NEW YORK (AP) — To the casual viewer, competing at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show might look pretty simple: Get a dog. Groom it. Pose it. Lead it around a ring.
But there’s a lot more than that to getting to and exhibiting in the United States’ most prestigious canine event, now in its 147th year.
So here are the ins and outs of the show, which starts Saturday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
Twenty-five hundred dogs from 210 different breeds and varieties signed up to vie for the best in show trophy that gets awarded Tuesday night. (Varieties are subsets of breeds. Think smooth, longhaired and wirehaired dachshunds.)
Hailing from 49 states and 13 countries, contestants range from tiny Chihuahuas to giant Great Danes. They include familiar breeds like Labrador retrievers, rarities such as the sloughi, and a newcomer, the bracco Italiano. Agility and obedience contests Saturday involve a few hundred more dogs, including some mixed-breed ones.
HOW DO DOGS GET INTO THE SHOW?
All the dogs are champions, meaning they’ve racked up a certain amount of prior wins and points. Certain top dogs in the sport’s complicated rankings are invited, but other pooches also can enter.
The process of becoming a potential best in show begins when breeders suss out which puppies in a litter have the physical attributes and disposition to shine in what’s known as “conformation” competition.
Some pups eventually get to Westminster with owners who learned
