After you watch the Macy’s parade, stay tuned to NBC for the Kennel Club of Philadelphia’s dog show. The event was actually held November 12 – 15, with unbenched shows on Thursday and Friday, followed by benched shows over the weekend. (For the uninitiated, a bench show is one where the dogs stick around throughout the day so attendees, exhibitors, and breeders can stop by to meet them. An unbenched show is one in which the dogs are allowed to leave the competition when they are done being shown.)
Over 2,000 dogs from across the country competed at the show, which was hosted by John O’Hurley of Dancing with the Stars fame (who is a dog person) and by Devid Frei, known as the dean of dog show commentators – you’ll recognize his voice when you hear him.
Results are already available online, but I don’t want to spoil the show, so I’ll just say this: the same amazing dog won ALL FOUR shows! I will post the full results on Friday.
Since I’ve been home recovering from surgery for the past few days, I’ve gotten to watch NBC’s Today Show for more than the first five minutes or so. They are running a series on the hosts trying out new things. For example, today, they took art lessons and “learned” how to paint a nude! Monday and Tuesday, the feature was the hosts showing dogs at Westminster. If you’re not a handler, you may have never imagined how hard it is to run a dog around the ring! I had always thought that conformance showing was pretty easy, especially compared to something like agility training, where the handler has to be nearly as agile as the dog. I was pretty surprised to learn that there is a definite technique to handling a show dog, too.
Anyways, you can see the clip here. Monday’s show (the 2nd clip on the list) is about the preparations they had to go through, while Tuesday’s show (the one that pops up when you open the link) shows the actual competition, which is pretty funny, in and of itself!
After a full day of judging to find the best of each breed, the competition for best in group was held in NYC last night. Remember, the best in group doesn’t say that one breed is a better representative of the group than another, but it says that the dog that wins is the best example of his breed. Monday night featured judging in the hound, terrier, non-sporting, and herding groups.
Thanks to Carrie for sending me an absolutely hysterical picture of a dog being groomed for the show tonight. Unfortunately, it’s copyrighted, so I can’t add it to this post, but you can see the whole slideshow here. (The one I liked best was #11.)
I’ll have results from the first night’s competition posted early Tuesday morning.
After you watch the Macy’s parade, stay tuned to NBC for the Kennel Club of Philadelphia’s dog show. The event was actually held November 12 – 15, with unbenched shows on Thursday and Friday, followed by benched shows over the weekend. (For the uninitiated, a bench show is one where the dogs stick around throughout the day so attendees, exhibitors, and breeders can stop by to meet them. An unbenched show is one in which the dogs are allowed to leave the competition when they are done being shown.)