Junior Showmanship
Since 1934, The Westminster Kennel Club has offered a Junior Showmanship competition( formerly known as Children’ s Handling Class), which is a limited class for young people who have won Best Junior Handler awards seven times or more at AKC dog shows over a specific one-year timeframe. The Junior Showmanship competition is for children ages 9-18 years of age. During the competition, Junior Handlers are judged solely on their handling skills, independent of the dog’ s traits. The competition promotes proper training and animal care to prepare future generations for responsible dog ownership, sportsmanship, and the opportunity to solidify their bond with a dog.
These young handlers must demonstrate breed knowledge in the presentation of the dog and the economy of motion. The judge considers how well the handlers present their dogs through control, teamwork, composure, and unexaggerated movement. Like the best adult handlers, the goal for the Juniors is to enhance their dog’ s qualities to the judge without using distracting, unnecessary motions.
The competition has a preliminary judging round where nearly 100 Juniors from across the country are judged, with eight finalists selected to move on to the Finals round. The competition concludes with the awarding of a Best Junior Handler and 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place winners. This exciting finale for the youth of the sport takes place on Tuesday, February 3, before the evening’ s Group judging in Madison Square Garden.
Since 2010, The Westminster Kennel Club has offered Junior Showmanship Finalist Scholarship Awards to the eight finalists: First place $ 10,000, second place $ 5,000, third place, $ 4,000, and fourth place $ 3,000. Each additional Finalists receives a $ 500 scholarship award.
As we celebrate our 150th show, the Junior Showmanship competition symbolizes the enduring future of the sport and ensures the traditions of Westminster are carried forward to the next generation.
38 THE WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB 2026