Following the success of this year’s 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, SHOWSIGHT connected with WKC President and Show Chair Dr. Donald Sturz for an informal debriefing of the event that many have described as “the best dog show—ever.” Despite the high praise coming from critics near and far, the Westminster team is not content to rest on their laurels. In fact, they’ve already started planning for next year’s show. Find out who’s been working behind the scenes to ensure the magic continues, and discover the intention behind many of the details that made “150” so memorable.
Dr. Donald Sturz Jr: Yes, it was palpable. We went into this milestone year with the intent of creating an atmosphere of celebration. We often framed this year’s show as inviting people to our home for a party, and we made a concerted effort to keep the energy up. And I think that’s what happened! There was plenty of energy at the Javits Center during the day, with its Market Hall, Westminster Historical Installation, Sensation Stage, Purina ProPlan booth and vendor areas, and around the rings we’d increased the seating and bleachers to create a feeling of settling in, which, to some extent, recreated that sense of being “back in the day” at Madison Square Garden where the crowds were six or eight deep. Then at MSG at night, the seats were filled to the rafters thanks to the New York crowd that was so into it this year.
Dr. Donald Sturz Jr: The Westminster Historical Installation that welcomed visitors was an intentional choice. We wanted to make that space special, so people could take a walk through time and experience Westminster through the years. The team put a lot of time into going through the archives and selecting all the visuals, and then determined which images were going to translate into larger pieces. Michael Faulkner and I positioned each piece so that visitors could view them from different vantage points. That was our Friday activity. I specifically delegated those design elements to him, as well as the layout of the flowers and plants throughout, because of his background as an artist and his experience with gallery shows. And the way the installation lights reflected on the green carpet just really worked with all of the purple and gold branding. It was pretty ethereal.
Dr. Donald Sturz Jr: It was a journey. We had asked ourselves what we could do with the digital program to make it special for 150, and we considered going back to a printed program. Then we started to ideate what it could become, and as Allison Younger, Michael Josephs, and I started going through the archives, looking at the tens of thousands of photos that exist, we made a conscious choice to not attempt to create another wonderful reference book like The Dog Show: 125 Years of Westminster by William (Bill) F. Stifel. We wanted to create a visual experience instead, so we stopped referring to it as a program and started to refer to it as a book. We wanted a book that captured a sense of history, obviously, but we also wanted to evoke the feelings attached to the magic of Westminster. We felt that the best way to evoke those feelings was with a visual experience, so we really leaned in to the idea of producing a photo book with historical information and quotes from a variety of people interspersed throughout. The timeline that drove the storytelling, which was a centerpiece of the installation, is a foldout in the book that gives people the opportunity to understand the significance of 150 years of continuous shows, and the perseverance of the club’s members who made sure the dog show went on despite whatever was happening in the world at the time. And, of course, we wanted to celebrate the dogs and their breeders and owners, so we included the Best in Show Winners Gallery. We hoped the book would get people talking about their own Westminster experiences.
Dr. Donald Sturz Jr: The Sensation Stage was intended to lean in to our educational mission. We had a variety of offerings there this year, including the Westminster Legends, and we’re so grateful to the owners, handlers, and breeders who were willing to bring their dogs back. Including them was really in line with the notion of all the different ways we could celebrate and connect with participants this year, similar to celebrating Pat Trotter with the creation of the Vin-Melca Hound Group Trophy and honoring photographer John Ashbey on the occasion of his 50th Westminster. Those special moments bring the past forward to show they can still bring us so much joy today. This is what the Westminster Legends connects us with. Having some of the dogs there during the day, where spectators could meet them up close and have their picture taken with them, helps people realize that top-winning show dogs are really just somebody’s pet. That experience is great PR for the sport.
Dr. Donald Sturz Jr: The introduction of the Westminster Legends was a really special moment filled with lots of emotion and excitement. We thought it would be a nice way to connect with people’s love of Westminster as well as their love for the dogs that are part of the Westminster story. Some of the dogs were quite senior yet still in beautiful condition, and they looked so happy to be back at The Garden again.
Dr. Donald Sturz Jr: This year’s judging panel was a very conscious choice, from the Breed judges on up to David Fitzpatrick for Best in Show. We wanted judges who fit the template we’d created for storytelling, and nobody has a Westminster story quite like David’s. Part of the story is also a reflection of the show’s international reputation. Having had the opportunity to travel and judge internationally, everyone talks about Westminster. So, it was intentional to have representation on the panel of a broad cross section of people, as this is something we’re seeing in the sport. It’s essential to reinforce the importance of representation at our events, and I’m proud that Westminster can take a leadership role in this way.
Dr. Donald Sturz Jr: Although people come to Westminster to see the show dogs, it’s important to give them an opportunity to see how they can participate in the sport of dogs through Performance events. We’ve always presented the winners of the Masters Agility Championship on the floor of Madison Square Garden, but the team wanted to take things a step further this year. We wanted to keep people engaged and excited during the commercial breaks when there’s a lull for the audience in the arena, so we decided the best way to do that would be to give them more dogs! The Westminster Legends was part of that, but we also wanted to include Agility and Flyball demonstrations so that people who may not have been exposed to these sports could see them as they really happen. This decision provided both education and entertainment, and it allowed people to see different ways in which they can do things with their own dogs.
Dr. Donald Sturz Jr: All of the entertainment between the Groups was selected intentionally to create the energy that everyone has been describing as electric. This includes Christian and Scooby who I found on Instagram. They’ve appeared on America’s Got Talent and have performed in Las Vegas and at NBA games, but this was their first time performing at Madison Square Garden. The whole Westminster team had high hopes for the performance, and everyone did an amazing job of bringing the vision I had to life. The crowd in the arena on Tuesday night seemed to be losing themselves in the magic. I’m really glad it was actually experienced in the way we’d intended.
Dr. Donald Sturz Jr: Over the past few years we have really moved into the 21st century as far as making as much use of technology as we can to streamline our processes and bring efficiencies to how we create the show and how we communicate with the public and our participants. We’ve revamped our website and email newsletter to drive people to access information about the show, and we’ve expanded our social media presence significantly over the past couple of years as well. For 150, the press coverage beforehand was “through the roof,” and having the show featured by so many content creators and influencers helped to share individual Westminster stories to a broader digital audience. It was wonderful to see them shared online. And thanks to our partnership with Acuity Scheduling, we even found a way to use technology to help facilitate people’s day at the show so that it could be as full as they wanted it to be. All of these things incorporate technology in ways that significantly elevate the event’s exposure.
Dr. Donald Sturz Jr: Well, we started working on the next show right away. There’s been a reality check that 150 was a milestone year with more bells and whistles, and we’ve realized we don’t want 2027 to look like a retread. However, the show will definitely maintain the energy and excitement of this year’s celebration. People can count on Westminster being just as special as always.
I want to be sure to acknowledge the eight people whose year-round dedication helps to create the Westminster magic: Michael Josephs, Chief Operating Officer; Paul Campanella, Senior Director of Event Operations; Allison Younger, Director of Communications; Kelly Morra, Director of Sponsorships; Anna Gracie, Manager of Sponsorships; Kelsey Napolitano, Manager of Digital Media; and Linda Duane who oversees Club Operations. I’d also like to thank the Members of The Westminster Kennel Club whose support for the club and our event is greatly appreciated.
