Current:Home > StocksWestminster dog show is a study in canine contrasts as top prize awaits -AssetBase
Westminster dog show is a study in canine contrasts as top prize awaits
View
Date:2025-04-26 11:36:00
NEW YORK (AP) — If every dog must have its day, one champion canine is about to have its year.
By the end of Tuesday night, one of the more than 2,500 hounds, terriers, spaniels, setters and others that entered this year’s Westminster Kennel Club dog show will be crowned best in show.
Will Comet the shih tzu streak to new heights after winning the big American Kennel Club National Championship last year? Or would a wise bet be Sage the miniature poodle or Mercedes the German shepherd, both guided by handlers who have won the big prize before?
What about Louis, the Afghan hound whose handler and co-owner says he lives up to his breed’s nickname as “the king of dogs”?
And that’s not all: Three more finalists are still to be chosen Tuesday evening before all seven face off in the final round of the United States’ most illustrious dog show.
In an event where all competitors are champions in the sport’s point system, winning can depend on subtleties and a standout turn in the ring.
“You just have to hope that they put it all together” in front of the judge, said handler and co-breeder Robin Novack as her English springer spaniel, Freddie, headed for Tuesday’s semifinals after a first-round win.
Named for the late Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury, the spaniel is currently the second-highest-ranked dog nationwide in The Canine Chronicle magazine’s statistics, and Novack was hopeful about his Westminster chances.
“He’s as good a dog as I can get my hands on, he’s in beautiful condition, and he loves to show,” Novack, of Milan, Illinois, reasoned as a sanguine-seeming Freddie awaited fresh grooming before it was game on again.
Dogs first compete against others of their breed. Then the winner of each breed goes up against others in its “group” — in Freddie’s case, “sporting” dogs, generally bird-hunters bred to work closely with people. The seven group winners meet in the final round.
Besides Freddie, other dogs in Tuesday’s semifinal group competitions include Monty, a giant schnauzer who is the nation’s top-ranked dog and was a Westminster finalist last year, and Stache, a Sealyham terrier. He won the National Dog Show that was televised on Thanksgiving and took top prize at a big terrier show in Pennsylvania last fall.
Monty is “a stallion” of a giant schnauzer, solid, powerful and “very spirited,” handler and co-owner Katie Bernardin of Chaplin, Connecticut, said after he won his breed Tuesday afternoon.
So “spirited” that while Bernardin was pregnant, she did obedience and other dog sports with Monty because he needed the stimulation.
While she loves giant schnauzers, “they’re not an easy breed,” she cautions would-be owners. But she adds that the driven dogs can be great to have “if you can put the time into it.”
A fraction of Monty’s size, Stache the Sealyham terrier showcases a rare breed that’s considered vulnerable to extinction even in its native Britain.
“They’re a little-known treasure,” said Stache’s co-owner, co-breeder and handler, Margery Good, who has bred “Sealys” for half a century. Originally developed in Wales to hunt badgers and other burrowing game, the terriers with a “fall” of hair over their eyes are courageous but comedic — Good dubs them “silly hams.”
“They’re very generous with their affection and their interest in pleasing you, rather than you being the one to please them,” said Good, of Cochranville, Pennsylvania.
Westminster can feel like a study in canine contrasts. Just walking around, a visitor could see a Chihuahua peering out of a carrying bag at a stocky Neapolitan mastiff, a ring full of honey-colored golden retrievers beside a lineup of stark-black giant schnauzers, and handlers with dogs far larger than themselves.
Shane Jichetti was one of them. Ralphie, the 175-pound (34-kg) great Dane she co-owns, outweighs her by a lot. It takes considerable experience to show so big an animal, but “if you have a bond with your dog, and you just go with it, it works out,” she said.
Plus Ralphie, for all his size, is “so chill,” said Jichetti. Playful at home on New York’s Staten Island, he’s spot-on — just like his harlequin-pattern coat — when it’s time to go in the ring.
“He’s just an honest dog,” Jichetti said.
veryGood! (11)
Related
- Moving abroad can be expensive: These 5 countries will 'pay' you to move there
- Pharrell encouraged Miley Cyrus to 'go for it' and shed Hannah Montana image from Disney
- The 15 best movies with Adam Sandler, ranked (including Netflix's new 'Spaceman')
- New York Community Bancorp shares plummet amid CEO exit and loan woes
- Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
- Missouri police charge man with 2 counts first-degree murder after officer, court employee shot
- Caitlin Clark's scoring record doesn't matter. She's bigger than any number
- Is whole wheat bread actually healthier? Here’s what experts say.
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- Fanatics founder Michael Rubin says company unfairly blamed for controversial new MLB uniforms
Ranking
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- Toyota recalls 381,000 Tacoma trucks in the U.S. over potential rear-axle shaft defect
- Who is the most followed person on Instagram? A rundown of the top 10.
- Film director who was shot by Alec Baldwin says it felt like being hit by a baseball bat
- Gen. Mark Milley's security detail and security clearance revoked, Pentagon says
- Trove of ancient skulls and bones found stacked on top of each other during construction project in Mexico
- Rihanna Performs First Full Concert in 8 Years at Billionaire Ambani Family’s Pre-Wedding Event in India
- Man being evicted shoots, kills Missouri police officer and process server, police say
Recommendation
McKinsey to pay $650 million after advising opioid maker on how to 'turbocharge' sales
Researchers found a new species in the waters off of the U.K. — but they didn't realize it at first
Cam Newton apologizes for fight at Georgia youth football camp: 'There's no excuse'
'Bachelor' star Joey Graziade says Gilbert syndrome makes his eyes yellow. What to know
What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
Joey Votto says he's had 10 times more analyst job offers than playing offers
Gaza doctor says gunfire accounted for 80% of the wounds at his hospital from aid convoy bloodshed
Olympian Katie Ledecky is focused on Paris, but could 2028 Games also be in the picture?