2024 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show: What's what at this year's competition

To the casual viewer, competing at the 2024 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show might look pretty simple: Get a dog. Groom it. Pose it. Lead it around a ring.

But there's a lot more involved in reaching the pinnacle of U.S. canine events, now in its 148th year. 

Here are the ins and outs of Westminster, which started Saturday with an agility competition at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York:

HOW MANY DOGS?

Over 2,500 dogs from 200 different breeds and varieties, which are subsets of breeds, signed up to try for the best in show trophy to be awarded Tuesday night.

Hailing from every U.S. state and countries from Chile to Thailand, the lineup includes such familiar breeds as French bulldogs and Labrador retrievers, rarities such as Azawakhs and Noregian lundehunds and a newcomer, the Lancashire heeler. Chihuahuas are this year’s best-represented breed, with 49 entered.

Two of last year's seven semifinalists are expected back: Trouble, an American Staffordshire terrier, and Monty, a giant schnauzer, who is currently the nation's top-ranked dog in The Canine Chronicle magazine's stats.

Also entered are Comet, a Shih Tzu who won the huge American Kennel Club National Championship show in December, and Stache, a Sealyham terrier who won the National Dog Show that was televised on Thanksgiving.

Then there's Zaida, an Afghan hound fresh off a win at last month's World Dog Show in Croatia. Other big-winning competitors include a German shepherd named Mercedes and an otterhound called Melody.

Saturday's agility and obedience contests involved a few hundred more dogs, including some mixed-breed ones.

HOW DO DOGS GET INTO THE SHOW?

All the dogs are champions, meaning they have racked up a certain number of points in the sport's complicated system.

The process of becoming a show dog begins when breeders determine which puppies are physically and temperamentally suited for what's known as "conformation" competition.

Some owners show their own dogs. Other canines have professional handlers who crisscross the country to compete most weekends. They might gather intel about rivals' schedules and ponder judges' past picks. Some owners even run full-page ads in canine publications to salute and promote their animals.

[Related: 2024 Westminster Dog Show: Schedule, dates, TV, streaming, how to watch]

HOW DOES DOG SHOWING WORK?

"Conformation" dogs first face off against others of their breed, which sometimes can include dozens of others, sometimes few or even none. Each breed's winner moves on to a semifinal round of judging against others in a group of dozens of breeds. In the final round, the seven group winners compete for best in show.

Judges decide which dog best matches the ideal, or "standard," for its breed. For example, a herding dog might need proportions allowing for tight turns, while some hounds might require thick paw pads for rough terrain.

Judges do hands-on examinations and watch the dogs in motion. Distinctions can be very subtle. Show folk often say victory can go to "the dog on the day," meaning the one that has the performance of a lifetime.

"At Westminster, all the great dogs are in the same place for one of the only times this year," said dog expert David Frei, who hosted the Westminster telecast for decades. "Everybody wants to be there, and you’re going to have to go head-to-head with your greatest competition."

WHAT DO WINNERS GET? WHAT BREEDS HAVE WON, OR NOT?

Bragging rights and trophies are at stake. There are no cash prizes, though the agility and obedience winners each get to direct a $5,000 Westminster donation to a training club or to the American Kennel Club Humane Fund.

Wire fox terriers have scampered away with the top prize 15 times, most recently in 2019. Poodles of various sizes have won 10 times.

Many breeds have yet to triumph, including such favorites as the Labrador retriever. But a petit basset griffon Vendéen took best in show for the first time last year, as did a bloodhound in 2022. 

All winners in the recently added agility and obedience contests also have been purebreds. But there is a special agility prize every year for the top mix, called an "all American dog," in show parlance.

Reporting by The Associated Press.