Crufts Best in Show prize money and how it's judged

Over 20,000 pups of all shapes and sizes are set to flock to the event at the Birmingham NEC – with owners and handlers dreaming of winning the biggest prize in dog shows.

Crufts will take place over four days in March, culminating in the crowning of this year’s Best in Show and featuring a host of other canine-related activities and attractions.

Here’s everything you need to know about how dogs qualify and are judges at the doggy Oscars.

How does a dog qualify for Crufts?

Crufts is not a competition that is open to any pedigree Kennel Club registered dog.

Prospective Best in Show winners must first qualify by achieving a certain amount of success at a show recognised by the Kennel Club in the year preceding that year’s Crufts.

Dogs that claim a top three place in their breed class at a Kennel Club affiliated Championship show will be awarded a Challenge Certificates and a place at Crufts.

Other dogs will qualify by winning Best in Show, Reserve Best in Show or Best Puppy in Show at a Kennel Club affiliated open or general show.

Dogs can also achieve lifetime qualification for Crufts if they win one of the competitions that award a much sought after Kennel Club Stud Book Number.

How does a dog progress to the Best in Show judging?

Dogs start by by competing against others of the same breed, gender, age and previous wins – these ‘classes’ include Veteran, Special Puppy, Special Junior, Yearling, Post Graduate, Mid Limit, Limit, and Open.

An overall male winner and female are then the Dog and Bitch Challenge Certificate's respectively, with the two then going head-to-head to determine the Best of Breed winner.

The next stage sees all of the Best of Breed winners in each of the seven groups (Toys, Gundogs, Utility, Hounds, Working, Pastoral, and Terriers) competing to win the Best in Group award.

The seven Best in Group winners then compete to find the Best in Show and Reserve Best in Show.

What does the Best in Show champion win?

Best in Show winners receive a cash prize of £100 and a replica of the solid silver Crufts Keddall Memorial Trophy.

How do judges choose the winning dog?

Crufts judges do not rate dogs compared to their rivals, but rather against the strict parameters of the ideal example of the breed as set out by the Kennel Club.

The standards address a multitude of body parts and attributes including the dog’s proportions, weight, size, eyes, ears. shape of head, length of muzzle, thickness of whiskers, condition of teeth, the arch of the tail, muscle density, stance, and the texture and colour of coat.

Judges will also take a close look at how each dog behaves in the showring – the way they move, their temperament, attitude, and general performance.

Crufts Winners in Pictures: Here are the 17 adorable dogs who have been crowned Best in Show since 2015 - including Yogi the Hungarian Vizsla

How do you become a Crufts judge?

The Kennel Club is responsible for the approval of championship show judges, and there are more than 7,000 in the UK.

There are different levels of judges, with only those that have had a huge amount of experience invited to judge at Crufts.

In order to reach the gold standard Level 4 status, judges need to have passed multiple assessments and certificates, have owned a number of prize-winning dogs, carried out various roles at regional dog shows, undertaken breed education programmes and have undergone mentoring session.

Only the top Level 4 judges will then be invited to Crufts for a particular breed, class or Best in Show.

The Best in Show judge for 2024 is Miss A E Ingram.

When is Crufts?

This year’s Crufts runs from March 7-10 at the NEC Birmingham.

There will be wall-to-wall coverage of all four days of Crufts on Channel 4 and More4, as there has been since 2010.

Organised and hosted by The Kennel Club, it is the largest show of its kind in the world, with over 20,000 dogs expected to attend.

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Crufts 2024: Prize money, how are dogs judged, how to do you qualify, and how is Best in Show decided?