Wednesday, February 04, 2004

There are dog shows every weekend in multiple American cities, towns and suburbs, but the Westminster Kennel Club's 128th annual Dog Show Monday and Tuesday is special in more ways than one.

It's one of the very few dog shows that merits television coverage. The top dogs in the country always compete. Most are paraded around the show ring by the best professional handlers. The cameras often zoom in on movie stars and other celebrities who own some of the top canine contenders.

The fact that this show is held at Madison Square Garden in midtown Manhattan adds glitz and glamour. For the best-in-show competition, judges wear long gowns or tuxedos, depending on the sex of the person who conveys the trophy that makes some lucky dog arguably the top show dog in the world.

The Westminster show is America's second longest continuously held sporting event. It's second only to the Kentucky Derby, the high-profile race for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses.

USA Network will televise the working, terrier, toy and nonsporting groups from 8 to 11 p.m. Monday, with a repeat broadcast at 11 a.m. Tuesday. The 8 to 11 p.m. Tuesday telecast will show the judging of the sporting, hound and herding groups. Winners in each of the groups will then compete for best in show. The "repeat" of that show will be at 11 a.m. next Wednesday.

A total of 2,500 dogs compete at Westminster, and the kennel club has lots of interesting facts in its press releases and on its Web site.

This year, golden retrievers have the biggest entry, with 43 contestants. Other top entries include 39 Cavalier King Charles spaniels, 38 Australian shepherds, 37 pugs, 36 Chinese Cresteds, 36 Havanese, 35 Rhodesian ridgebacks, 35 Rottweilers, 34 Labrador retrievers and 37 poodles in the three varieties -- toy, miniature and standard.

Dachshunds, another breed that comes in three varieties, have a total of 79, but in the sometimes-complicated world of dog shows, the short-legged, long-bodied dogs do not count as one breed. There are 33 wirehaired dachshunds entered, 26 smooth and 20 long-haired.

The American Kennel Club recognizes 162 breeds and varieties, and they'll all be represented in this show. Have you ever seen a Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever? Have you ever even heard of this breed? Sixteen are entered in the show. These retrievers are one of the three newly recognized AKC breeds. The other two are German pinschers and toy fox terriers.

A total of 181 Pennsylvania dogs are competing, ranking our state third in the largest number of Westminster entries. California has the biggest field with 252, New York is second with 246 and New Jersey is fourth with 178. Canada is sending 62 dogs and Puerto Rico is sending four.

Most of us never know who the top show dogs are, except for the Best In Show winner at Westminster. That dog gets at least 15 minutes of fame, with his or her picture run in many newspapers, including, sometimes, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Last year, the best in show title went to a Kerry blue terrier. The winners in preceding years were miniature poodle, bichon frise, English springer spaniel, papillon, Norwich terrier, standard schnauzer, clumber spaniel and Scottish terrier in 1995.

The first show was held in 1877, but best in show records go back only to 1907, when a smooth fox terrier named Champion Warren Remedy won. The same dog captured top honors in 1908 and 1909, a feat that has never been repeated.

There are many other facts about this show on the Web site, www.westminsterkennelclub.org, including judging schedules for all of the breeds.

If you attend only one dog show in person, around here, that would probably be the annual Western Pennsylvania Kennel Association Inc. show held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown.

This year, the show will be held March 27 and 28. The WPKA will put on conformation judging as well as obedience competition.

The Golden Triangle Obedience Training Club will run the agility competition. This crowd-pleasing event features dogs of all breeds, shapes and sizes leaping through hoops, running through tunnels and on a narrow "dogwalk" high above the ground.

Linda Wilson Fuoco can be reached at lfuoco@post-gazette.com or 412-851-1512.

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