Storm, a 90-pound Doberman with a piercing stare and ears pointed like arrow tips, was a dog in demand. Just before winning his second consecutive best in show title at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show in 1953, he was profiled in Life magazine and in The New York Times Magazine. He had sat, like a good boy, on a tapestry for the photographer Philippe Halsman and on an armchair for Sam Falk. But at the dog show, he stood in front of the assembled photographers like the champion that he was: head raised, eyes alert, minimal drool.
“He knows what a flashbulb is,” Storm’s owner said in the Life interview. “He’s a real ham.”
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Westminster dog show, one of the oldest and most prestigious dog shows in the world. It is also highly photogenic, a red carpet gala, sporting event and fashion show all rolled into a three-day extravaganza. Or, as John Ashbey, the Westminster Dog Show’s official photographer for 50 years, said, “It’s a beauty contest.”
While the job of official photographer to Westminster dates back to around the 1930s, the event started in 1877. (There were two shows held in 1884.) More than 1,000 dogs participated in that first show, including five enormous Mastiffs who arrived by boat from England and a Skye terrier who rested on an embroidered cushion of blue silk. An estimated 6,000 to 8,000 spectators attended the first evening of the show, according to The Times, where the speeches were drowned out by the sound of the competitors’ howling.
Since then, both the competition and the spectators have grown. Last year, some 44,000 people attended the show over its three days. This year’s show, which begins Saturday, is expected to draw around 50,000 attendees and will be televised on Fox and Fox Sports.
The events now include tests of agility and obedience before the ultimate prize — for best in show — is awarded on the final night. For the conformation events, the judges are looking for how much each dog adheres to the standards of its breed, which are established in writing and approved by the American Kennel Club.
The most critical part of his job is to “take good pictures of the dog,” Ashbey said, in ways that show off their specific breed characteristics. In his photos, the dog must be standing. A bulldog, squat and sturdy, should be photographed at a three-quarter view, he said, while the elegant Borzoi should be photographed from a straight side view.
As a dog show veteran, Ashbey also has some additional tools to cajole his subjects into just the right pose and expression. To get a dog’s attention, he uses carrot-shaped soft toys — “because they’re easy to get out of your pocket real quick,” he said, adding, “no arms or legs” — and squeak toys.
Such techniques have a long pedigree in the history of dog photography — or, as one 1909 photo journal waggishly called them, “dogratypes.” Another article, from 1894, advised would-be dog photographers to make noises, including cat sounds, or to bring props: kittens and pigeons to “fix” the attention of setters and pointers, and a rubber ball to get fox terriers “into a jaunty, saucy position, which is superb in showing the characteristics of the breed.” Perhaps such tricks might have helped the news photographer who ill-advisedly tried to get Storm the Doberman to wear a paper crown. In response, Storm chewed it and buried it.
For New York Times photographers, who have covered the dog show for close to 100 years, it’s about documenting the event and its attendees, both human and canine. “It’s a visual feast,” said Lanna Apisukh, who shot the show for The Times in 2025.
But the photographers must deal with certain restrictions. They cannot use a flash when the dogs are competing in the agility event, and it is strongly discouraged in the “ready ring,” or preparation area, as well as at conformation events. Apisukh keeps her equipment to a minimum so she can roam around the event and capture well-groomed subjects on the move. (Shooting the Westminster Dog Show “100 percent reminded me of a Met Gala,” said Apisukh, who has photographed both events.)
Fred R. Conrad, a former staff photographer at The Times, once spent two days in a small room at Madison Square Garden to capture what he called “heroic” portraits of the competitors in all their different shapes and sizes. Conrad recalled wanting to make the dogs the “center of attention,” an idea that shines through in these photos from the Times archive.
Just look at the photo of the Lakeland terrier called Mischief Maker, living up to his name, as he pulls on his handler’s pants leg with his teeth. Or the 1976 photo of the enormously fluffy Great Pyrenees up on his hind legs in an embrace with his owner, as though they are dancing in celebration. Or the tiny Chihuahua with the big name, Maximilian, peeking over the shoulder of his owner.
But dog shows — and dog show photographs — are not always just about dogs. They’re also about the devoted owners, handlers and groomers who take such pride in their canine competitors. The 1968 photograph of the Alaskan malamute named Hot Shot is as much a portrait of its owners in their custom knitwear as it is of the dog.
“What’s nice about being a photographer, when you’re around people with passion, it’s magic,” Conrad said.
In 1968, the best in show prize was awarded to a Lakeland terrier named Stingray. After the winner was announced, Larry Morris, a Times photographer, captured Stingray and his handler, Peter Green, in a moment of affection. Stingray, with his jaunty tail and teddy-bear coat, peers up at Green, who is bending down to plant a gentle kiss on the dog’s nose. In their victory embrace, both are sweetly oblivious to the waiting photographers.
Anika Burgess is a writer and photo editor with a particular interest in the history of photography.
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