Thanksgiving in America comes with a few guarantees: the Macy's parade, a crowded kitchen, and — right at noon, once the last float rolls by — a couch full of people suddenly very invested in whether the Giant Schnauzer or the Shih Tzu takes the ribbon. That last tradition turns 25 this year. The 2026 National Dog Show is one of the biggest in its history, and for the millions of dog owners who treat it as part of the holiday, here's what's coming and why it's worth your two hours.
When and how to watch the 2026 National Dog Show
The show is judged live in front of a crowd on Saturday, Nov. 14, and Sunday, Nov. 15, at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. But the version most of the country knows is the Saturday competition, taped and packaged for television.
That broadcast airs Thursday, Nov. 26, from noon to 2 p.m. in every time zone, on NBC, right after the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. If you've wandered away from the TV or you're still wrestling the turkey into the oven, NBC is simulcasting it on Peacock, so you can stream the whole thing on demand. The familiar voices are back in the booth, too: actor and longtime host John O'Hurley, dog-show expert David Frei, and sports broadcaster Mary Carillo.
Prefer to see it in person? The Expo Center sells day tickets, with breed judging starting at 8 a.m. both mornings and Saturday's Best in Show handed out after 6 p.m. It's one of the rare chances to wander the aisles and meet 200-plus breeds nose to nose in a single afternoon.
A record-sized field for the 25th year
This anniversary edition is no token celebration. The Kennel Club of Philadelphia drew 2,107 entries representing 208 breeds and varieties — the largest entry since 2017 and the second-biggest total since the show moved to Oaks in 2009. Dogs and handlers are traveling in from 42 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, with a handful coming from as far as Canada, Japan, Mexico, and Estonia. Pennsylvania leads the pack with 505 entries, followed by New Jersey and New York.
If you're wondering which breeds America is showing up with, the answer this year is a very familiar one: Golden Retrievers top the entry list with 64, trailed by Chesapeake Bay Retrievers and Samoyeds. And three breeds are making their National Dog Show debut — the Basset Fauve de Bretagne, the Teddy Roosevelt Terrier, and the Russian Tsvetnaya Bolonka, all newly recognized by the American Kennel Club. Keep an eye out for them; a breed's first trip to a televised ring is often the moment it jumps onto millions of "what is that dog?" search bars.
How a dog show became a Thanksgiving institution
The National Dog Show feels timeless, but the TV tradition is younger than a lot of the people watching it. The Kennel Club of Philadelphia has run its show annually since 1933, and it traces back to a Philadelphia dog show that started in 1879. The Thanksgiving broadcast, though, started almost by accident.
As the story goes, NBC Sports executive Jon Miller drew the idea from the Christopher Guest mockumentary Best in Show — a gentle sendup of the dog-show world — and figured the real thing could make surprisingly good holiday television. NBC had been filling the post-parade slot with reruns of It's a Wonderful Life, and the numbers were sliding. The network gave the dogs a shot, and the show debuted on Thanksgiving 2002. It was an instant hit, and it never left the lineup.
Two and a half decades later, it's a juggernaut. The most recent broadcast pulled in almost 23 million viewers, ranking as the No. 3 most-watched program of the entire holiday season. For a leisurely parade of trotting dogs and plainspoken commentary, that's a staggering audience — and a reminder of just how deeply dogs are woven into the way Americans celebrate.
Last year's winner and how the judging works
Defending the title is a tough act. In 2025, Soleil, a sleek black Belgian Sheepdog, took Best in Show, with an American Foxhound named George earning Reserve Best in Show. This year's winner will be crowned fresh, so every group is wide open.
If you've never followed the format closely, here's the quick version. Every dog is first judged against the written "standard" for its own breed — essentially a blueprint of the ideal specimen. Breed winners then advance to one of seven group rings: Sporting, Hound, Working, Terrier, Toy, Non-Sporting, and Herding. The seven group champions face off for Best in Show. Crucially, the dogs aren't competing against each other so much as against that ideal, which is why a 7-pound Toy can beat a 150-pound Working dog without anyone blinking.
That's also what makes it fun to watch with kids: you're not rooting for the fastest or the strongest, just the dog that best embodies what its breed is supposed to be. Pick a favorite from the couch and see if the judge agrees.
What the show means for everyday dog owners
It's easy to write off a conformation show as a world apart from the slobbery, shoe-chewing reality of life with a family dog. But there's real value in it for the rest of us. A show like this is a two-hour crash course in breed diversity — a chance to see, side by side, how different a Samoyed's job is from a Foxhound's, and how much a dog's build and temperament trace back to the work it was bred to do.
That matters most for anyone thinking about adding a dog to the household. Falling for a breed on TV is the easy part; the responsible part is learning what that breed actually needs in exercise, grooming, and training before you bring one home. The herding breeds that dazzle in the ring, for instance, are often the ones that will reorganize your weekends around a job to do. A televised dog show is a wonderful spark — just let it lead you toward research, a reputable breeder or a breed-specific rescue, and an honest look at your own lifestyle.
And whatever mix is snoozing at your feet this Thanksgiving, the National Dog Show is ultimately a celebration of all of them — purebred, mixed, rescued, or inherited. So carve out the noon slot, let the turkey rest, and enjoy two hours of the best dogs in the country doing what dogs do best: making us happy.
For more on choosing the right breed for your home, training tips, and the dog news that actually matters, keep it locked to Sidewalk Dog — we fetch it so you don't have to.
