Dog Show 101: What’s what at the Westminster Kennel Club

By JENNIFER PELTZ
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — To the casual viewer, competing at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show might look as simple as getting a dog, grooming it and leading it around a ring. But there’s a lot more involved in reaching and exhibiting at the most prestigious canine event in the U.S. The 148th annual show is set to start Saturday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. More than 2,500 dogs from 210 breeds and varieties have registered to vie for the best in show trophy to be awarded Tuesday night. They include breeds big and small, rare and familiar. This year’s event comes as the U.S. dog show world faces a reckoning over child abuse charges against a judge.