BENGTSON, BO

Professional Profile: Bo Bengtson

In memoriam — Bo Bengtson passed away on 6 November 2024 at the age of 80, as reported by Dog News. The FCI Groups and Shows credentials shown above reflect the authorization record he held at the time.

Judging Credentials

Bo Bengtson, born 22 June 1944, was a Best in Show judge under the Svenska Kennelklubben, first licensed on 20 September 1976 and authorized across FCI Groups 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10. He was one of the few judges to have officiated the breed at both Crufts and the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, and was fluent in English, French, German and Spanish.

Breeding — Kennel "Bohem"

A graduate of the University of Stockholm (English and Drama, 1968), Bengtson bred Whippets under the prefix "Bohem" for more than 60 years, first in Sweden and from the early 1980s in Ojai, California, breeding around 45 litters and owning, co-owning or breeding some 150 champions. In 1975 he bred the Greyhound bitch Ch. Piruett, Sweden's Dog of the Year, in partnership with fellow FCI judge Göran Bodegård. He founded the Swedish Whippet Club and served as its first chairman, and later received the American Whippet Club's Certificate of Achievement (1997) and Lifetime Achievement Award.

Roles & Publications

Bengtson edited the Swedish dog newspaper Hunden from around 1978 and was widely regarded as a leading international authority on show dogs, authoring the reference book "The Whippet," published in multiple editions.