About Dogs

If youve never watched a dog show, you are in for a surprise. They seem boring at first, just a bunch of dogs trotting around an arena with people who obviously have too much money and too much time. However, the intricacies of breeding can be seen within these dogs. You can also see 100s of breeds in one place, which will give you a chance to pick the breeds you are interested in for your next family member.

All dogs are cute, and some are good pretty, but a well bred pure breed dog is beautiful. Even the short fat ones that are wrinkly are works of art. The art being the generations of breeding that led up to that dog. Breeders carefully chose which dogs were good enough to breed, and eventually through good selections, patience, and luck they ended up with the amazing creatures that we get to see at a dog show.

Dog shows, like a lot of competitions, are done in levels. Breeds are first divided into class, by gender and age. These dogs are evaluated and two are chosen, a male and female. After those two are selected they go up against already finished dogs of the same breed for best in breed. Once the winner for that is decided they move on to competing in best in group. Breeds are grouped according to the point of their breeding (working, sporting, terrier, etc). The best in breed winners compete within their group. Once a winner from that group is chosen, they go on to compete for best in show. The highest honor available at any given dog show.

It takes a lot to show dogs. It takes time, money, training, grooming, and devotion to succeed. You need to pick a good dog from good breeding stock, or have your own established breeding stock to manipulate. The shows are to show off the dogs, but more than anything they are showing off the ability of the breeders, which is why they tell you what kennel they came from.

Watching a dog show is almost like watching a parade of history. Over the years we took basic wild dogs and specialized them into the breeds we have today. It is evolution at work.