2019 WKC Dog Show: How accurate were our staff predictions?

The 2019 WKC Dog Show has come and gone – were our staff predictions on target, or wildly off base?

The 2019 WKC Dog Show wrapped up Tuesday night on Fox Sports 1 live from Madison Square Garden.

The thing about dog shows is that they’re pretty much subjective; only the judge really knows what he or she is thinking while rating each dog against their breed standard, and then, even more dauntingly, comparing wildly dissimilar dogs against each other.

It’s kind of like figure skating that way, which means as a fan you watch pretending you know what’s going on while saying intelligent comments like “This is good music,” “Wow, can she ever jump high” or “Her dress is kinda pretty.”

With a dog show, those intelligent comments are more along the lines of “He looks like a mop,” “Literally never heard of that breed in my life,” “That is one ugly dog,” “OMG she’s so shiny!” and “Can you imagine having to brush all that fur?”

So, while the Dog O’Day staff put together our best expert predictions for group winners at the 143rd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, it’s a little hard to be accurate. But we did our best.

(If you’re wondering more about the basics of how dog shows work, see our introduction here.)

The Herding Group

I (Wesley) went with the Australian Shepherd in the Herding Group, mostly because we had one growing up, and so I felt they needed to be recognized. Kimberley went with the Border Collie, for the same reason.

We were both wrong here, although a Border Collie named Verb did win the overall Grand Champion at the Masters Agility Championship. The actual winner of the Herding Group was a Bouvier des Flandres. Wes 0, Kimberley 0.

The Hound Group

A Whippet named Whiskey had come in winning both the 2018 National Dog Show and the 2018 AKC National Championship, so I figured he would pull of the Triple Crown and win the most prestigious show, too, besides the most popular and the most important. Kimberley thought the Smooth Dachshund would come out on top, because they’re cute and popular.

A Dachshund did win, though of the Longhaired variety, so she takes the lead on our scoreboard. KImberley 1, Wes 0.

The Non-Sporting Group

I picked the French Bulldog, because they seem like one of those breeds designed for the show ring, given their history. Kimberley went with the Chow Chow because they’re one of her favorite breeds.

The Schipperke, developed from the Samoyed, won this class. Kimberley 1, Wes 0.

The Sporting Group

I chose the Irish Setter here, because they’re canine supermodels and most of my casual knowledge about the show-dog world (before researching it for work) came from Jim Kjelgaard’s trilogy of novels about a bloodline of Irish Setters. Kimberley went with the super-popular Lab, which was a great choice, as they’ve been the most popular breed for nearly thirty human years (that’s about 164 in dog years).

The Sussex Spaniel came out on top here. Kimberley 1, Wes 0.

The Terrier Group

I chose the Wire Fox Terrier because I liked the shape of its head, and their beards. It ended up winning the category, which was nice. Kimberley went with the Staffordshire Terrier, which is usually classified as a type of Pit Bull.  Wes 1, Kimberley 1.

The Toy Group

I picked the Shih Tzu, because they’re small, fluffy and a little annoying in real life, which seems like it could be an asset in the show ring. Kimberely went with the Pomeranian because of its history as a winning breed.

A Havanese won this group, which was one of those obscure breeds you didn’t know existed. This is part of the educational quality of dog shows. Wes 1, Kimberley 1.

The Working Group

We both went with personal favorites for our choices in this group, as I picked the Great Pyrenees and Kimberley selected the Akita.

The Boxer won this group. Wes 1, Kimberley 1.

For the overall title of Best in Show, I chose the Whippet, while Kimberley picked the Pom, and thus the Dog O’Day staff predictions for the 2019 WKC Dog Show ended in a tie.

Considering that there are around 192 breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club, getting any one category right is something of a feat in itself, though overall our track record wasn’t the greatest this time at the 2019 WKC Dog Show.

The next dog shows of note are the American Rescue Dog Show on Sunday, February 17 on the Hallmark Channel and the Beverly Hills Dog Show broadcast on NBC on April 1.