Featured Show
National Dog Show presented by Purina
November 14–15, 2026 — Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, Oaks, Pennsylvania.
Key facts
Dates
Saturday, November 14 – Sunday, November 15, 2026. The Saturday show is taped for the NBC Thanksgiving special.
Venue
Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, 100 Station Ave, Oaks, PA 19456.
Host club
The Kennel Club of Philadelphia. AKC-licensed event.
TV broadcast
NBC Thanksgiving Day special; expected Thursday, November 26, 2026, noon–2 p.m. ET/PT. Pending
Superintendent
MB-F Shows, (336) 379-9352. Judging program posts by November 9.
Entries
Entries not yet open. 2026 entry dates, closing date, and limits have not been published. Pending
The weekend
Four days of All-Breed shows at the same venue — the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA:
| Day | Show |
|---|---|
| Thursday, Nov 12 | Penn Treaty Kennel Club |
| Friday, Nov 13 | Greater Philadelphia Dog Fanciers’ Association |
| Saturday, Nov 14 | National Dog Show presented by Purina (taped for the NBC special) |
| Sunday, Nov 15 | The Kennel Club of Philadelphia Dog Show |
How to enter
The superintendent is MB-F Shows — (336) 379-9352 — with entries handled through InfoDog. 2026 entries are not yet open: no 2026 entry dates, closing date, or limits have been published. Pending
The judging program posts by November 9, per the official site.
Watch on TV
The National Dog Show is an NBC Thanksgiving Day tradition, airing after the Macy’s Parade.
2025 aired Thursday, November 27, 2025, noon–2 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, simulcast on Peacock.
2026 broadcast — expected, awaiting confirmation
NBC has not yet announced its 2026 holiday schedule. Expected pattern: Thursday, November 26, 2026, noon–2 p.m. ET/PT. Pending
A Thanksgiving tradition
The National Dog Show is older than its television slot: it began in 1879 as the Kennel Club of Philadelphia Dog Show and has been held annually since 1933.
The Thanksgiving broadcast began in 2002. NBC Sports programming chief Jon Miller had watched Christopher Guest’s 2000 mockumentary Best in Show, persuaded Purina to sponsor the event, and convinced the Philadelphia club to rename it the “National Dog Show” for the air. The one-year experiment — filling the window between the Macy’s Parade and afternoon football, where NBC had been running It’s a Wonderful Life reruns — drew ratings high enough to make it a permanent holiday fixture. Seinfeld actor John O’Hurley and presenter David Frei have hosted the telecast since the run began.
Sources
- The National Dog Show — official site (show dates, venue, superintendent, judging program)
- NBC Insider: 2025 National Dog Show — how to watch and stream — 2025 broadcast details
- Kennel Club of Philadelphia press release via the Dog Writers Association of America
- NPR: The National Dog Show explained — how a dog contest became a Thanksgiving tradition (Nov 27, 2024) — 1879 origins, annual since 1933, the 2002 NBC launch, hosts O’Hurley and Frei
Reference: 2025 AKC event numbers 2025037501/2025037502.