National Dog Show facts for kids

Quick facts for kids National Dog Show
Genre	Dog show
Created by	Kennel Club of Philadelphia (KCP)
Presented by	John O'Hurley David Frei
Judges	Frank DePaulo (Show Chairman & Judge)
Country of origin	United States
Production
Production location(s)	Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks in Oaks, Pennsylvania
Running time	2 hours
Distributor	NBC Sports Productions
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	November 2002; 22 years ago (2002-11)

The National Dog Show is an all-breed benched conformation show sanctioned by the American Kennel Club and the Kennel Club of Philadelphia, which takes place on Thanksgiving each year and has been televised on NBC since 2002.

History

The Kennel Club of Philadelphia Dog Show has been ongoing since 1879 with its only interruption being the Great Depression from 1928 through 1932. The show is held by The Kennel Club of Philadelphia, a founding club of AKC. It traditionally takes place on the third from last weekend in November over two days. In 2002, NBC Sports began televising the show on Thanksgiving Day and rebranded it as The National Dog Show.

The National Dog Show is one of the three major dog shows in the United States, along with the AKC National Championship and the Westminster Dog Show. Winners may be invited to compete at Crufts. As with all AKC conformation shows, mixed-breed dogs are not eligible to participate.

The NDS is one of the last six remaining benched dog shows in the United States.

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused the show to be held behind closed doors for the first time.

The first dog to win two consecutive Best In Show awards in the show's history was GCH Foxcliffe Claire Randall Fraser, a Scottish deerhound who won Best in Show in 2020 and 2021.

Television history

The show is nationally televised (on tape delay) in the United States on NBC every Thanksgiving; the show airs after the network's coverage of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and airs at noon in all time zones except for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands which airs at 1 PM AST (due to NBC affiliates in these territories using the Eastern Time Zone feed). Actor John O'Hurley and American Kennel Club judge David Frei host, and the show's presenting sponsor is Nestlé Purina PetCare.

Chairmen

• Charles Schaefer (2001–2004)
• William H. Burland (2005–2013)
• Frank DePaulo (2014–present)

Previous Best in Show winners