Years of work can go into preparing dogs, with most dogs trained for showing since puppyhood, she said. In the lead up to the show there were hours, if not days spent preparing - especially for longer-coated breeds.
"Its a big undertaking, you can't just get up in the morning and think, "oh I'll go to that show today'."
Overseeing the championship shows will be seven judges - including international judges from Portugal and Japan.
There are seven dog categories: toys, terriers, gun dogs, hounds, working, utility, and non-sporting.
First, dogs compete within their own breed. Then the winning dogs of each breed compete, to be judged the best in that category. Seven dogs - the winners of each category - then compete for best in show.
Each dog is judged by how well they meet the standard for their breed -with criteria ranging from their appearance to the way they move.
"The standard describes what the perfect dog should be, depending on what it's bred for. Your gun dogs need to be able to move out, while some of the toys are bred to be companion dogs so they might not have to run all day."
With free entry to the show, Ms Kerr encouraged anyone interested in dogs to stop by.
"It's an opportunity to see some of the best dogs in New Zealand, and to see them perform.
"It's a lovely chance to see all the breeds and for anyone that's remotely interested in buying a puppy, or knowing more about a particular breed you'll find lots of people passionate about that breed."
Shows begin at 8am at the Hastings racecourse. Saturday: Central Rottweiler Club championship show, Wairoa Kennel Association championship show. Sunday: The Rottweiler Club, Napier Kennel Centre championship show.
