SHOWSIGHT recently met with Westminster Kennel Club President Dr. Donald Sturz to talk about the return of the organization’s iconic event to Midtown Manhattan. After a five-year displacement due to COVID, the world’s most-famous dog show once again welcomed exhibitors and spectators to a gathering in the city that successfully managed to uphold tradition while meeting present-day challenges head-on. The result was a three-day celebration of purpose-bred dogs that did not disappoint. From the carpeted halls of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center to the bright lights of Madison Square Garden, the 149th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show exceeded expectations in the club’s efforts to celebrate the companionship of dogs while promoting both responsible dog ownership and breed preservation. “There’s only one” Westminster, and this year’s show was certainly in a class by itself. We are sure readers will be interested to learn how the club and its partners delivered on their promise, and how plans for the 2026 event—the organization’s sesquicentennial—are well underway.
Dr. Donald Sturz: The whole team was running on lots of adrenaline and I think we needed a little time to recuperate, but that hasn’t slowed us down. We actually had our first recap on February 18th and we’ve been having our various meetings with our partners, with the focus being what we did well and what we learned. We have such great partners, starting with the venues and our PR and social media teams, and our great relationships with Fox Sports and Purina ProPlan, and all of those conversations get at different components of the event and what we are planning to do for 2026.
Dr. Donald Sturz: Westminster has always put so much time and effort into this event, but there was something special about coming home this year. The story this year was “the return” and we wanted the show to live up to everyone’s expectations. Although our memories can sometimes be grander than our experiences actually were, I felt we had to match those memories and not let anybody down. That’s why we put so much effort into every decision we made. We felt a lot of responsibility for delivering on the Westminster legacy—right on the heels of the show’s 150th anniversary—and the enormity of that history. And we have some things in our back pocket that we are hoping to do next year that will surprise and delight.
Dr. Donald Sturz: The Javits Center worked very well for us and for everyone. As a team, it was wonderful to have had the opportunity to get used to the new venue. We spent so much time in those halls and we knew what we wanted to try to do. We wanted to create an atmosphere with different experiences in each hall, and we always kept the exhibitors and dogs as our number one priority. The benching area was meant to be about comfort and camaraderie, and encouraging people to interact with each other and with the spectators. For our team, connecting with everyone and making everyone feel valued was important. The show ring hall was really about creating a more intimate atmosphere, where everyone could feel the excitement and the energy as crowds, four and five deep, erupted around the hall. We wanted to attempt to recreate the intimacy of the floor of Madison Square Garden back in the day when the breeds were judged there. And Hall 1A, which was the Westminster Marketplace, was meant to be more experiential, where people could shop and interface with sponsors. This year’s show was sort of a dress rehearsal for 2026 and it freed us up to think about what we can do differently to further enhance the experience for people. One of the things the team did throughout the week, from move-in and set-up to the break-down of the show, was keeping a running list of the things we became aware of and the ideas we had for making improvements. And there were some very conscious choices made for things that we didn’t do that we’re holding on to so that we can level it up next year.
Dr. Donald Sturz: New York City is a dog-loving town and there are dogs everywhere, and I think perhaps the pendulum is swinging back for the public to have a greater appreciation for the purpose-bred dogs that we all celebrate. I think the public’s response to the show is all about the universal love of dogs. It’s the one thing, no matter a person’s beliefs, that brings all kinds of people together in a kind of amazing lovefest for a few days. Everyone was together in MSG with a common love of dogs and they were there to celebrate them. And I thought there was a decidedly younger demographic at this year’s show, both during the day and in the evening, which bodes well for the future. I also think the celebration of Westminster being back home where it belongs was something that even the public experienced with a sense of joy and excitement and appreciation. We had a lot of international visitors who came very long distances just to see the show, and I’m already getting messages about next year’s show from kennel clubs that want to send groups of people. It’s a phenomenon unlike any other experience in the sport of dogs!
Dr. Donald Sturz: The Jumbotron is unique to us, being in Madison Square Garden, and it’s one of the reasons MSG is the world’s most-famous arena. It creates this other level of engagement that allows viewers at home to have the benefit of multiple cameras getting close-up shots at different angles, and we’re able to provide that experience for the arena audience as well. I’m really big on anything that’s going to create greater engagement, and looking at it from this point of view, I love it when the crowd responds to a close up of a dog’s expression. In that moment, thousands and thousands of people are all connected in an emotional way. It creates a shot of electricity that you’re not going to get watching from home.
Dr. Donald Sturz: Our partnership with Fox Sports commits to a live broadcast, and on their side, there are lots of things they have to accomplish. But one of the things they are committed to is something that is important to Westminster, and that is to continue to educate the viewers about the importance of purpose-bred dogs and the different breeds that are out there. Aside from the obvious excitement and glamour of the show, I do think there is an educational opportunity in showcasing every breed, and we will continue to do that as long as it’s something that’s viable for us and our broadcast partner.
Dr. Donald Sturz: I’m a huge champion of Junior Showmanship, and if there was a way to make a live broadcast happen, I would want that to happen. But getting it into the live broadcast is still a bit of a challenge due to all the different elements that come into play. We have to work as partners with Fox Sports, which has its responsibilities and the things it has to accomplish with the broadcast. Unfortunately, there’s only just so much time in the run of the show. However, one of the things that I was able to get in place last year, leaning into the 90th Anniversary of Junior Showmanship, was to livestream the Juniors Finals for the first time so that family members could access it and watch from afar. And what we also did to celebrate the importance of Juniors in the sport was making them a cornerstone of our social media outreach. NBC Nightly News even did a whole piece on Junior Showmanship with Lester Holt. Whenever we have an opportunity to spotlight Juniors and put them out front, we’re doing that in all the other ways we can.
Dr. Donald Sturz: The Best in Show media tour the next day starts even before the sun comes up. It’s hitting all the morning shows and it’s a marathon of celebratory appearances, because the world wants to meet the BIS winner and be a part of the magic. Most people are probably aware of our partnership with the Empire State Building and how they light it up for Westminster, and part of that partnership is the appearance of the BIS winner there for photo ops. There’s also the famous “Champions Lunch,” and last year we were fortunate to connect with internationally renowned Chef Daniel Boulud and his restaurant Bar Boulud. To have the BIS winner served by one of the world’s most-famous chefs is pretty cool—and it’s very Westminster. Our PR team organizes everything, and because of the show’s homecoming story, the media attention really exploded this year. When we sat down afterwards and looked at all the post-show coverage, we realized I did somewhere between 25 and 30 interviews over the three days. And there’s still a lot of media interest. Our social media has continued to explode as well, with influencers still posting their content.
Dr. Donald Sturz: Now that we’ve lived it, we all have a better sense of what’s needed to smooth the edges. I quickly realized that people were not aware of the additional restrooms in the Javits Center outside the entrance to the halls, out by the escalators, or that there were multiple restrooms in each of the halls. So, what we have added to our list is the need for more directional signage to indicate there are more options. The bigger issue for us, however, relating to the elevators, is that we knew it was not going to be perfect from the point of view of loading and unloading. But even with its imperfections, I think people were pleasantly surprised with how well and smooth things went. Now we’re meeting with the security and parking teams to review what we’ve learned and consider how we can make things go even smoother next year.
Dr. Donald Sturz: We’ve already begun the planning process for Westminster’s 150th event. I don’t think we’ll do anything differently with the benching area, because that worked really well. We liked the big aisles and we loved the atmosphere. I mean, how often does it happen at a dog show that people actually sit there for four or five hours and talk with other people in their breed? I saw a lot of that. In the ring area, we’ve learned that we have more space in that hall. So, you may see some different things with regards to seating. And we have more space to play with in the Marketplace hall, so next year we’re rolling out some of the things we held back this year. There’s no rest for the weary!
