Thanksgiving afternoon has a dog show in it, and this year the tradition turns 25. The National Dog Show runs Nov. 14 and 15 at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania, with 2,107 entries across 208 breeds, the largest field since 2017. NBC and Peacock air the taped Saturday competition on Nov. 26 from noon to 2 p.m. in every time zone, right after the parade. The Kennel Club of Philadelphia posted the entry numbers.
Three breeds walk in for the first time. The Basset Fauve de Bretagne is a rough-coated French hound with six entries. The Teddy Roosevelt Terrier, once known as the Type B rat terrier and renamed in 1999 for the 26th president, has four. The Russian Tsvetnaya Bolonka, a small toy breed developed for apartment living, has two. Golden retrievers top the entry list with 64, which tells you something about what Americans actually keep in their kitchens.
What this means for your dog
Twenty minutes of trotting around a ring is a bad way to pick a breed. It says nothing about shedding, barking, or how a dog handles being alone for six hours. If a new breed catches your eye, meet an adult of that breed in person and ask the owner what the dog is like at 6 a.m. and again at 6 p.m.
The show is still worth two hours. Watch the handlers. The good ones hold a dog’s attention with small, quiet movements, and that is a skill you can practice on an ordinary Tuesday walk. Breed background only explains so much anyway, which is what the genetics work on working German shepherds keeps showing.
Photos: daveynin, CC BY 2.0, and Canarian, CC BY-SA 4.0, both via Wikimedia Commons.