Crufts: The history of the world's greatest dog show

A celebration of man’s best friend and an event where every dog can have its day, Crufts is a world-renowned. It attracts tens of thousands of four and two-legged competitors and visitors, showcasing every breed from a Spaniel to a Setter—and everything between. It also showcases the relationship between pets and owners, and the positive impacts of dogs in society. 

Run by The Kennel Club for decades, Crufts is once again retuning from the 9–12 March, and The Kennel Club share the tail as to how the modern day show we see taking place in Birmingham came to be…

The Crufts we recognise today with Clare Balding at the helm, actually originated from two separate dog shows. This year sees Crufts organisers, The Kennel Club, celebrate their 150th anniversary. The Kennel Club was founded on April 4, 1873, by Mr Sewallis Evelyn Shirley, MP, with 12 other men.

1950 Crufts Olympia, London BBC camera crew filming dog showing © The Kennel Club

That year, The Kennel Club members organised the first Kennel Club Dog Show at Crystal Palace, London. While The Kennel Club was regularly running their show, a little later in 1891, Charles Cruft held his first all-breed dog show. This show was held at the Royal Agricultural Hall, Islington, and recorded 2,473 entries across 36 different breeds.

Charles Cruft continued to run this show until he passed away in 1938. Charles’ wife, Emma Cruft, went on to run the show in 1939, but only for one year.  

In 1942, The Kennel Club acquired the rights to buy the Crufts dog show from Emma Cruft. However, The Kennel Club paused all dog shows during the Second World War. The first iteration of the Crufts we know and recognise today was not held until 1948 when The Kennel Club brought both the shows together in London, Olympia.

The very first show is recorded to have been an immediate success with 84 breeds entered (almost double the number of breeds at the first Crufts in 1891).  

In 1950, Crufts hit TV screens across the nation being broadcast by the BBC for the first time—back when not everything was streamed on Netflix. This was seven years before the first televised Christmas broadcast from Queen Elizabeth II!

The show’s popularity continued to grow and, in 1961, entries broke the 15,000 milestone for the first time. This sparked royal interest, with the late Queen Elizabeth II, well-known for her love of dogs and patron of The Kennel Club for 70 years, coming to visit Crufts in 1969.

Poodles being judged at Crufts, Olympia, London, 1960 © The Kennel Club

In 1979 Crufts was outgrowing the Olympia venue so it moved to Earl’s Court. A couple of years later in 1982, the show was extended to three days due to the increasing number of dogs and spectators, and just five years later increased again to four days.  

Crufts broke popularity records in 1988 when more than 110,000 people joined in the celebration of dogs—making it the most popular event to be held at Earls Court. Crufts moved venue once more in 1991, in its centenary year, to the current location of the NEC Birmingham.

Crufts has evolved and expanded into a variety of different canine activities. In 1978 the first ever dog agility demonstration in the world took place at Crufts, and it has now become a well-known and respected discipline for owners and dogs to compete in. The introduction of agility competitions is said to have brought a whole new atmosphere to the event. Today’s show sees over 150 agility competitors take part in various category classes.

Crufts also become popular with a younger audience which led to The Kennel Club Junior Organisation launching in 1985. Now known as the Young Kennel Club, it is open to all those aged between 6–24 with a passion for all things dog and continues to run special classes in a dedicated Young Kennel Club ring at the event. 

Crufts danced its way into the 1990s with the first Heelwork to Music demonstration at the show performed by Mary Ray in 1990—often known as "doggy dancing" as this activity sees owners and their very obedient dogs perform a creative sequence to music.   

And with Crufts becoming a haven for dog-lovers, The Kennel Club decided in 1994 to use the opportunity to promote responsible dog ownership by creating a special "Discover Dogs" area, where visitors could meet and greet the variety of dog breeds out there and find out more about their personalities and needs.

Crufts agility © Yulia Titovets

This remains a popular area to date for prospective owners to understand what getting a dog really means and speak to breed experts. Today, there are over 200 breeds to discover in this educational area of the show.

In 2000, Crufts launched Rescue Dog Agility where dogs from all walks of life have their day on the famous green carpet. 

The event continued to evolve to celebrate the different important roles dogs play in society, and in 2004 launched The Kennel Club Hero Dog Award (previously named the Friends for Life competition) which every year continues to shine a light on the incredible bravery, support and companionship shown by man’s best friend. 

The annual four-day event sees every dog have their day, but just one lucky dog will take home the coveted Best in Show trophy on the Sunday evening.  

The first Best in Show competition was in 1928, when a greyhound named Primley Sceptre was crowned the first Best in Show winner. There have now been a total of 84 Best in Show winners, with 45 different breeds taking home the trophy.

2022 Best in Show © Anna Szabo

Cocker spaniels hold the title of the breed with the most Best in Show wins with a total of seven, followed behind by the Welsh terrier, standard poodle and Irish setter each with four wins. Most recently, in 2022 the winner of Best in Show was Baxer (CH Almanza Backseat Driver), a flat coated retriever from Norway making him the third flat coat winner of Crufts.

Information on the history of Crufts and what to expect from this year’s event, and tickets, is available at crufts.org.uk.  

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