NEW YORK—Masses of enthusiastic dog lovers lined up to display their prized dogs on Tuesday at the 134th annual Westminster Kennel Club competition at Madison Square Garden. The club is the oldest organization dedicated to the sport of purebred dogs and the annual dog show has been sold out for the past five consecutive years.
Brianna Bischoff, who has been training dogs for 14 years says that she spends anywhere from one and a half to two hours to get the dogs ready for the show, including bathing, trimming, and blow drying. “I love the garden, it’s a really exciting place, no other dog show in the entire country like it,” said Bischoff who showed her golden retriever at the dog show. She says she looks forward to the competition every year. “It’s very intense, exciting, it can be sad, happy, so many emotions, absolutely love it,” she said.
The competition showcased over 2,500 dogs of 173 breeds. Each breed was judged according to criteria set by the standard written description of the “ideal specimen of that breed” according to the official Westminster competition web site. There’s a lot of work that goes into grooming the dogs. Sara McAtee, has been training her field spaniel for over four years and said it took her three hours to get her dog ready for the show.
Competitors came from all over the country. Jessica Mann, the co-owner of a pointer came from Phoenix, Arizona, and found the atmosphere “over crowded.”
For Terry Thurrott, it was the first time for her and her English mastiff attending the show. She found it crazy, but “good crazy.” Thurrott was worried about her dog’s sore shoulder and how it might affect the dog’s performance in the show but hoped for the best.
The winner of the Third Preliminary, Katelyn Scott brought her Australian shepherd named China all the way from Utah. It was Katelyn’s third time attending the show. “I just had my fingers crossed. I did what I could, she did too” said Katelyn while grinning at her dog.
Brianna Bischoff, who has been training dogs for 14 years says that she spends anywhere from one and a half to two hours to get the dogs ready for the show, including bathing, trimming, and blow drying. “I love the garden, it’s a really exciting place, no other dog show in the entire country like it,” said Bischoff who showed her golden retriever at the dog show. She says she looks forward to the competition every year. “It’s very intense, exciting, it can be sad, happy, so many emotions, absolutely love it,” she said.
The competition showcased over 2,500 dogs of 173 breeds. Each breed was judged according to criteria set by the standard written description of the “ideal specimen of that breed” according to the official Westminster competition web site. There’s a lot of work that goes into grooming the dogs. Sara McAtee, has been training her field spaniel for over four years and said it took her three hours to get her dog ready for the show.
Competitors came from all over the country. Jessica Mann, the co-owner of a pointer came from Phoenix, Arizona, and found the atmosphere “over crowded.”
For Terry Thurrott, it was the first time for her and her English mastiff attending the show. She found it crazy, but “good crazy.” Thurrott was worried about her dog’s sore shoulder and how it might affect the dog’s performance in the show but hoped for the best.
The winner of the Third Preliminary, Katelyn Scott brought her Australian shepherd named China all the way from Utah. It was Katelyn’s third time attending the show. “I just had my fingers crossed. I did what I could, she did too” said Katelyn while grinning at her dog.
