A quick dispatch from Dogland
Notes from the Westminster Dog Show
I’m up in Tarrytown, NY this week for the Westminster Dog Show—I might have mentioned once or twice (or 47 times) in this newsletter that I’m writing a book about the dog show, and the bond between dogs and their people.
So I thought I’d drop y’all a quick line to let you know how things are going.
Factoid of the Day: Some poodles wear hair extensions! They’re called switches, and they’re attached with rubber bands. I’m told this is illegal for dog shows … but occasionally a handler will try it anyway.
Scene of the Day: I was over at the press tent when two guys asked if it was OK if they put down camp chairs next to mine. Their names were Gerald and Ralph. I noticed that they set down their chairs facing one of the show rings that was a good 100 feet away.
“That’s as close as I dare to get,” Gerald said. “If my dog sees me he’ll go apeshit.”
“Me too,” Ralph said. “I’m like his uncle.”
Gerald’s dog was a long-haired dachshund named Hopper. I looked him up later and found that his full name is GCH CH Tarabon Ludwig Van Hopper*.
*A quick primer on purebred dog names: The letters at the beginning are various titles the dog has won; the first word is usually the name of the kennel it came from; and the rest is whatever craziness the owner comes up with. What we think of as the actual name of the dog—Fido, or Fifi, or whatever—is the dog’s “call name.”
Purebred long-haired dachshunds look a lot alike, especially from 100 feet away. The guys weren’t sure which one Hopper was. Usually they can tell from the handler, but Hopper’s handlers are a mother-daughter team and the guys weren’t sure which one was working with him.
“Is that him?” Gerald said. “I’m pretty sure that’s him. He’s looking great.”
Working on this book is so much fun.
For those of you inclined to follow along: Fox Sports 1 is showing group judging tonight (Tuesday), and then the rest of the groups plus Best In Show on Wednesday. They’ll be on both nights from 7:30-11 p.m. Eastern.
If you really want to dig in, the Westminster web site has full videos of the judging for every breed on their Best of Breed results page—just click on the breed you’re interested in. So if you want to see every Airedale at Westminster (all 15 of them!), that’s where you go.
OK, back to Dogland for me. I’m still interested in what you want to know about dog shows, the dog/human bond, etc., so drop any questions or thoughts in the comments. — TT
Have you dug up anything on what dogs, scientifically speaking, elicit in us? As lovers of the animal, we see ourselves chase them, pet them, scritch their irresistible bellies. We see THEM. But what's happening biochemically inside of US -- our heads, our hearts, etc.? It's an innate attraction that seems unbreakable and -- hence my question -- unknowable.
Thanks for all this! Having read your work for some time, I know you will be looking at all aspects of Dogdom and the humans who live in that world. A deep dive into dog cognition would also be very much appreciated, if that is in the purview of this book.