If you've never been to a dog show, you're in for an exciting, and perhaps, confusing time.  At an All-Breed Show (where every breed accepted in a registry is allowed to show), you'll find a huge variety of breeds, and even varieties within a breed.

For instance, in the Cocker Spaniels, they have Any Solid Color Other Than Black (ASCOB) which includes the well known "blond" variety, the Black Cocker, and the Parti-colored.  The Black Cockers can have some tan on them, but must be less than 10% of the total coloring.  The Parti-Colored are the ones with white and another color in splotches or spots.  Each variety is shown, then, the Best of Variety goes into the Group Ring, just as a Best of Breed would.

The Collies, too, come in varieties.  There is the Rough, which reminds you of Lassie (for those that are old enough), and the Smooth.  The Smooth is build like the Rough, but with substantially less coat.  It can be rather amazing to see what lies beneath all that beautiful coat.

Chihuahuas are long- and short-coated, the Welsh Corgi comes with (Cardigan) and without (Pembroke) a tail, the German Shorthair Pointers come in smooth and wire-coats, and there doesn't appear to be a lot of difference between the Curly-coated and the Flat-Coated Retrievers (except the coat, of course), although they are shown as different breeds.

Chinese Crested dogs come in the standard variety with almost no coat and in the "powder-puff" variety with a total coat.  Beagles come in two sizes--13" and 15" and Daschunds come in three coat varieties, as well as Standard and Miniature sizes.

Underneath all these variations, though, there are basic characteristics that each breed must adhere to.  These are called the "Breed Standard."  Most Breed Standards will describe the "ideal" dog and any disqualifications that would keep a particular dog from being shown, such as too much white on the Cockers (except the parti-coloreds).  If you're interested in a particular breed (or, have a mixed breed you can pretty well figure is mostly one breed), check into the breed standard, as it will list the physical characteristics of the breed and some of the personality traits of the breed.  See how close your dog comes.

So, if you get a chance to go to a dog show, you'll find a broad variety of dogs that look a lot alike.  But they're fun to see.

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ktreva52, a.k.a. C. Rogers Upson, has spent nearly 40 years training and studying dogs.  You can read more about her on her "About Me" page.