Animal competitions: every type, explained

A Pekingese named Wild Thang once beat seven rivals to win $5,000, a year's supply of root beer, and a trip to the Today show — for being spectacularly unattractive. That's the range you're dealing with when you say "animal competitions": one end of the spectrum is a purebred collie strutting under fluorescent lights at Madison Square Garden, and the other is a crowd in a Cheshire field trying to vibrate worms out of the ground with a garden fork. Both count. Both have rules, judges, and devoted fans.

What counts as an "animal competition"?

Loosely, it's any organized event where animals (or their owners, handlers, or photos) are ranked against each other according to a fixed set of criteria — appearance, skill, speed, charm, or sheer improbability. That's a wide net on purpose. It covers century-old kennel club institutions, county fair 4-H judging, regional racing circuits, and — increasingly — online contests where nobody ever leaves their couch and the "arena" is a voting page. The taxonomy below groups them by what's actually being judged, not by species or venue, because that's the distinction that trips people up when they assume "animal competition" means only dog shows.

Conformation & breed shows

This is the Westminster model: dogs (or cats, or rabbits) are judged against a written breed standard — structure, gait, coat, temperament — rather than against each other directly. The Westminster Kennel Club, established in 1877, is America's oldest non-profit organization dedicated to the sport showing of dogs. The designation Best in Show, awarded since 1907, is considered the highest distinction in American dog competition. Every dog entered in the WKC Dog Show must be a champion, which is why it reads as the pinnacle rather than an entry-level event — it's notable because it's the finish line, not the starting gate.

Skill & racing events

Here the animal is judged on performance under a clock, not appearance. Dog agility is the biggest example: a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. Agility is a growing dog sport in the United States, with over 1 million entries to the AKC's program each year. Any breed or mixed breed of dog can compete as long as they are 15 months or older, in good health, and registered with the American Kennel Club (or the Canine Partners program for mixed breeds) — which makes it one of the few competition types genuinely open to mutts, not just papered purebreds. Sled dog racing, sheepdog trials, and county-fair duck and pig races fall in this same bucket: it's fun to watch precisely because outcomes aren't scripted by a beauty standard.

Novelty & oddity contests

This is where animal competitions get genuinely strange, and where a lot of the internet's favorite stories live. The World's Ugliest Dog Contest is the flagship: an annual contest held since the 1970s that takes place at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, California during the fourth week of June. The Pekingese won the 34th annual World's Ugliest Dog contest and was awarded $5,000. Since the inception of the contest in the 1970s, the most unsightly dog has been from this breed at least 22 times — a reminder that even "oddity" contests develop their own dynasties.

Across the Atlantic, worm charming is arguably weirder still. The World Worm Charming Championships is a unique annual event that draws participants of all ages to Willaston County Primary School in Willaston, Cheshire, for a day of charming earthworms out of the ground using various methods and techniques. The premise is simple: teams have 30 minutes to coax as many worms as possible from a designated 3×3 metre plot, and digging and use of water are both strictly forbidden. In 2009, Sophie Smith, 10, managed to charm 567 worms, setting a record that still stands. It's overseen by an actual regulatory body: a regulatory body of control was formed to compile and enforce a total of 18 rules governing all aspects of Worm Charming, and the International Federation of Charming Worms and Allied Pastimes also looks after other zaney sports. The whole appeal is the mismatch between the gravity of "World Championships" and the fact that the athletes are earthworms.

Livestock & county fair competitions

Cattle, swine, poultry, and rabbit judging at state and county fairs is the oldest, least internet-famous corner of this world, and probably the most consequential for the people doing it — 4-H and FFA kids raise animals for a year specifically to be judged on breed standards, market weight, and showmanship. It doesn't generate viral headlines, but it's the backbone that most "animal competition" taxonomies reduce to a footnote, which is a mistake given how much of the category it actually represents.

Online pet popularity contests

This is the newest branch, and the one general overviews tend to skip entirely — which is odd, because it's arguably the fastest-growing type. The best-known example is America's Favorite Pet: since 2020, it has been the biggest pet popularity contest in the country, held annually online, pitting hundreds of thousands of cats and dogs against each other in a battle for votes. The pet that receives the most votes over several rounds of competition, American Idol-style, takes home the top prize. The winners receive $10,000, and their pet will christen the cover of either Modern Cat or Modern Dog magazine.

It's worth knowing this genre isn't monolithic. Some, like America's Favorite Pet, are run by for-profit fundraising operators on behalf of charities and involve paid votes; others are lighter, purely-for-fun formats with no donation mechanic at all. If you want a no-stakes version of this experience — cute animals, live reactions, zero cash on the line — our own online dog show runs on a different model entirely, which the next section unpacks.

Voting mechanics

Structures vary by platform, but the underlying pattern is consistent: entrants are grouped, the public votes over a set window, and low-scorers get cut round by round. In one common format, the top competitors from each quarterfinals group advance to semifinals, votes reset, and public voting determines who advances to the finals, where voting is reset again to determine the eventual winners. Free voting is common, and paid voting often is too: a typical setup gives every voter one free vote every 24 hours, with additional single votes available for around $1.00 each.

Our own show runs on a different mechanic — no rounds, no elimination. Dogs appear one at a time in a shared live stream, and viewers throw "bones" (glossed as votes) to react in real time, extending that dog's moment on screen rather than knocking a rival out of a bracket.

What you can (and can't) win

This is the part worth reading closely before you enter anything. In the traditional model, prizes can be substantial and cash-based: America's Favorite Pet invites furry felines and cuddly canines around the country to compete for the title, a feature on the cover and in the pages of Modern Cat or Modern Dog, and a $10,000 cash prize. That's a real-money, real-stakes format, and it's run by a for-profit operator: Colossal Management, LLC operates the America's Favorite Pet Competition as a for-profit professional/commercial fundraiser.

Our own site works nothing like that, on purpose. Entering a dog is free, and any bones you buy or earn convert into permanent titles and certificate pages — not cash, not physical prizes, and not affiliation with any kennel club. It's built as entertainment first: a livestream of dogs, one at a time, with the crowd reacting live. Monthly "Best in Show" and "Best in Breed" honors are real, permanent, and shareable — they're just not redeemable for anything beyond bragging rights.

• Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show — the benchmark conformation event, drawing competitors and spectators from far and wide since its first show in 1877, with an astonishing 1,201 dogs entered in its first instance.
• World's Ugliest Dog Contest — Petaluma, California; as many as 20,000–30,000 people attend the contest during the fair each year.
• World Worm Charming Championships — Willaston, Cheshire; scheduled annually, the championships have run for over 45 years.
• AKC Agility Trials — a sport where you direct your dog through a pre-set obstacle course within a certain time limit.
• America's Favorite Pet — the largest cash-prize online pet popularity contest currently running in the US.

For conformation shows, you'll generally need a purebred dog registered with a kennel club and, for the biggest events, prior championship points — Westminster itself requires entrants to already be champions, so it's not a beginner's stage. Agility is far more accessible: any dog over roughly 15 months old, in good health and registered (mixed breeds included via programs like AKC Canine Partners), can start in beginner classes and work up. Novelty contests like the ugliest dog title are typically open entry with a small fee and a same-day judging panel. Livestock competitions run through 4-H and FFA chapters tied to county and state fairs.

Online popularity contests are the lowest-barrier option by far — usually free registration, a photo, and a bit of hustle to get people voting. If you'd rather skip the campaigning and cash prizes altogether, entering your dog in our free online show is a lighter lift: no purchase is required to register, one dog per account, and the "competition" is really just your dog getting a turn on a shared live stream while people in chat react. It won't win anyone $10,000, but it also won't ask anyone to open their wallet to have a say.