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The Westminster Kennel Club dog show is back for a 149th year, returning to New York’s Madison Square Garden for the first time since early 2020.
The United States’ most prestigious canine event moved to venues outside Manhattan because of the coronavirus pandemic and then other considerations; bug organizers desperately wanted to return to the World’s Most Famous Arena.
For fans who can’t be at the show in person, Fox Sports is showing the event’s various components on FS1 and FS2 and streaming some on the network’s website and app, while Westminster is streaming some other segments. The competition will take place on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, with best in show being awarded around 11 p.m. Tuesday on the East Coast.
When is the 2025 Westminster Kennel Club dog show?
Competition commences with the 10th Westminster Masters Obedience Championship and the 12th Westminster Masters Agility Championship Saturday, Feb. 8 at the Javits Center. The breed show starts Monday, Feb. 10 at the Javits Center before moving to Madison Square Garden for evening group competition (hound, toy, non-sporting and herding groups).
The show continues Tuesday, Feb. 11 at the same locations: Javits for day and Madison Square Garden for night (sporting, working and terrier groups).
How many dogs are competing?
About 2,500 dogs from 201 breeds and varieties (subsets of breeds) are signed up to compete. Contestants include familiar breeds like golden retrievers and rarities like sloughis. The agility and obedience contests involve a few hundred more dogs, including mixed-breed ones.
Are there favorites?
Monty the giant schnauzer and Mercedes the German shepherd were both dogs that competed in the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. Monty was a finalist in the previous two years and won the American Kennel Club's show in December. Mercedes was the runner-up in the previous year. Still, show cognoscenti often say victory goes to “the dog on the day,” meaning the one that has the performance of a lifetime.
How to watch Best in Show
The final day of the dog show starts with more junior showmanship preliminaries, streaming 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11 at westminsterkennelclub.org. Select coverage of breed judging (sporting, working and terrier groups) and junior showmanship preliminaries can be watched that day on FS2 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Group competition (sporting, working, terrier groups) continues at Madison Square Garden Tuesday, followed by the naming of best in show; the broadcast runs from 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. on FS1.