it's still funny to hear them say "bitches"
the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show rolls over for a second night tonight with the final 3 "Best in Group" winners and the "Best in Show" to be handed out. the wife and i spent an hour or so on Sunday hanging around the Hotel Pennsylvania like a couple of weird dog show groupies, oohing and ahhing around the lobby, making small talk with breeders from Hicksville, USA and just generally waiting to see someone peeing on the floor. a large Husky (or possible a Malamute) jumped on me and scratched my nose and we saw some really sweet Mastiffs, some Great Danes with giant balls (this place was Bob Barker's worst nightmare), a couple of Vizslas that seemed totally ready to get it on and some Spuds McKenzie dogs (Bull Terriers) that made the wife go all goofy.
at any rate, last night's winner were: the Great Pyrenees (Working group); the Norfolk Terrier (Terrier group); the freaking Pekingese (Toy group); and the Tibetan Terrier (Non-Sporting group).
as for tonight, t.s.o.a. is pulling for the Vizsla in the Sporting group, the Coonhound in the Hound group (though you really can't go wrong with much there as far as i'm concerned), and the Australian Shepherd in the Herding group with the hopes that one of them or the Great Pyrenees will win it all.
dog owners and dog lovers looking for other televised entertainment would do well to search out The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan on the National Geographic Channel. the guy is totally amazing: he can turn any unruly dog tame and obedient in a matter of minutes. i've totally been copping some of his techniques to use on our own dog, and the preliminary results have been really good, especially during our walks. for a much geekier pet-related TV experience, watch PetKeeping with Marc Morrone which tends to be on on Saturday or Sunday mornings in the NYC area.
**UPDATE** well, none of my dogs won but i was reasonably happy with the German Short-Haired Pointer that won best in show. also, today's Salon has an article on the Dog Whisperer which will give you an overview of what he's all about (caveat: you'll have to watch an ad to read it).
Comments
i love petkeeping with marc morrone. what a kook! and does the pekingese really deserve to be censured like this? it's not its fault! i love the way they hover and roll at the same time.
Posted by: shr | February 16, 2005 11:23 AM
anne and i went last night. up in the cheapseats, but even the general admission tix let you into the grooming area. it was a blast. the entire place smelled of doggies. saw the old english sheepdog up close (he was robbed!) and a few of the others. i thought the pekingese looks like a giant, hairy tick. anne believed it looked more like those fat, fuzzy caterpillers.
i'm going to put some very bad pix up on my site tonight.
a.
Posted by: Alex R. Johnson | February 16, 2005 05:59 PM
i know it's not the Pekingese's fault, but still when stupid little dogs like that win (note: not talking about chihuahuas) i actually get angry. i don't mind small dogs unless they have some stupid haircut or if they seem like something that some haughty society-type would like (note: still not talking about chihuahuas despite their association with Paris Hilton).
Posted by: jamie | February 16, 2005 07:42 PM
chihuahuas have never won a best in show at westminster and i doubt they ever will. it seems like your B&V is really directed at poodles and really, who does like foofy poodles aside from high-falutin types? i am a big fan of miniatuare poodle mixes. pretty girl the dog is a poohuahua.
Posted by: shr | February 17, 2005 11:34 AM
Dog Show pix are up: doggies!
Posted by: Alex R. Johnson | February 17, 2005 01:55 PM
poodles, bichons, pekingeses, chinese cresteds, yorkies, pomeranians, maltese, shih tzus - pretty much most of the toy group with a few others mixed in. but yeah, those poodle haircuts (on all sizes) are the worst and even worse because they try to pass it off as if it serves some sort of real purpose.
Posted by: jamie | February 18, 2005 10:46 AM
I mentioned the Spuds MacKenzie thing to my 15 year old niece the other night and she had no idea what the hell I was talking about. I suddenly went from the being the cool aunt to the one who sites ancient pop culture references. Boo.
Posted by: the wife | February 18, 2005 05:58 PM