I Went to the National Dog Show, and This Is What I Saw Backstage

Judging takes a really, really long time. There is preliminary judging to select the best of each breed, then those dogs are put into their groups to select the best of the group, and then the winners from each of the seven groups are brought together to pick best in show. Judging for just the groups and best in show took about six hours, give or take. The magic of television means the rest of you only have to watch for two hours.