Questions, answered plainly

No. ShowKeeper runs in Chrome or Edge on laptops, tablets and Chromebooks. If you like, the browser can also install it like an app, with its own icon.

Both. When you start, you choose Dog Show or Cat Show. Dog shows use AKC or UKC entry rules, and cat shows CFA or TICA.

Yes, from a CSV file with a header row. ShowKeeper reads common column names such as Call Name, Breed, Class and Owner, and skips any column it doesn’t recognise.

For dog shows, yes: share an online entry link. Exhibitors fill it in on any phone or computer, with no account and no app to install.

No. It runs with no internet on the show laptop or tablet, and every change saves on that device as you make it. The internet is used for signing in and buying a pass.

Yes. The judge’s book has an Outdoor Mode: black on white, with large armband numbers. It’s one button in the book. It isn’t remembered, so switch it on each time you open the book.

On screen. The judge marks placements, absent and excused in the book, then signs it, and the class results are stamped with a SHA‑256 fingerprint.

Your show lives on the laptop it runs on, and every change is saved there as you make it. Settings, Backup saves the whole show to one file: entries, results, absences, verification, signatures and the log. Save one at each break and keep a copy off the laptop. If the laptop dies, restore the file on another one and carry on.

It’s free to try: set up a show, import a roster and see the dashboard. When you need the Entry Portal and the Judge’s Book, a Weekend Pass is $59.99, one payment for one show, and lasts until the show ends. Nothing renews, and ShowKeeper takes no share of your entry fees.

No. ShowKeeper takes no share of your entry fees. It doesn’t handle card payments either: any card fees are between your club and whoever takes the payment.

In the app, for the show you have open: sign in, then Settings, Cloud. The show needs its date set first, in Settings, Show Info. Payment is handled by Stripe, and ShowKeeper never sees your card number.

Until your show ends, at midnight after its last day. You buy it for the show you have open, any day before the show, so you can take entries for weeks beforehand. For a show over more than one day, set the last day in Settings, Show Info before you buy.

No. The Weekend Pass is one payment of $59.99. Nothing renews and nothing is charged again.

The Entry Portal and the Judge’s Book lock again. Your show’s entries stay on your computer, where they always were.

A Weekend Pass ends on its own when your show ends, so there is nothing to cancel. Refund requests can be sent to [email protected] and are handled case by case.

On your device. The internet is used for signing in and buying a pass.

They stay on your laptop. After the show, one control in Settings wipes exhibitor names, emails and phone numbers from the laptop.

The web version of the app may use Google Analytics for Firebase to see which screens and features are used. This website doesn’t use analytics and sets no cookies of its own. The privacy policy has the details.

AKC, UKC, CFA and TICA. ShowKeeper checks each entry’s age and class against that registry’s rules as you key it in. It’s software for your club, working alongside the registries’ own systems: it isn’t a licensed superintendent service, and it doesn’t send results to the registry for you.

Age against class, worked out on the show date; AKC Bred-by-Exhibitor owners against the breeder of record; registration numbers for CFA and TICA titling classes; and CFA provisional breeds. For UKC Breeder/Handler, it reminds you the dog must be handled by a breeder of record or their family.

Not yet. ShowKeeper doesn’t work out championship points or majors yet: its point schedules aren’t finished, so use your registry’s own figures.

It fits matches and fun matches, specialties, independent shows, UKC clubs and small cat clubs. It isn’t built to run a licensed all-breed AKC show.