The National Dog Show is an all-breed benched

conformation show A dog show is an event where dogs are exhibited. A conformation show, also referred to as a ''breed show'', is a kind of dog show in which a judge, familiar with a specific dog breed, evaluates individual purebred dogs for how well the dogs '' ...

sanctioned by the American Kennel Club and the Kennel Club of Philadelphia, which takes place on

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

each year and has been televised on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

since 2002.

History

The Kennel Club of Philadelphia Dog Show has been ongoing since 1879 with its only interruption being the Great Depression from 1928 through 1932. The show is held by The Kennel Club of Philadelphia, a founding club of AKC. It traditionally takes place on the third from last weekend in November over two days. In 2002, NBC Sports began televising the show on Thanksgiving Day and rebranded it as The National Dog Show. The National Dog Show is one of the three major dog shows in the United States, along with the

AKC National Championship The AKC National Championship is held by the American Kennel Club every year in December or January in the US since 2001. Over 5,000 dogs from all over the world come to compete, but only seven go to best in show. The 2021 AKC National Champio ...

and the

Westminster Dog Show The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is an all-breed conformation show, traditionally held annually at New York City's Madison Square Garden. The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is one of a handful of benched shows in the United States. Dogs ...

. Winners may be invited to compete at

Crufts Crufts is an international dog show held annually in the United Kingdom, first held in 1891. Organised and hosted by The Kennel Club, it is the largest show of its kind in the world. Crufts is centred on a championship conformation show for do ...

. As with all AKC conformation shows,

mixed-breed dogs A mongrel, mutt or mixed-breed dog is a dog that does not belong to one officially recognized breed and including those that are the result of intentional breeding. Although the term ''mixed-breed dog'' is sometimes preferred, many mongre ...

are not eligible to participate. The NDS is one of the last six remaining benched dog shows in the United States. The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

in 2020 caused the show to be held behind closed doors for the first time. The first dog to win two consecutive Best In Show awards in the show's history was ''GCH Foxcliffe Claire Randall Fraser'', a

Scottish deerhound The Scottish Deerhound, or simply the Deerhound, is a large breed of sighthound, once bred to hunt the red deer by coursing. In outward appearance, the Scottish Deerhound is similar to the Greyhound, but larger and more heavily boned with a rough-c ...

who won Best in Show in 2020 and 2021.

Television history

The show is nationally televised (on tape delay) in the United States on

every

; the show airs after the network's coverage of the

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with ...

and airs at noon in all time zones except for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands which airs at 1 PM AST (due to NBC affiliates in these territories using the Eastern Time Zone feed). Actor

John O'Hurley John George O'Hurley Jr. (born October 9, 1954) is an American actor, comedian, singer, author, game show host and television personality. He is known for his portrayal of J. Peterman on the NBC sitcom ''Seinfeld'', and was the sixth host of the ...

and American Kennel Club judge David Frei host, and the show's presenting sponsor is

Nestlé Purina PetCare Nestlé Purina Petcare (), or simply Purina, is an American subsidiary of the Swiss corporation Nestlé, based in St. Louis, Missouri. It produces and markets pet food, treats, cat and dog litter. Some of its pet food brands include Purina Pro P ...

Chairmen

* Charles Schaefer (2001–2004) * William H. Burland (2005–2013) * Frank DePaulo (2014–present)

Previous Best in Show winners

References

External links

*
NBCSports page
{{Thanksgiving Dog shows and showing Thanksgiving (United States) American annual television specials