--- description: The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show 2017 takes place Feb.13-14. Of the more than 200 breeds competing, many date back to the Victorian Era. title: Westminster 2017: Dog Breeds in Competititon Share a History image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt117042a37be9cce2/6988b8facf40a82bd0c465c7/gettyimages-3366344.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Hundreds of Dog Breeds Compete at Westminster. Many of Them Share a History ## Video: Love Letters From the Westminster Dog Show [Watch (HLS stream): Love Letters From the Westminster Dog Show](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zyzzQJy4.m3u8) (1:12)  _Published 2017-02-14. At the 141st Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, more than 200 breeds of man's best friend competed for the title of "best in show." Here are a few love letters from the dogs._  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Feb 10, 2017 2:00 PM CUT  Queen Victoria of Great Britain with her pet dog 'Sharp' in 1867 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Queen Victoria of Great Britain with her pet dog 'Sharp' in 1867 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.W. & D. Downey—Getty Images  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Feb 10, 2017 2:00 PM CUT On Monday and Tuesday, at the 141st [Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show](http://time.com/4215526/westminster-dog-show-2016-winning-breeds/ "undefined"), more than 200 breeds of [man’s best friend](http://time.com/4459684/national-dog-day-history-domestic-dogs-wolves/ "undefined") will compete for the title of “best in show.” But, though those [breeds](http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1877312,00.html "undefined") may go head to head in the coming days, many of them come from the same place: most modern dog breeds can be traced to a gene pool that was created beginning in the 1850s, ’60s and ’70s, according to Michael Worboys, professor emeritus at the University of Manchester and a specialist on the social history of pedigree dog breeding in Victorian Britain. Breeds like the golden retriever, poodle, pug, collie, Boykin spaniel, Boston terrier, Chesapeake Bay retriever and the Newfoundland dogare said to date back to this period—and there’s a reason why it’s that period in particular. It wasn’t as if keeping dogs as pets was something new. People have kept dogs for companionship for as long as modern humans have existed — perhaps as long as 16,000 years. But according to Worboys, some experts believe that as society became more urbanized and people became more distanced from nature, pets became more popular as one way of staying in touch with the natural world. In the 19th century, as new ideas about Victorian family life formed, many believed that if children could be trained to take care of and be kind to their dogs, then they would grow up to be kind, responsible adults. Queen Victoria’s devotion to her dogs — she is said to have rushed home from her coronation to give her dog Dash a bath — inspired many Brits to get pets. Sir Edwin Landseer’s oil portrait [_Windsor Castle in Modern Times_ ](https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/406903/windsor-castle-in-modern-times-queen-victoria-prince-albert-and-victoria-princess "undefined")(1840-43), showing Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and their young daughter, came to epitomize how dogs were increasingly being seen as just another family member. Before that, dogs were often tethered outside the home when they weren’t needed for working or hunting. Then, the 1859 publication of Charles Darwin’s treatise _On the_ _Origin of Species_ inspired scientists to apply his ideas about evolution to their own investigations of how change occurs in animals over time. This trend included research into the idea that a domesticated stock could be improved by only allowing the most aesthetically or behaviorally pleasing animals to breed. Darwin himself bred fancy pigeons because their generations are short enough for scientists to see change very quickly. Eventually, someone – historians can’t agree on who — tried to apply this concept to dogs. “There’s sort of a broad impulse in Victorian culture on both sides of the Atlantic with the idea that you can improve things — people, roses, animals,” says Katherine C. Grier, author of _Pets in America_ and professor of history at the University of Delaware, who adds that this same impulse had a dark side, leading to [eugenics](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,751947,00.html "undefined") when wrongfully applied to human beings. As a result, dog breeds were separated and defined. But dog breeding was about much more than the cutting-edge science of animal genetics. Historians say that when dog shows like the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show were established in the late 19th century, they were as much about the breeding and pedigree of the dogs’ owners as they were about the breeding and pedigree of the animals. With the growth of middle-class culture from the 1840s to 1860s, dog shows became seen as a leisure pursuit for the upper middle classes. Dog shows could “distinguish upper-middle-class promotion of dog breeding from working pursuits,” says Philip Howell, author of _At Home and Astray: The Domestic Dog in Victorian Britain_ and a cultural geographer at the University of Cambridge. Though some early dog shows allowed working-classes pet owners to compete and win prizes, those competitions often took place separately, “when all the good dogs had gone home,” as Worboys puts it. Women were snubbed too, so they started their own kennel clubs and shows for their lap dogs. This philosophy of sport is similar to the one that formed the basis of [the first modern Olympics in 1896](http://time.com/4408161/first-modern-olympics-photos/ "undefined"), inspired by a similar “snooty Victorian conceit,” as [TIME](http://time.com/vault/issue/1984-04-30/page/92/ "undefined") once put it, that aimed to maintain the barriers of class and prevent working-class men from competing against the aristocracy. On the other end of the spectrum, some dog breeds could signify wealth and class. For example, the Irish wolfhound — which had died out before being revived in the 17th century as a [symbol](http://www.arba.org/Breed%20Standards/GroupTen/irish%5Fwolfhound.htm "undefined") of Irish culture associated the growth of [Irish nationalism](http://time.com/4355858/bloomsday-ireland-history-ulysses/ "undefined") — was linked in the minds of many to the aristocrats who maintained packs of hounds for hunting. So perhaps it was no surprise that the American upper classes saw British purebreds as the best dogs out there. Though regional dog shows existed earlier, the turning point for dog shows in the U.S. was staged in Philadelphia for [America’s centennial](http://nds.nationaldogshow.com/kcp.php "undefined"), when hunting dogs and other dogs imported from Europe competed in 1876\. The first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show kicked off the following year with about [35 breeds](http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/facts-figures/ "undefined"). Philanthropist J. P. Morgan made his first appearance at Westminster with collies in 1893\. In fact, the Westminster Kennel Club is named after Manhattan’s Westminster Hotel, where “sporting gentlemen used to meet in the bar to drink and lie about their shooting accomplishments,” [according to ](http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/about-sensation/history/ "undefined")a newspaper article quoted in _The Dog Show: 125 Years of Westminster_. “Eventually they formed a club and bought a training area and kennel. They kept their dogs there and hired a trainer.” The class lines eventually blurred as purebred dogs became widely popular in the U.S. during the economic boom following World War II, marketed to Americans who had more dispensable income. In recent years, however, the way dogs were bred in the Victorian era has become more and more [controversial](http://www.peta.org/blog/westminster-dog-show-protest/ "undefined"), given the inbreeding that can result if breeding is carelessly practiced and the health problems associated with that. At the same time, the urges that prompted the development of new kinds of dogs more than a century ago are still keenly felt: for example, two of the newest breeds to compete in this year’s dog show — [the sloughi, an North African hunting dog, and the pumi](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/sports/westminster-dog-show-new-breeds.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news "undefined"), an ancient Hungarian herding dog — arguably the same impulse seen in the revival of the Irish wolfhound, a growing trend toward framing little-known regional dog breeds as national breeds that can be thought of as “teeny-weeny little part of nationalism,” Grier argues. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4661332/westminster-kennel-club-dog-breed-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4661332/westminster-kennel-club-dog-breed-history/"},"headline":"Hundreds of Dog Breeds Compete at Westminster. 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