BETWEEN THE LINES
Which Breeds Win the
Most, and Why?
BO
BENGTSON
W
hich breeds win the most? It often seems as if
a few breeds — Poodles, Dobermans, English
Springers and German Shepherds, for instance
— feature much more frequently in the annual Top Dog competitions and Best in Show lineups than other breeds. Is that
a fact or just an impression? If true, do they deserve to win so
much? Are there other breeds that ought to get a bigger piece
of the pie? And how do the wins relate to each breed’s entry
figures and registrations?
Some would say that when a breed is rewarded with many
Best in Show wins, it’s a sure indication that this breed is of especially
high quality. This can be argued both
ways, however. Best in Show is the
top award offered at AKC all-breed
The following have reached
shows, so of course it ought to be
No. 1 all breeds more than once
self-evident that the winner is, well,
since 1957.
the best dog in the show. However,
many judges will tell you that they
look for qualities in a Best in Show
lineup that may matter less when
they are judging the breed classes.
Obviously the BIS winner has to be
a good dog, but it’s no secret that a
little extra something that catches the
Wire Fox
Terriers
eye (call it charisma, glamour or what
you will) plays a very important part
in the final, when the judge is looking
German
to be wowed, as well as see the finer
Shepherds
points of breed type.
There is also the fact that only a
Doberman Pinschers
small
number of BIS judges are regStandard Poodles
ularly approved for all the breeds
Pekingese
they may judge in a final. This is a
Toy Poodles
little-known fact that seriously afCocker Spaniels
fects which dogs are winning what.
You may be permitted to judge BIS
at AKC all-breed shows even though
you’re only approved for one of the
English Springer Spaniels
seven Groups. This of course means
Afghan Hounds
that the judge could be, and often is,
Boxers
Kerry Blue Terriers
without any experience of most of the
Norwich Terriers
breeds competing for Best in Show.
Scottish Terriers
Of course, nobody thinks this is an
Miniature Poodles
ideal situation; it’s simply a practical
All-Time
Top Winners
7
4x
6x
3x
2x
14
DOGSinREVIEW.com
necessity because there are so many AKC all-breed shows and
so few judges who are approved for all breeds.
When a Breed Doesn’t Win
In spite of this, all-breed wins are important. They are often
all anyone knows about what happened at a particular show.
They put the spotlight on certain breeds, giving the dog fancy
an opportunity to learn more about them. Breeds that don’t
win in this type of competition are usually destined to live a
life in the shadows. The difficulty they have in making their
presence felt makes it much more difficult for them to progress — both in popularity and quality. Most of these breeds are
already rare, and one reason they don’t win much in all-breed
competition may be that few judges know enough about them
to confidently put one ahead of more established breeds.
In other words, it’s a self-defeating, downward spiral: They
don’t win because the judges don’t know them well enough
for them to win. How much do most BIS judges know about,
for instance, the Boykin Spaniel or the Anatolian Shepherd?
The Bluetick Coonhound, Redbone or Plott? The Chinook?
Icelandic Sheepdog or Norwegian Buhund? Pyrenean Shepherd? I know some of these breeds have in fact won an occasional all-breed BIS, but usually they don’t even make the cut
in Group competition. Perhaps they aren’t yet ready for the
big time, but would enough judges know if they were?
There are exceptions, of course, when a dog of a rare breed
breaks through and starts winning big. Remember ‘Bunny,’
the Ibizan Hound officially known as Ch. Luxor’s Playmate Of
The Year? She was No. 3 all breeds in 2003, took 39 all-breed
BIS that year alone and won the Hound Group at Westminster
twice. More recently there was the Kuvasz, GCh. Szumeria’s
Wildwood Silver Six Pence, who placed among the Top 10 of
all breeds in both 2011 and 2012, and the Field Spaniel Ch.
Promenade’s Pay It Forward, one of the Top 10 dogs of all
breeds in 2014. It can be done, but it takes a special dog and
special circumstances to go that far for many breeds.
There is also the opposite situation, although it’s rare,
when a popular and numerically large breed experiences
little recognition in all-breed competition. The outstanding
example is, of course, the Labrador Retriever. This is the most
popular breed in the country (probably the world), yet they
almost never win Best in Show. Not one has placed among the
Top 10 dogs of all breeds in AKC competition since 1968. Are
Labradors just not good enough to win in all-breed competition, are the judges blinkered, or what’s the reason?