Best In Show?
“The tension is palpable, the excitement is mounting and the heady scent of competition is in the air as hundreds of eager contestants from across America prepare to take part in what is undoubtedly one of the greatest events of their lives. The canine contestants and their owners are as wondrously diverse as the great country that has bred them.” From the comedy classic Best In Show, released in 2000. Screenplay by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy. Guest and Levy had to create their own set for their fictional Mayflower Dog Show, as no one in the dog show world would allow them to film on site.
The first judged dog show on record took place at the Town Hall in England’s Newcastle upon Tyne in 1859. It was an after- thought, tacked on to a successful poultry show. The breed of dogs was restricted to Pointers and Setters, with 60 contenders vying for enticing prizes — a pair of custom made, double-barreled shotguns. The guns were donated by gunsmith, W.R. Pape, one of the show’s principal promoters. “Pape was described as a successful
breeder, exhibitor and judge of Pointers and Setters, which qualified as a truly remarkable accomplishment, considering that this was the first ever show,” said Amy Fernandez for The Canine Chronicle, a national dog show publication based in Ocala, Florida. Previous attempts to hold a show for
dogs had not been forthcoming. The idea had been given up as impractical. Many people pointed out the utter absurdity of expecting people to pay to see dogs, when
they saw as many or more than they wanted, in the streets.
Yet, across town from Newcastle
upon Tyne, another doggy set was well into their version of dog shows.
The most successful of these ventures was the Toy Dog Club, England’s second official dog club, pioneered by Charles Aistrop, for- mer proprietor of the Westminster Pit, a well-known and legal blood sport arena in London that engaged in animal fights such as cockfighting, bear-baiting and dog- fighting. He launched his Fancy Dog Show in 1852, and despite the sixpence gate fee and socially questionable venue, a street tavern, it was an immediate success. Crowds lined up to glimpse the finest examples of exotic breeds like Blenheim Spaniels, Italian Greyhounds, Chinese Pugs, Skye Terriers, Bulldogs, and tiny Black and Tan Terriers. In less than a year, shows proliferated throughout Britain and later gained traction in America after the American Kennel Club (AKC) was formed in 1884.
34 THE NEW BARKER
www.TheNewBarker.com
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