2025 National Dog Show: How Ours Is Different
Soleil the Belgian Sheepdog took Best in Show at the 2025 National Dog Show, and by the time most of America had moved on to leftovers, the Philadelphia Expo Center had already crowned its champion. Here's how that show compares to the one we run, 24 hours a day, no pedigree required.
We run a different sort of show. No tuxedos, no breed standards, no Macy's balloons overhead. Just a dog, a webcam, and whoever happens to be watching at 2 a.m.
What Is the 2025 National Dog Show?
The National Dog Show is the real deal: a conformation show sanctioned by the American Kennel Club and hosted by the Kennel Club of Philadelphia, with roots that date back to 1879. The 2025 edition was filmed over two days in mid-November at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania, then aired as a two-hour holiday special on NBC on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 27, from noon to 2 p.m. in all time zones, simulcast on Peacock.
This year's field was enormous. The 2025 National Dog Show included 1,994 dogs across 201 breeds, judged in seven groups before the finalists squared off for Best in Show. Soleil beat a round of seven that included a Giant Schnauzer, a Shih Tzu, a Miniature Schnauzer, an English Setter, a Bichon Frisé, and an American Foxhound, and every dog who'd advanced to the final had ranked No. 1 nationally in their breed at one point. That's a genuinely stacked field, judged against detailed written standards by people who've spent careers learning what a perfect specimen of each breed looks like.
John O'Hurley and David Frei hosted, as they have since the show's first broadcast, with Mary Carillo providing color from the floor. It's glamorous, it's rigorous, and it deserves every bit of the nearly 20 million viewers it pulls in each year. We're not here to compete with that. We're here to do something else entirely.
How It's Different From Our 24/7 Dog Show
The National Dog Show happens once a year, for two hours, at one venue, judged by AKC-licensed professionals against breed standards most owners have never heard of. Our show happens constantly. One dog appears on screen at a time, live, and whoever's in chat reacts in real time. There's no ring, no gait assessment, no grooming table backstage. Just a dog, briefly famous, while the internet watches and throws virtual bones its way.
Conformation judging is a genuinely skilled discipline, it's just not what we're doing. Nobody needs papers to get on our stage, nobody gets scored against a breed standard, and nobody goes home disappointed because their dog's ears weren't quite right. We're entertainment, not a regulated competition, not a betting product, and not affiliated with any kennel club.
How to Enter Your Dog (Hint: We're Easier)
Entering the National Dog Show means your dog needs AKC papers and a breed that's recognized by the organization. Entering ours means uploading a photo, and there's no fee: entering a dog is free, and that's not a limited-time offer, just how the site works.
Register, upload, and your dog gets a permanent certificate page along with a starting stash of bones (the internet's word for votes). Mixed breeds, mystery mutts, senior rescues with gray muzzles, it doesn't matter. If your dog's face clears our AI "is this actually a dog" check, it's in. From there, viewers vote with bones through the month, and whoever racks up the most wins Monthly Best in Show, a permanent title on their page, no cash, no kennel club sanction, just bragging rights. If your dog is a Poodle, a Bernese Mountain Dog, or a Corgi, we've also got breed-specific guides worth a look before you upload, covering temperament and what makes each one distinct on camera, at /breeds/poodle, /breeds/bernese-mountain-dog, and /breeds/corgi.
When to Watch in 2025
If you want the official broadcast, mark your calendar for next Thanksgiving. This year's show already happened, but Peacock keeps a library of past broadcasts if you want to see Soleil's winning run or go back further to Vito the Pug's historic 2024 win.
Our stream doesn't wait for a holiday. It runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. There's always a dog on screen somewhere, even at 3 a.m., especially at 3 a.m. No tickets, no time zone math, no setting a reminder. You just show up and there's a dog.
Why People Choose One Over the Other
The official show wins when you want prestige, pedigree, and the comfort of watching something judged by genuine experts against standards refined over more than a century. It's appointment television in the best sense, and it's earned that spot on the holiday schedule.
Ours wins when you want in on the fun without the gatekeeping. No breed requirements, no entry committee, no waiting a year for your shot. You upload a photo of your dog on a Tuesday afternoon and by evening someone in Ohio might be cheering for them in chat. The voting is honest about its own limits: bones can be bought, and we'd rather tell you that plainly than pretend otherwise. What you get in exchange is a community that shows up daily, not annually, for the simple, renewable pleasure of looking at dogs. For more on how the voting mechanics actually work, our resources page breaks down the rules in plain language.
Both shows end the same way: a dog gets celebrated, and everyone watching feels a little better about their Thursday.
Join the show that's always on
No papers, no entry fee, no waiting for Thanksgiving. Upload a photo and your dog joins the live rotation today.