Gone to the Dogs

For the occasion of my 30th birthday, my mom conspired with Matt to zip me off to New York for 5 days in February, to attend the 134th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. My hubby graciously agreed to be a single parent for a few days while I hung with the big dogs at Madison Square Garden.

We arrived on a Saturday and, since the show didn't start until Monday, we took off about the city. It was about 1:30 when we arrived at our hotel so our first stop was the cafe in the lobby. Never has a $21 Reuben tasted better. And yes, that $5 Diet Coke was just the thing to wash it down. We wandered around the neighborhood for the rest of Saturday afternoon and spent the better portion of Sunday cruising around SoHo. It was fun at the time but even flat shoes are no match for 6 hours of city walking. We also spent a few hours hanging in the hotel lobby, checking out our fellow travelers. The Hotel Pennsylvania is directly across the street from the Garden, so most of the entrants to the Show stay there as well. We made some new friends.

Cannonball, the Basset Hound. According to his owner/handler, his friends call him "Mr. Balls".


Anchor, the Mastiff (that's 225 pounds of lap dog right there)


Anchor's dad - whose name currently escapes me - who clearly was underwhelmed by the crowds


A Neapolitan Mastiff. This is an ancient breed and looks like he just belongs on the set of "Rome"

The show started on Monday and went from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m. Monday was the non sporting, hound, toy, and herding groups, and Tuesday featured the sporting, terrier, and working groups. Each breed belongs to one of these seven groups, so throughout the day each breed was shown individually in one of six rings set up on the floor of the Garden. The winner of each breed would continue that night to the best in group (this is the part that is televised), and each best in group winner continues on to compete for best in show.

So during the course of the two days, over 2,500 dogs were shown. In order to qualify for Westminster, every dog must be a champion, meaning they have earned a specific number of points by winning other shows throughout the country. We're talking hard core fanatics here. During the day sessions, each was assigned a specific time in a specific ring, with every breed lasting between 10-45 minutes, depending on how many entrants there were. But Westminster does a thing called 'benching' which means that the dogs and handlers have to be in the backstage area from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day. This is really cool for the spectators because we get to go back there and check out the dogs up close and personal, but it obviously makes for really long days for the dogs and handlers.

The benching area


I feel confident saying that this woman spends more time on her dog's hair than, say, her own

I was impressed the entire time with the way that the dogs handled all of the commotion, people, and short bursts of show time interrupted by long stretches of doing nothing. Most of the handlers were also very friendly, but some were also crazy. You know how sometimes you see a handler hold a treat with their teeth to free up their hands? Ok, that's gross enough, but we saw a handler who was full on chewing on this beefy bit, like it was a Blow Pop or something. NASTY. Or the holier-than-thou handlers who would just ignore you if you asked a question about their dog or breed. Mostly, though, they were lovely and we enjoyed the days full of watching our favorite breeds show their stuff. I am happy to say that there was more than one occasion where, on their initial warm up jog around the ring, I picked out the breed winners. Yeah, I consider that an accomplishment.

William, who did not win his breed, but who was a charmer


Checking out the breeds


We were free to choose any seat in the Garden, or walk around on the floor during the daytime breed showings. I was shocked at how packed the entire event was.

We returned to the Garden each night for the televised best in group events. There were some I loved and some I thought were absolutely robbed. Robbed I tell you! It was fun to see the handlers keep their dogs occupied during the commercial breaks. The Greyhound in particular was especially entertaining, jumping about six feet in the air and attacking a stuffed rabbit toy. Nice to see that they are normal dogs as well as stewards of their breed standards.

There was one dog in particular who was 'rumored' to be the favorite. She came in second in show last year and was, apparently, out for redemption. Here she is, during the breed competition:

Champion Roundtown Mercedes of Maryscot aka Sadie

That night, we returned for the best in group, followed by best in show.

The best in breeds, ready for their big moment


The judge has made his decision...who will take home the prize?


Sadie wins - redemption at last!

We flew home early on Wednesday and I was home and doing laundry by lunchtime. I went to pick up Genevieve from daycare and was HORRIFIED to see that she had grown at least 6 inches and learned about 94 new words in the time I had been gone. My mom predicted that at first she would laugh and be happy to see me, but then she would remember that I had been gone and start to cry. This is exactly what happened, so we had to hang out at daycare for a bit longer than usual to pull ourselves together. She 'told' me all about her time hanging out with daddy and grandma Kathy and how much fun she had. I had a great time too, but was definitely ready to be back home with the tiny tot. I told her that one day mommy will take her to New York, to which she replied, "Ok". Clever girl.