CANINE CORNER WITH REBECCA HAWKINS
THE CRUFTS DOG SHOW
In 2026, the Crufts dog show (recognised by the Guinness book of records as the longest running dog show) celebrates its 135th year. Here are a few facts that may interest you.
Charles Cruft, the founder of Crufts was inspired by his previous role as the general manager of a dog biscuit factory, which involved visiting different dog competitions.
The 19th century saw an increasing fascination with dogs in Britain, with more people becoming interested in dog shows and competitions. Cruft's initiative capitalised on this trend, creating a prominent event that has evolved into the world's largest dog show.
In 1886 it was initially a show exclusively for terriers and named ‘First Great Terrier Show’. 5 years later it was open to all breeds and was renamed ‘Crufts’. It took place in the Royal Agricultural Hall, Islington. That year, 2,437 entries and 36 breeds were in attendance. This same year, Queen Victoria’s collie, Darnley II, and two of her Pomeranians won prizes.
The show was hugely popular despite not running every year. Crufts was suspended between 1918-1920 due to the First World War and it was not held between 1940 and 1947 because of the Second World War.
The hugely anticipated 'The Best in Show' award was not originally included as the last round but was introduced later in 1928. That year the award was won by a Greyhound called Primley Sceptre
Charles Cruft died in 1938, aged 87. His widow Emma continued to run the show until 1939 but then passed it on to the Kennel Club, the governing dog-breed standards.
Growing in popularity, it was moved to the NEC in Birmingham in 1991, spanning a huge 25 acres of space including arena and stalls. Now with so many dogs in attendance, it is calculated that 350kg of dog hair is cleared from the NEC following the show!
The show is more popular than ever with over 24,000 entered into the competition in 2024, featuring more than 200 breeds. The show is now split into 7 categories judged over 4 days, these groups include - Gundogs, Hounds, Terriers, Pastoral, Toy, Working and utility.
Top breeds from the gun dog category include the golden retriever, leading with (509) entries, followed by the Labrador retriever (485) and the cocker spaniel (418). The cocker spaniel has won the coveted ‘best in show’ competition a record 7 times (6 of them achieved by the same breeder, Herbert Summers Lloyd).
The oldest dog to win ‘Best in show’ was a flat coated retriever, Jet, aged 9½ years in 2011 and the youngest was awarded to a Bulldog named Chuckles who was just 1 year and 3 months old in 1952.
You may think with all the prestige surrounding Crufts there would be a grand prize for winning the whole competition. Well, surprisingly, there’s not! Of course, there are perks to being a Crufts winner, such as bragging rights, but the Best in Show winner only gets £200.
The large shiny trophy you see the Crufts winners pose with is made from solid silver, so it’s no surprise that the winner doesn’t actually take this trophy home. But they do receive a replica.