Crufts 2025 guide for whippets and sighthounds

Crufts 2025 is nearly upon us, and for those attending the event at the NEC in Birmingham with an interest in sighthounds, the following guide provides essential information.

Hound Day judging will take place on Thursday, 6th March this year and is the day to visit if you are a lover of elongated noses and sleek, slender sighthound bodies and want to watch breed judging. On the other three days visitors can still see all breeds at the breed stands within the Discover Dogs section, located in Hall 1, where representatives from each breed recognised by the Kennel Club will be available.

On Thursday March 6th judging will commence at 9:00 AM for most breeds, but breeds with numerically large entries, such as Whippets, will begin earlier at 8:00 AM and will be judged in two rings. Breeds with fewer dogs entered (Borzois and Sloughis, for example) will begin their judging at 10:00 AM.

For convenience, all hound breeds are scheduled in two adjacent halls. Whippets, Pharaoh Hounds and Irish Wolfhounds are in Hall 4, while Afghan Hounds, Salukis, Deerhounds, Borzois, Ibizan Hounds, Sloughis, Greyhounds and Cirneci are in Hall 5. 

Italian Greyhounds, which are classified in the Toy Group in the UK, will be shown on Toy Day, Friday, 7th March.

For those who prefer to watch from home, Channel 4 and the official Crufts YouTube channel will provide extensive coverage of the event across all four days.