Kanga
02-12-2007, 01:58 AM
By SANDRA ECKSTEIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/12/07
Dog shows are the beauty pageants of the dog world. And the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, which gets under way today, is the Miss America Pageant of those dog shows.
But the judges at these beauty contests don't care what new tricks the dogs know or what their position is on doggie day care etiquette. What they care about is looks ? and they're looking for a lot more than just 36-24-36.
For instance, the standard for a basset hound is more than a page long. Here's what it says for the head: "The head is large and well proportioned. Its length from occiput to muzzle is greater than the width at the brow. In overall appearance the head is of medium width. The skull is well domed, showing a pronounced occipital protuberance. A broad flat skull is a fault."
And that's just the first 47 words. It goes on for another 288. On just the head. Then the standard describes what judges should look for in the forequarters, the body, the hindquarters, the tail, the size, the gait, the coat, the color and disqualifying traits.
And that's just for bassets. Each of the 165 breeds and varieties approved by the American Kennel Club has its own standards, set by the breed parent club, which can vary from a few paragraphs to several pages.
"The standard is considered the bible for dog judges," said Jean Fournier of Calhoun, who is judging the working group tonight.
Dog shows start by judging the individual breeds. The winner of each breed then moves into one of seven groups ? working, herding, sporting, nonsporting, toy, terrier or hound ? and the seven winners of those groups compete for the grand prize ? best in show.
Most dog judges are qualified to do only a few breeds. It takes years of judging and study to get to a level like Fournier, who is qualified to judge all of the groups except terriers and hounds. It takes even longer to be a best in show judge, like the one at Westminster this year, Dr. Robert Indeglia, a heart surgeon from Narragansett, R.I.
"When you've been a judge as long as I have [35 years], you do a lot more with your eye than your hands," said Indeglia, explaining what a judge looks for.
But all the judges touch the dogs, he said. They check teeth or bite, feel the shoulder structure and chest, the texture of the coat, and, on long-haired dogs where problems can be covered up with well-placed grooming, they'll especially check body structure, Indeglia said. Then there's the hand slipped between the back legs on male dogs. Yes, they have to check.
"Because dog shows are about promoting better breeding stock, all male dogs must have two normally descended testicles," Indeglia said. "It's a disqualification if they don't."
Then they check the dog's movement. That's why they ask the handlers to take the dog "up and back."
"There's a certain way each dog is supposed to move when going away from you and when coming towards you," said Kathleen Steen, an Alpharetta dog woman who has judged at Westminster and the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship among numerous other shows. "And when the dogs are going around the ring, you check their side gait."
Steen said they are checking to see if the dogs could do the job they were originally bred to do, such as herding livestock or hunting birds.
But most of these dogs are more likely to see a blow dryer than a sheep or a quail. And the top winning dogs often have extensive publicity machines and enough frequent flier miles to spend the summer in Europe.
Dog shows at the highest levels have become big-money events, with wealthy backers footing the bill to ship dogs, along with their professional handlers, to shows all over the country. Then there are the photo spreads taken by professional photographers that show up in the leading dog show magazines.
"We're a slick society now, and it's no different in dog shows," Fournier said.
Fournier said professional handlers look for good dogs, then match them up with wealthy backers who, for the cost of footing the show expenses, get to say they "co-own" one of the top dogs in the country.
"It's a very costly thing to show a dog like that," Steen said of the constant travel and other expenses to take dogs to shows almost every weekend. "That's why they need backers. It can easily cost $200,000 [in a year] to campaign a dog."
James Moses of Carrollton, who breeds and shows German shepherds, last year was pushing Geneva, 4, a dog he bred. Janet Lange, who lives outside St. Louis, signed on as a co-owner, and Geneva finished as the No. 1 German shepherd and the number two herding dog in the nation in 2006.
So what did it cost to secure those positions? "Just for the handler, the travel costs and the entry fees was about $30,000 a month," Lange said. "But that doesn't include the advertising costs. Advertising keeps a dog in the judges' minds."
But it's still possible to do well with a dog on less. Eddie Keith and his wife, Lynn Regnery of Wilmington, N.C., own Cruiser, the No. 3 pug in the nation. Cruiser was bred and is handled by Linda Rowell of Dublin.
"We're not wealthy people, we're on a budget, so she's only been shown about half as many weekends as other top dogs," Keith said of the campaign. "We're only spending about $1,000 a month."
Still, it was good enough to get them a spot at the Westminster dog show, a first for the couple.
"We weren't going to go because of the expense, but then my wife gave me the trip for Christmas as a surprise," Keith said. "We're just ecstatic and excited. Now we'll be there to cheer our girl on."
All the judges who have worked at Westminster agree that picking a winner from the cream of the crop is hard. Indeglia said in the end, it really is just one person's choice of which dog he thinks is the best one out there that day. He knows how he'll pick the best in show winner Tuesday night.
"In the end, it's going to be the dog I like the best," Indeglia said. ". . . If they said I could take one of the seven home, it will be the dog that would leave with me."
ON TV
The Westminster dog show will be broadcast on the USA Network from 8 to 11 p.m. Monday and Tuesday.
Words you'll hear at the show
Dog shows, like many hobbies, are their own little worlds with their own vocabularies and terms. The group judgings and best-in-show competition (see below) of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden will be broadcast live today and Tuesday. For uninitiated viewers, here's a glossary of some of the terms you might hear:
Stack: The exaggerated stance or show pose handlers put their dogs in while the judge looks them over. "Free stack" is when a dog assumes this pose on its own.
Handler: The person who takes the dog into the ring. Some people show their own dogs; others use paid, professional handlers.
Bait: Handlers carry treats (like chicken or steak) with them to get and keep the dog's attention. Some keep the bait in their pockets, others in their mouths.
Lead: The thin leash used on show dogs. They don't call them leashes.
Benched dog show: A benched show requires all the dogs entered to stay on assigned bench areas on the grounds for the entire show instead of leaving when they are finished. Very few benched shows remain, but Westminster is one of them.
The Garden: What people in the dog world call the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
Champion: Dogs have to acquire 15 points to become an AKC champion. They can win from one to five points depending on the number of other dogs in their breed showing. Other requirements include getting points from at least three different judges and winning at least two majors (three to five points.) Only dogs that are already champions can compete at Westminster.
All-breed dog show: Westminster is an all-breed show, which means different breeds compete at the same event. Specialty shows are smaller local shows for just one breed. Nationals are specialty shows hosted by each breed's national parent club. Winning one is considered very prestigious.
Ring steward: The judge's assistant in the ring.
Groups: There are 165 different breeds or varieties. (For instance, poodles come in toy, miniature and standard.) Each breed then falls into one of seven groups: sporting, herding, working, toy, terrier, hound and nonsporting. Most groups are self-explanatory, except for nonsporting, which is a catchall for dogs that don't fit into the other breeds.
Best in show: After the best of each group is chosen, those seven compete to see which is the best dog at the show.
Bitch: In the dog world, a male dog is a dog, and a female dog is a bitch. Even elderly women can say it without tittering.
Breed standard: A written description by the breed's national parent club that describes perfection for that breed.
Gait: How a breed is supposed to move. Most dogs are evaluated at a jog.
Topline: The area from the dog's shoulder blades to where its tail starts.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/12/07
Dog shows are the beauty pageants of the dog world. And the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, which gets under way today, is the Miss America Pageant of those dog shows.
But the judges at these beauty contests don't care what new tricks the dogs know or what their position is on doggie day care etiquette. What they care about is looks ? and they're looking for a lot more than just 36-24-36.
For instance, the standard for a basset hound is more than a page long. Here's what it says for the head: "The head is large and well proportioned. Its length from occiput to muzzle is greater than the width at the brow. In overall appearance the head is of medium width. The skull is well domed, showing a pronounced occipital protuberance. A broad flat skull is a fault."
And that's just the first 47 words. It goes on for another 288. On just the head. Then the standard describes what judges should look for in the forequarters, the body, the hindquarters, the tail, the size, the gait, the coat, the color and disqualifying traits.
And that's just for bassets. Each of the 165 breeds and varieties approved by the American Kennel Club has its own standards, set by the breed parent club, which can vary from a few paragraphs to several pages.
"The standard is considered the bible for dog judges," said Jean Fournier of Calhoun, who is judging the working group tonight.
Dog shows start by judging the individual breeds. The winner of each breed then moves into one of seven groups ? working, herding, sporting, nonsporting, toy, terrier or hound ? and the seven winners of those groups compete for the grand prize ? best in show.
Most dog judges are qualified to do only a few breeds. It takes years of judging and study to get to a level like Fournier, who is qualified to judge all of the groups except terriers and hounds. It takes even longer to be a best in show judge, like the one at Westminster this year, Dr. Robert Indeglia, a heart surgeon from Narragansett, R.I.
"When you've been a judge as long as I have [35 years], you do a lot more with your eye than your hands," said Indeglia, explaining what a judge looks for.
But all the judges touch the dogs, he said. They check teeth or bite, feel the shoulder structure and chest, the texture of the coat, and, on long-haired dogs where problems can be covered up with well-placed grooming, they'll especially check body structure, Indeglia said. Then there's the hand slipped between the back legs on male dogs. Yes, they have to check.
"Because dog shows are about promoting better breeding stock, all male dogs must have two normally descended testicles," Indeglia said. "It's a disqualification if they don't."
Then they check the dog's movement. That's why they ask the handlers to take the dog "up and back."
"There's a certain way each dog is supposed to move when going away from you and when coming towards you," said Kathleen Steen, an Alpharetta dog woman who has judged at Westminster and the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship among numerous other shows. "And when the dogs are going around the ring, you check their side gait."
Steen said they are checking to see if the dogs could do the job they were originally bred to do, such as herding livestock or hunting birds.
But most of these dogs are more likely to see a blow dryer than a sheep or a quail. And the top winning dogs often have extensive publicity machines and enough frequent flier miles to spend the summer in Europe.
Dog shows at the highest levels have become big-money events, with wealthy backers footing the bill to ship dogs, along with their professional handlers, to shows all over the country. Then there are the photo spreads taken by professional photographers that show up in the leading dog show magazines.
"We're a slick society now, and it's no different in dog shows," Fournier said.
Fournier said professional handlers look for good dogs, then match them up with wealthy backers who, for the cost of footing the show expenses, get to say they "co-own" one of the top dogs in the country.
"It's a very costly thing to show a dog like that," Steen said of the constant travel and other expenses to take dogs to shows almost every weekend. "That's why they need backers. It can easily cost $200,000 [in a year] to campaign a dog."
James Moses of Carrollton, who breeds and shows German shepherds, last year was pushing Geneva, 4, a dog he bred. Janet Lange, who lives outside St. Louis, signed on as a co-owner, and Geneva finished as the No. 1 German shepherd and the number two herding dog in the nation in 2006.
So what did it cost to secure those positions? "Just for the handler, the travel costs and the entry fees was about $30,000 a month," Lange said. "But that doesn't include the advertising costs. Advertising keeps a dog in the judges' minds."
But it's still possible to do well with a dog on less. Eddie Keith and his wife, Lynn Regnery of Wilmington, N.C., own Cruiser, the No. 3 pug in the nation. Cruiser was bred and is handled by Linda Rowell of Dublin.
"We're not wealthy people, we're on a budget, so she's only been shown about half as many weekends as other top dogs," Keith said of the campaign. "We're only spending about $1,000 a month."
Still, it was good enough to get them a spot at the Westminster dog show, a first for the couple.
"We weren't going to go because of the expense, but then my wife gave me the trip for Christmas as a surprise," Keith said. "We're just ecstatic and excited. Now we'll be there to cheer our girl on."
All the judges who have worked at Westminster agree that picking a winner from the cream of the crop is hard. Indeglia said in the end, it really is just one person's choice of which dog he thinks is the best one out there that day. He knows how he'll pick the best in show winner Tuesday night.
"In the end, it's going to be the dog I like the best," Indeglia said. ". . . If they said I could take one of the seven home, it will be the dog that would leave with me."
ON TV
The Westminster dog show will be broadcast on the USA Network from 8 to 11 p.m. Monday and Tuesday.
Words you'll hear at the show
Dog shows, like many hobbies, are their own little worlds with their own vocabularies and terms. The group judgings and best-in-show competition (see below) of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden will be broadcast live today and Tuesday. For uninitiated viewers, here's a glossary of some of the terms you might hear:
Stack: The exaggerated stance or show pose handlers put their dogs in while the judge looks them over. "Free stack" is when a dog assumes this pose on its own.
Handler: The person who takes the dog into the ring. Some people show their own dogs; others use paid, professional handlers.
Bait: Handlers carry treats (like chicken or steak) with them to get and keep the dog's attention. Some keep the bait in their pockets, others in their mouths.
Lead: The thin leash used on show dogs. They don't call them leashes.
Benched dog show: A benched show requires all the dogs entered to stay on assigned bench areas on the grounds for the entire show instead of leaving when they are finished. Very few benched shows remain, but Westminster is one of them.
The Garden: What people in the dog world call the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
Champion: Dogs have to acquire 15 points to become an AKC champion. They can win from one to five points depending on the number of other dogs in their breed showing. Other requirements include getting points from at least three different judges and winning at least two majors (three to five points.) Only dogs that are already champions can compete at Westminster.
All-breed dog show: Westminster is an all-breed show, which means different breeds compete at the same event. Specialty shows are smaller local shows for just one breed. Nationals are specialty shows hosted by each breed's national parent club. Winning one is considered very prestigious.
Ring steward: The judge's assistant in the ring.
Groups: There are 165 different breeds or varieties. (For instance, poodles come in toy, miniature and standard.) Each breed then falls into one of seven groups: sporting, herding, working, toy, terrier, hound and nonsporting. Most groups are self-explanatory, except for nonsporting, which is a catchall for dogs that don't fit into the other breeds.
Best in show: After the best of each group is chosen, those seven compete to see which is the best dog at the show.
Bitch: In the dog world, a male dog is a dog, and a female dog is a bitch. Even elderly women can say it without tittering.
Breed standard: A written description by the breed's national parent club that describes perfection for that breed.
Gait: How a breed is supposed to move. Most dogs are evaluated at a jog.
Topline: The area from the dog's shoulder blades to where its tail starts.