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Dog Shows: What Exactly Is A Dog Show?

If someone where to say “dog show” what would that term bring to mind? Unless you have seen competitions on TV or have been to a dog show live, you may not have an idea of what a dog show actually is.

A dog show is basically an elimination-type tournament that consists of many rounds and semifinal rounds that will lead up to the selection of one main winner. This winner wins the title called “best in show”. Dog shows start off with a breed ring competition. This is where dogs that are of the same breed and have similar characteristics will face off with one another through rounds of judging and trials.

Each dog will be judged accordingly against its breed standard.

To judge these dogs they use a breed standard which, gives specific guidelines and regulations on the ideal of that breed. It may be easier to picture as “the ultimate Greyhound” or “the ideal Great Dane”. The regulations in use can be extremely specific. Dogs can be eliminated simply based on the size of the dog. If they are too small or too big compared to the ideal breed standard, they are dropped from the competition. Just to say how specific the regulations can be

There are other forms of regulations that are not as specific. Such as if a certain dog is not displaying the right personality or demeanor for the breed it may be eliminating as well.
 
Who sets the standards?

Breeding clubs and registries are the ones who set up the standards that are used to judge during a competition. First, every dog is divided up by their sex and then sorted into smaller classes. These smaller classes may be a puppy class, an open class, or bred by exhibitor class. These classes are sometimes broken down even further by details such as coat color or anatomy shape.

Each of these classes will result in a winner for that particular class. Then the best female and the best male from those winners will be chosen.  These two winners become a pair and will then compete against more established champions for what is called the “best in breed” honors. The best dog from each group will reach the semifinal round and compete against other dogs in the group.  At the end of the show there will be seven dogs that remain
to compete for “best in show”.