136th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show Is In The Books!

Mom and Grandma finished watching the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show last night. The first group up on the second night of group judging was the Sporting Group. These dogs are the hunters' friends, the gun dogs. The emblem of the WKC is a Pointer, like Josh from Colorado. The group also contains the ever-popular Labrador Retriever and Golden Retriever. There is another breed that is a favorite of Mom's, the Clumber Spaniel. She says that if Grandpa was a dog he'd be the Clumber Spaniel! Mom's pick to win the group was Max the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever and Grandma went with the Spinone Italiano, Atticus. The winner was the Irish Setter, Emily. She had 15 puppies last May and still had a killer figure! MOL!

The next group was the Working Group. This group includes the Portuguese Water Dog, which is what Bo Obama is. The Tibetan Mastiff in the group, Major, served in his owners' wedding party earlier in the day-he gave away the bride! Imagine that, a wedding on Valentine's Day at Westminster. How fun! Mom chose the Doberman Pinscher, Fifi. She has her own Facebook page, The Fifinator. Grandma chose the Great Pyrenees, Raleigh who actually works as a livestock guardian for free-range chickens. Guess what? Mom finally picked a winner! Fifi went to the Best In Show judging!

The last group of the night was the Terrier Group. A new breed was part of this group this year: the Cesky Terrier represented by 7-year-old Brubeck. It also includes the Scottish Terrier that they described as "openly feels superior to its owner." I wonder if they're part cat! Mom almost picked the Colored Bull Terrier to win, but decided to go with the Staffordshire Bull Terrier Daphne. Mom thought she had a great smile and liked the fact that Daphne loved to spend her time playing fetch with a special needs child. Grandma picked the Airedale Terrier, Dane. The winner was the Kerry Blue Terrier, Chelsey.

Best In Show judging is always exciting. Competing for the ribbon was the Wirehaired Dachshund, Pekingese, Dalmatian, German Shepherd Dog, Irish Setter, Doberman Pinscher and Kerry Blue Terrier. Mom was rooting for Fifi, the Dobie and Grandma thought Emily the Irish Setter was going to win. The winner turned out to be Malachy the Pekingese. Mom was shocked! She really thought Fifi had it in the bag.

Next year's Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show will be held February 11 & 12, 2013. I'll be watching, will you?

Mom Has Gone to the Dogs

What I'm about to say is shocking, especially to my kitty readers. My mom is a *whispers* dog person! I know, I know. How can that be? She doesn't even own a dog! She volunteers with cats, has owned more cats in her life than dogs and is the best cat-mom a kitty could ask for. Still, she loves dogs. So this time of year is like a holiday to her-it's Westminster time.


Yesterday was day one of the 136th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Mom and Grandma have made a tradition of watching it together every year and when Mom moved away, that didn't change. She travels to Wichita to stay with Grandma for a few days and watch the dog show. It's their special "bonding time" I guess. *rolls eyes* They eat out, go shopping and then in the evenings they settle in for the doggie festivities. They have a great time oohing and ahhing over the dogs, then they each pick their favorite one to win.


Mom's favorite group is the hounds. Her heart dog was a sighthound, a borzoi named Oscar. Before that, she had another sighthound, a whippet named Crystal when she was growing up. She just has a thing for those skinny dogs.


This year there was a new breed in the hound group, the American English Coonhound. They said the breed is supposed to be kind and have a "houndy" expression. The lucky American English Coonhound to represent his breed in the group judging was named Gin. The whippet in the group was Chanel, who Mom recognized. She actually won the hound group two years ago. She was also gaga over the Ibizan Hound and the Petit Basset Griffon Vandeen or PBGV. She learned that there are less than 1000 Otterhounds in the world, which made her sad. She hates to think that any breed would become extinct. Her favorite to win, and Grandma's too, was the Borzoi. His name was Aiden and he gets to go to McDonald's after every show for a plain McDouble. Unfortunately, he didn't win, didn't even get in the top four. The winner of the hound group was the Wirehaired Dachshund named Cinders. The PBGV came in second and Chanel the whippet came in third.


Next was the Toy Group. This is probably Mom's least favorite group, but she still thinks the dogs are cute. She thought Andy the Silky Terrier was cool because he had attitude. They said he was into home remodeling-he chewed a pipe once and caused a flood! MOL! Mom's pick in this group was the Chinese Crested and Grandma's was the Italian Greyhound. Again, they were both wrong. The Pekingese, Malachy, won, but that bad boy Andy came in fourth!


The third group to show on the first night was the non-sporting group. This group had two new breeds this year. First was the Norwegian Lundehund. Mom fell in love with this breed. They have very flexible skeletons and six toes on each foot. This is because they used to hunt puffins and would climb rocks to get to them. The other new breed was the Xoloitzcuintli or Xolo for short. They are a hairless breed, which Mom really loves. The Xolo in the group was named Armani and was Mom's pick to win. Grandma's pick was the Tibetan Spaniel named Jackson, after Allen Jackson because he loves to sing. Mom was also kind of pulling for the Keeshond named Journey because she was from our city, Shawnee, KS! Again, they couldn't pick the winner. The Dalmatian named Ian won. A Dalmatian has never gone Best in Show, maybe this year it will happen!


The last group for the night was the herding group. My grandpa's dog, Yaz, belongs in this group. He's a Corgi mix. There are two Corgi breeds, the Cardigan Welsh Corgi, which is the one with the tail and the Pembroke Welsh Corgi who doesn't have a tail. This group also saw a couple of new breeds. The Entelbucher Mountain Dog is a Swiss breed and the Finnish Lapphund. Mom and Grandma both picked the Cardigan Welsh Corgi, Pilot to win, but they were wrong again. The German Shepherd Dog, Cappy won the herding group.


Tonight the last three groups will be judged: the sporting group, the working group and the terrier group. After that, Best in Show will be picked and that dog will become a star, just like Hickory the Scottish Deerhound did last year! (Mom whooped and hollered so loud when she won I could hear her all the way up here in KC!)