Breed profile · Poodle specialty history
Poodle specialty history
The full record of the Poodle’s national and regional specialties, year by year — dates, venues, judges, entries, and winners, with sources. The current year is shown in full on the breed profile; this page is the archive.
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2026
National specialty
93rd National Specialty ran Tuesday to Friday, April 21–24, 2026, at Purina Farms’ Purina Event Center, 300 Checkerboard Loop, Gray Summit, Missouri. The show was dedicated to “our 94 year-old Poodle Club of America.” The specialty show and trials drew 577 dogs and 605 entries across the three varieties, with a further 95 dogs and 112 entries in the concurrent obedience, rally, and 4–6-month puppy events. (Source: official judging program; premium list.)
The week ran on the usual pattern. Tuesday was obedience and rally, a Parade of Rescue Dogs, and a Parade of Companion and Performance Titleholders. Wednesday was the regular dog classes — Miniature 33 dogs, Standard 69, Toy 33 — plus the 4–6-month puppy competition (26 puppies) and juniors, and the Parade of Champions. Thursday was the regular bitch classes — Miniature 52, Standard 93, Toy 63 — plus Veteran Sweepstakes and the annual dinner. Friday closed with veterans and the hunt class, then Best of Variety for each variety and Intervariety, with 42 dogs in the Intervariety competition. FastCAT ran Monday to Wednesday alongside the show, and the national hunt tests were a separate event in the autumn, October 30 to November 2, 2026, at Guns Up in Advance, North Carolina. (Source: official judging program.)
The judges were, as scheduled in the program: Miniature dogs and Miniature Best of Variety, Ms. Tina Yuhl; Miniature bitches, Dr. Donald Sturz, Jr.; Standard dogs and Standard Best of Variety, Dr. Donald Sturz, Jr.; Standard bitches, Mr. Daniel Augustus; Toy dogs and Toy Best of Variety, Mr. Daniel Augustus; Toy bitches, Ms. Patti Jason; and Intervariety, Mr. Scott B. Wolfe. The 4–6-month puppy competition was judged by Mr. Johnnie M. Roe.
Results: the Best of Variety and Intervariety winners from the 2026 specialty had not been published in an official source as of November 2026, and this page will not name winners from social-media posts. Two conflicting accounts circulated online — one crediting a black Standard named Ebony, one crediting a Standard named Tarquin — and they cannot both be right, so neither is repeated here as fact. The winners will be added to this section as soon as the PCA or the AKC publishes them. (Source: official judging program.)
Regional specialties
- Greenspring Poodle Club, Saturday, January 24, 2026, Howard County Fairgrounds, West Friendship, Maryland — 50 entries. (Source: AKC event listing.)
- William Penn Poodle Club, Saturday, May 2, 2026, Mercer County Park, W Windsor Township, New Jersey — judge Mrs. D. K. Ondo; 23 dogs and 30 entries (Toy 7, Miniature 4, Standard 12 entries); Best of Breed went to the Standard, “Unique Up In The Stars.” (Source: AKC event listing.)
- Washington Poodle Club, Friday to Sunday, October 9–11, 2026, West Friendship, Maryland — three shows, judged by Mr. Daniel Augustus, Dr. Valeria Rickard, and Mr. Gregg Kantak. (Source: Canine Chronicle specialty results.)
- Great Lakes Poodle Club of Chicago, Saturday, October 24, 2026, Lennox, Illinois — two specialties, judged by Mrs. Sandy Bingham-Porter and Mr. Tim Catterson. (Source: Canine Chronicle specialty results.)