Stache the Sealyham terrier owned by Margery Good of Cochranville, Chester County, won the 2023 National Dog Show Best In Show title. The 2024 show will be held Saturday, Nov. 16, at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks in Montgomery County, but he will not be competing. (Courtesy of the National Dog Show)
The show tapes Saturday for a Thanksgiving Day broadcast on NBC.
The 2024 National Dog Show will take place on Saturday at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Upper Providence Township, featuring dogs from various breeds competing for the prestigious Best in Show title.
The show begins at 8 a.m., with the group judging starting at 1 p.m., leading to the final selection of the Best in Show around 6 p.m. The entire event will air on NBC on Thanksgiving Day.
At the heart of the competition, dogs are judged based on how closely they match the American Kennel Club’s (AKC) breed standards, according to The Reading Eagle. There are seven major groups in the competition: sporting, hound, working, terrier, toy, nonsporting, and herding. The winners from each group will move on to compete for the Best in Show award, where the top dog of the entire event will be crowned.
One of the unique features of the National Dog Show is the "benched" format, which allows the public to interact with the dogs and their handlers throughout the day, per the report. Attendees can meet more than 200 different breeds, as the event is the last remaining benched dog show in the U.S.
This format provides an opportunity for spectators to learn about the various breeds and engage with the competitors, making the event a rare and informative experience, according to the article.
This year’s National Dog Show will feature 1,940 dogs competing across various breeds, with notable entries such as Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, and Siberian Huskies leading the pack in terms of numbers. The competition promises to showcase a wide array of dogs, all vying for recognition and accolades in their respective categories.
One of the highlights of the event will be the appearance of Candy, a five-year-old female Saint Bernard owned by Beverly Oliver of Gilbertsville. Oliver, who switched from breeding Dogue de Bordeaux to Saint Bernards after the breed’s surge in popularity following the movie "Turner & Hooch," will have her dog competing in the show.
