Can Newly Invited Breeds Win the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show?

This year, the Westminster Kennel Club is welcoming six new breeds into its 136th annual competition. As first timers in the show, heavy buzz has been circulating about the Xoloitzcuintli, American English Coonhound, Cesky Terrier, Entlebucher Mountain Dog, Finnish Lapphund and Norwegian Lundehund. But can these breeds live up to the hype and possibly produce a win at the Westminster Kennel Club Show?

Perhaps surprisingly, the answer is that these six new breeds stand little chance of winning Westminster.

The reason, says David Frei, voice of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, is that these breeds are new to everybody. That, of course, includes those given the responsibility of judging the show.

More often than not, judges at Westminster have more familiarity with some breeds than others. This can work both for and against the competing dogs, because while judges may pay more attention to a specific breed, they will also be more apt to see any potential flaws that a pooch of that breed may have. When it comes to the new breeds, however, the bottom line is that, most likely, judges are just not familiar with them or their Breed Standard. In turn, the chances of the new breeds winning decreases dramatically.

Statistically speaking, history seems to have proven this very point. The quickest turn-around from a breed competing in its first Westminster show to winning Best in Show was a whopping 27 years! The feat was completed by Ch Special Times Just Right, a Bichon Frise who won Westminster Best in Show in 2001 after the breed burst onto the scene in 1974.

Back to the present, the fact that newly entered breeds have little chance to win could explain why the number of dogs belonging to those newly invited breeds is very little in the 2012 show; of this year's six newly invited breeds, no breed has more than 10 dogs representing it.

So can the new breeds win? Most likely not. But it sure won't stop us from rooting for you, and welcoming you to your inaugural Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

What do you think about the odds of the new breeds at Westminster? Share your thoughts in a comment.