What dog breeds are the most widely shown at Crufts?

There is always a lot of interest in the Crufts dog show in the early part of each year, as thousands of dogs from all over the world attend to compete for individual breed classes, and the top title, the coveted Best in Show award.

Anyone who attends Crufts for the first time will often find themselves reeling in amazement at just how many dogs actually attend the show-attendance figures show that there is an average of one dog for every four or five people-and you can look along rows and rows of kennels all housing dogs of the same respective breeds together!

There is unlikely to be any other event in the UK where you can see so many different dogs all together at the same time, nor any other event when you can see so many dogs representing each individual breed.

The number of dogs of each breed shown can be fairly variable as well, with many more dogs from the more common breeds being found than those with smaller numbers, as you might expect.

If you have ever wondered which the most popular dogs are for each different category held at Crufts, wonder no longer-in this article, we will share the most widely shown dog breeds that attended Crufts this year for each individual grouping.

Labrador retriever

The Labrador retriever falls into the gundog grouping, and is by far the most commonly entered breed in this section, with a total of 588 entries attending the show this year.

This makes sense as the Labrador retriever is always in the top three rankings of the most widely owned and popular dog breeds in the UK, and so the parallel between competing numbers and those out in the wider world makes sense.

However, despite the sheer volume of Labradors attending the show in total, they were all pipped at the post in the rankings this year, when another dog from the gundog group-an American cocker spaniel-won the Best in Show award!

The Staffordshire bull terrier

The ever-popular Staffy is a breed that you can see out and about having fun and being walked all over the UK, and this large, stocky terrier certainly represented themselves well this year. Crufts was originally a terrier show, and so the terrier section is always keenly watched and much talked about, and this year 410 Staffordshire bull terriers entered the show.

The only other terrier breed that approaches the Staffy’s level of popularity among the UK dog population is the Jack Russell, but as Jack Russell’s were only permitted to enter the show for the first time in 2015, they still have some catching up to do!

The whippet

The whippet falls into the hound category, and once more, the number of whippets entered in Crufts reflects the wider popularity of the breed within the UK. Whippets came in third place to the Lab and Staffy this year in terms of the total number of dogs of the breed to be invited to compete in the show, with a total of 397 dogs of the breed entered.

The Border collie

The Border collie competes in the pastoral dog section, which is designed to showcase dogs that were originally bred for livestock working, be that herding, mustering or guarding. As one of the most popular dog breeds in the UK once again and one that is still among the most widely used working dog breeds, it makes sense that the Border collie was the breed that brought the most attendees to the pastoral section of the show this year, with a total of 359 dogs present.

The Cavalier King Charles spaniel

The little Cavvy falls into the toy dog category, unlike most of the other spaniel breeds that are classed as gundogs. A total of 322 Cavalier King Charles spaniels attended Crufts this year, although the winning dog in the Best of Breed category generated some controversy with their win, due to the lack of health testing on the dog and the fact that at the age of 2.5 years, he had already fathered seven litters.

The English bulldog

The English bulldog is of course the unofficial mascot of England, and these short, hugely muscular dogs are instantly recognisable to dog owners from all over the world.

The English bulldog belongs in the utility group, which is comprised of breeds that don’t really fit soundly into another specific category, which sees the bulldog competing against other breeds as diverse as the Dalmatian and Akita! A total of 245 English bulldogs were entered in the show this year.

The boxer

Last but not least, the most common dog within the working dog category this year was the Boxer dog, with a total of 236 dogs of the breed entered. However, despite their popularity at the show as a whole, the boxer breed also has the dubious distinction of having never been awarded a Best in Show title in the show’s entire 125 year history!