12 February 2008

live blogging Westminster, part 2

8:07pm Kids are in bed and dinner for the grownups is in the oven. Here we go again, and here come the real Sporting, dogs.

8:08pm They all look mah-velous so far. I have a few friends in the ring, both canine and human, so this will be a really tough one to call. Lots of bitches too. Go girls!

8:10pm Nice move on the part of the judge to congratulate the handlers on their win. You will probably hear him say it to each handler. Brittany used his ears very nicely on his free stack.

8:11pm Pretty pointer bitch. I have heard about Holly but not seen her before. Great head on her.

8:16pm Listen to those breed descriptions! A few years back David Frei contacted the AKC parent clubs to get updated language for these blurbs. What Mike Lafave says about the Clumber was written by my friend JT and me.

8:17pm Love that golden bitch. Not the way overdone coat that is sometimes seen. She's gorgeous.

8:21pm Elliot looks like he spent some time in the tanning booth. I don't think it's the lighting. The setters are all so pretty. A great example of a type of dog I love to look at but probably couldn't live with.

8:24pm Take a good look at that American Water Spaniel bitch. She's a good one, and it's a breed you don't see very often.

8:25pm Carleton the Clumber will be first up in the second half of the group. His handler also won English Cockers with Copper, who seems to have come out of retirement. Not sure who is showing him.

8:28pm Carleton looked great. He's a young dog with a bright future ahead of him. His first time out as a special he was Best in Show.

8:30pm The ASCOB cocker is a strong contender to win the group. As much as I don't like the American cockers, this is a really nice one. All that hair would not serve him well in the field, however.

8:32pm I thought Copper was retired already.... He's still beautiful and would certainly get a long look from me if I were judging. Which I am not.

8:35pm Someday I'll try to understand field spaniels. They seem like a dog put together by committee to me.

8:37pm Love the Welshie bitch. I have seen her before and she gets better as she matures.

8:39pm Not the viszla I was expecting to see. That's the first surprise for me. I'll have to go back and look at the breed judging video.

8:40pm No surprises with the Weimaraner bitch. She's done a ton of winning in the last year.

8:42pm Weim? English Springer? I dunno. Not gonna make a pick for this group tonight. I'll just sit back and be surprised. And raise my glass to Chet Collier.

8:45pm Expected at least one setter to make the cut but none of them showed as well as they could have. I think he likes the engie.

8:48pm Weimaraner, pointer, ascob, and engie. Can't argue any of those choices. Bitches at the head of the line. Nicely done, Mr Weiss.

8:54pm The next two groups could not be more different. Toys and Working. I don't like toys much, as you probably could have guessed. Blogging will be light.

9:05pm There are few toy dogs I could live with. I might break it. Cavaliers are cute though. When I am old and infirm....

9:09pm The b&pc english toy spaniel is owned by some gentlemen from Pittsburgh, one of whom is the son of Steeler's defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau.

9:11pm Okay, I'm bored. Wake me when the toys are over.

9:22pm Once again, the poodle is a safe choice.

9:30pm Almost done with the toys. Mercifully.

9:31pm Based on who made the cut, it's gotta be the poodle.

9:33pm No surprises. There will be two white poodles competing for BIS. I liked the pug too. Nice to see him in the ribbons.

9:47pm At last, some more big dogs with jobs!

9:48pm Oh dear...haven't seen Connie Barton in a good long time. Handlers will be well-advised to listen to Mrs Barton's instructions carefully. 

9:50pm I'll go out on a limb and say the Akita is going to repeat.

9:55pm Berners are way too much fun. My neighbors have one that I would really like to meet. Love the boxer too.

9:59pm Damn, that's a pretty doberman. It's not a breed I really like but for that one, I could get over it.

10:02pm Great Dane looks a little sad.

10:04pm I love the great pyrenees, and the description that they should look like an "animated snowdrift". 

10:07pm Swissies are probably lovely dogs but I saw one once in 1999 that made me want to cover up its genitalia with a diaper. I think I may have been scarred for life. 

10:12pm I've been eager to see the Newfoundland since I saw the breed results. They just said he's 5 1/2 but the catalog says he's almost 7. That's nearly ancient for a dog of this size. He looks great.

10:18pm Pretty Samoyed. She could get a piece of the group.

10:19pm Hey, it's Tommy O and the siberian!!! Another Pittsburgher! Well done!

10:23pm I'm sticking with the Akita as my pick to win the group.

10:27pm Akita, Dobe, some other big dogs. I'm tired. Probably should have skipped the second glass of champagne. On to BIS!

10:32pm My picks are the sealy and the akita, though that could change after I see them show. A dog can have a bad day, or a spectacular day. At least the Pedigree ads will be over.

10:39pm I hope none of the dogs is spooked by the lights when they are introduced. There's no way to practice that.

10:43pm I don't think I have ever seen this many bitches competing for BIS at the garden. Five bitches and two males! Wow.

10:45pm This judge talks to the dogs. I like that. My show dogs have always responded well to judges who cootchie-coo at them. I wish they could show a split screen with that standard poodle and the one from the movie Best in Show. The difference would be abundantly obvious.

10:46pm Marge is ON!

10:48pm The aussie is in great coat for having puppies a few months ago. I never would have guessed that.

10:49pm Crowd loves the beagle, understandably. He's adorable.

10:50pm I still love the sealy. I'm sticking with him but I'm not entirely confident this judge feels similarly.

10:53pm This part is excruciating, and really really fun.

10:56pm It's the beagle!!!! I'm more than a little surprised. I didn't think he showed as well as last night. But that's dog shows....you never know!

10:59pm And that's Eleanor crying. Great timing, little girl. She didn't make a sound during the entire show.

5 comments:

Suzy said...

Was that a newfy or an ice cream truck? The handler looked like he was a good humor man.

Unknown said...

woof out to my fav Pittsburgh clumber person. Thanks for the report, the WKC video they put up was wonderful to show the quality of our favorite dog! Sounds like it was fun.... you ever get an explanation from your neighbor on the stuff that I write about? He sounds like a quality kind of guy, by all reports!

By the way, my dog, long since gone, was a son of Bear, who won the breed back in 87 or 88 or thereabouts... still miss him like crazy!

ClumberKim said...

I never asked my neighbor. He's a busy guy.

If you look at the clumber breed info on the Westminster site you will see Bear. I chose the photo. Bear's handler, Charlotte, is a good friend.

Unknown said...

Thanks! Bear was just such a big hunk!

cmr said...

think the beagle was awesome !

proud owner of an ess who is ten now and a descendant of the Salilyn Condor line !
(p.s. he is not show quality he has a "bump" on his nose.. we have never told him.... SH !