LOL. Westminster Kennel Club history.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

I'm not particularly a fan of show animals and in no way an expert on dogs, but after posting some photos of the big Westminster Kennel Club annual dog show, I found this history quite amusing:

Club History

Link: https://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/about-sensation/history

(snips)

In 1877, New York was well on its way to becoming the world’s greatest city. This was the year that a group of sporting gentlemen decided that this would be a good time to hold a dog show in Manhattan. It didn’t take long before the Westminster Kennel Club, following the lead of its home town, would be on its way to becoming the world’s greatest dog show.
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“Westminster gets its name from a long gone hotel in Manhattan. There, sporting gentlemen used to meet in the bar to drink and lie about their shooting accomplishments. Eventually they formed a club and bought a training area and kennel. They kept their dogs there and hired a trainer.

“They couldn’t agree on the name for their new club. But finally someone suggested that they name it after their favorite bar. The idea was unanimously selected, we imagine, with the hoisting of a dozen drinking arms.”
– Maxwell Riddle, from a newspaper story quoted in “The Dog Show, 125 Years of Westminster” by William Stifel

It was at one of those meetings that the members decided that they would stage a dog show so that they could compare their dogs in a setting away from the field.
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In the early Westminster years, some interesting names showed up in the catalogs. In the first show, there were two Staghounds listed as being from the late General George Custer’s pack and two Deerhounds that had been bred by the Queen of England. In 1889, the Czar of Russia is listed as the breeder of a Siberian Wolfhound entered, and the following year, one of the entries is a Russian Wolfhound whose listed owner was the Emperor of Germany.

KY............

[hlthe2b]

1. Started to show off their hunting (working) dogs. Imagine how they'd feel now!

with all the "frew-frew" dogs and their excessive emphasis on grooming.

As I said in your previous thread, I love 'em all, but really prefer my dogs to look like dogs.

[leftieNanner]

2. The problem with these dogs in the shows

is that they are bred for looks - conformation - only. They can be dumb as posts and have unfortunate health/personality issues. I had a female German Shepherd Dog that I rescued from a breeder who would have shown her/bred her except she was missing two teeth. Turns out she also had severe epilepsy and a personality disorder. Yes, she was a gorgeous dog and we loved her for the ten years she was a part of our family, but show dogs aren't all they're cracked up to be.

IMHO, of course.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

3. I agree with you.

As a country boy, it tickled me to see a couple of times when beagles won.

I'm just not a fan of pomp or elitism in any form........