Get ready for some dog with today's bird.

NBC will follow the immensely popular Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with a two-hour dog show from Philadelphia, the first time a major broadcast network has aired a regular dog show.

"NBC ... saw what the ratings were and the popularity of dog shows on other channels, like Animal Planet and ESPN and the USA Network," said Steve Griffith, publicist for the newly dubbed The National Dog Show. "But no one has ever tried this on a network before."

NBC gave the Kennel Club of Philadelphia, which has held the benched dog show since 1922, $20,000 for prize money and a prime slot, noon-2 p.m., immediately after the parade. It lined up Purina as a sponsor. Now it remains to be seen whether fluffed pooches are any competition for burly football players.

"I'm sure there are a lot of people across the country who will be happy to have an alternative to football," said David Frei, a spokesman for the American Kennel Club, who will be announcing the show along with host John O'Hurley. Frei said O'Hurley, best known as Elaine's boss on Seinfeld, was chosen as host because he knows little about dogs.

"He will be asking the questions the people at home will be thinking," Frei said.

Several cable networks have had success with dog shows, which helped pique NBC's interest. Animal Planet's broadcast of the AKC/Eukanuba National Invitational Championship last February was viewed by 1.61 million households, spokeswoman Bronagh Hanley said.

"That was the highest ever for an Animal Planet dog show and the fourth highest show ever on the network," Hanley said.

ESPN broadcasts two or three dog shows a year and has broadcast the Philadelphia show several times. The granddaddy of dog shows, the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, held each February in New York City, has been broadcast for 19 years by the USA Network. It averages just under 3 million viewers, with 10 million catching some part.