owners of the dogs competing.
The National Dog Show was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania this year and was hosted by John O’Hurley, who was accompanied by dog show analyst David Frei. Over 2,000 owners travelled there to compete their dogs in this year’s National Dog Show.
During the competition, dogs are judged on their looks and obedience in the breed competition, where they have the opportunity to win First in Group and hope to win Best in Show. Although many dogs participate in these competitions, The National Dog Show also has agility contests dogs can compete in.
Winning First in Group is impressive for the dogs competing, but everyone’s goal is to win Best in Show. The Best in Show winner, in essence, wins the whole competition.
In order to win Best in Show or First in Group, many owners do the same rituals and traditions on show days with their dogs, since they believe it is good luck.
The National Dog Show is broken up into seven groups, much like all of the other dog shows throughout the country. These seven groups are the Terrier group, the Toy group, the Sporting group, the Working group, the Hound group, the Non-Sporting group and the Herding group.
Taking home First in Group in the Terrier group was King. King is a fox wire terrier who won Best in Show at the Beverly Hills Dog Show earlier this year.
In the Toy group, King Charles Cavalier Spaniel Bogie won First in Group. Ducky, a Chesapeake Bay retriever, won the title of First in Show in the Sporting group.
Winning the Working group at the National Dog Show was the Doberman Pinscher, Irupe. Whiskey the Whippet won First in Show for the Hound group.
Billy, a Lhasa Apso, was the winner of the Non-Sporting group. Last but not least, the winner of the Herding group was Bella the Pembroke Welsh Corgi.
Although Bella, winner of the Herding group was a finalist in the Best in Show competition, she fell short. The title of Best in Show went home with Whiskey.
Whiskey won the Hound group earlier in the competition. This Whippet won his 20th Best in Show title in a span of 18 months with his win on Thanksgiving Day.
My personal favorite group to watch during The National Dog Show is the Herding group. I love the breeds of dogs that compete in the Herding group and think they are all very cute, but I enjoy watching the whole competition because I simply love dogs.
I would highly recommend anyone who loves dogs to watch The National Dog Show on Thanksgiving Day if they have the opportunity to. It is something that my family and I look forward to every year on Thanksgivng.