The Westminster Kennel Club was founded in 1877 and is thus America’s oldest organization dedicated to the sport of purebred dogs.
Westminster Dog Show – the first one was held in 1877. The Westminster Kennel Club dog show>>, behind the Kentucky Derby>>, is America’s second longest-running sporting event.
In 1877 New York was on course to increasingly become the world’s largest city. And it was the year when a group of gentlemen hunters and sporting dog enthusiasts decided it was time to hold a dog show in Manhattan. Thus began the history of the Westminster dog show, which grew to become America’s largest show within a few years.
After the spectacular beginning, in the following years the Westminster Kennel Club show exhibited extraordinary growth and was held at a new venue. Since the number of dogs shown at the show grew rapidly year after year – with this, the position of the Westminster Kennel Club also strengthened – and it became increasingly noticeable in the show rings, as a further step in continuous development, television broadcasts began, and millions of viewers in America could watch. The first TV broadcast of Westminster was in 1948.
Thus Westminster became entirely America’s dog show.
“Westminster got its name from a long-gone Manhattan hotel where the gentlemen hunters and sporting dog men dined together. Out of their love for dogs, they decided to establish a Club, but could not decide on a name, and then came the idea to name it after their favorite hotel, so it finally became Westminster” – quoted from the book by William F. Stifel titled " href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Dog-Show-Years-Westminster/dp/1592282636" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">“The Dog Show: 125 Years of Westminster”>>.
The Kennel Club members’ first pointer was named Sensation, who at that time was considered the pointer with the most beautiful head. The Club still preserves his memory in its logo today. You can read Sensation’s full story on the Kennel Club’s website>>.
Under the auspices of the Westminster Kennel Club in 1877 in New York, at >" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_Square_Garden_%281879%29" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">“Gilmore’s Garden” – (a predecessor of Madison Square Garden)>> the “The First Annual New York Bench Show of Dogs” was held. About 1200 dogs were shown: pointers, setters, Saint Bernards, spaniels, collies, Newfoundlands, dachshunds, and other purebred dogs. The show was attended by 8000 New Yorkers on the first day.
“Everyone was fashionably dressed and the air was filled with the scent of good manners” – wrote the The New York Times>>.
“On the second day there were 10,000 visitors and on the third day as well” – quoting from the book titled “The Dog Show: 125 Years of Westminster” by William F. Stifel. Part of the proceeds from Westminster's first exhibition were donated to the >" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Society_for_the_Prevention_of_Cruelty_to_Animals" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">“American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals”>> (abbreviated: ASPCA = the American society for the prevention of cruelty to animals; official website>>) organization to create a home for stray and injured animals.
The exhibition, originally planned for 3 days, was extended by an additional day, about which the >" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_and_Stream" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">“Forest and Stream” magazine>> wrote: “The dog show held in the city last week was successful, but that is a poorly defined summary. What actually happened here was the great triumph of the dogs participating in the exhibition. We can rightly say that never before has there been such a movement where so many people took part at the same time in the city of culture, prosperity, and fashion.”
To understand the place of the Westminster Kennel Club in history and the famous annual dog show held at Madison Square Garden, you first need to know the following facts:
The founding of Westminster in America dates earlier than the invention of the electric bulb and the automobile, the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge>> and the Washington Monument>>, as well as the appearance of basketball and the World Series>>, the American baseball championship.
The founding of Westminster in 1877 predates that of the governing body, the American Kennel Club, which was established in 1884. Following the creation of the American Kennel Club in 1884, the Westminster Kennel Club was the first to become a member of the Kennel Club.
Since Westminster held its first exhibition 137 years ago, there have been 25 elected male presidents in America and 12 states have joined the Union. The exhibition has survived three previous versions of the Madison Square Garden>> and is currently held in MSG IV.
The dog show has survived power outages and snowstorms, two world wars, as well as a tugboat strike.
The >" href="http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_State_Building" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">“Empire State Building”>> first honored Westminster with its lighting in 2004, illuminating the tower in purple and gold in tribute to Westminster, and this was repeated in 2012.
In 2005, there was the first live broadcast with same-day coverage and the highlight of breed judging featured on the Westminster website>>. This was an immediate and huge success.
By the end of 2011, approximately 301,650 dogs had participated in Westminster’s 134 exhibitions. By the close of the 2011 exhibition, there had been 1,705 judges who had judged at Westminster at least once, with some judging more than twenty-three times.
Uniquely in the world, a Papillon – Ch. Loteki Supernatural Being – managed to win the World Dog Show BIS title in 1998 and the Westminster BIS title in 1999.
In Westminster’s history, the oldest dog to win the BIS title in 2009 was a 10-year-old Sussex Spaniel – Ch. Clussexx Three D. Grinchy Glee – while the youngest BIS winner was a long-coated Collie – Laund Loyalty of Bellhaven – who had just turned 9 months old on the day of the victory.
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