Q. When dog shows are held over a weekend, is it one continuous event with an ultimate winner decided on the Sunday night?
A. Generally not. For the most part, each day’s show ends with a Best in Show winner announced and a new show starts the next morning. This is why at the breed level, no judge will evaluate the same breed on more than one day per show weekend, although that judge may encounter the same dog as a Best of Breed winner competes at higher levels, in Group or Best in Show judging.
If a club holds a three-day show, each non-champion male and female of each breed has three chances to compete for points toward its championship title, while each champion has three opportunities to compete for Best of Breed, and then go on to Best in Group competition.
A handful of special competitions, such as the Westminster Kennel Club show in New York in February and the AKC/Eukanuba Invitational Show in Long Beach, California, in December, host one large show over two days, with three Groups judged on the first night and four on the second, culminating in a single dog being declared Best in Show.