I love watching the dog show and I don’t even own any dogs. It’s the Olympics, the Oscars, the Miss America Pageant of the dog show world. It will air live on Feb. 11th and 12th on the USA network 8/7C and then be re-aired. (You can even pre-order a DVD of last year’s show through the website.) The very best of the best of every recognized breed: the Westie, the German shepherd, the Pomeranian, the Pug, the Akita, the Papillon, the greyhound, the Bichon Frise, the Newfoundland, the Chihuahua, the Siberian husky, the standard poodle, the toy collie, the border terrier. Handsome dogs, goofy dogs, elegant dogs, powerful dogs, foofy dogs, lovable dogs. See the snooty owners and breeders! The totally focused handlers! The judges, with the power of God in their decisions! Drama! Excitement! Pathos! Best in Breed! Best in Group! Best in Show! Man, I can’t help myself. I get sucked in every year. I love it, I love it.
All I have to say is that I hope they have better commentators than the Eukanuba show because those chowderheads made the entire thing impossible to watch. The longest I lasted was about thirty seconds before I had to surf off the channel because I thought I was going to have an aneurysm. Fucktards!
This year, for the first day’s coverage (today), USA is only showing the first hour. Then it’s picked up on CNBC. USA is showing all three hours tomorrow. ’
I love the “She’s Like the Wind” and “I’m Too Sexy For My Short” ads they’ve been running.
I missed the first hour,so I don’t know which group I missed. I came in when they were showing the terrier group, and I liked the little Sealyham that took its group. One of the handlers had a squeaky toy that was driving my dog nuts; she was looking for one of **her ** toys.
They are now into the non-sporting which I think is a bit of a dog’s breakfast from the bull dog to the poodle.
The non-sporting group is now over, and I’m amused that the group finished with the poodle first and the bull dog second.
In the preview they just showed the Swedish Vallhund as an entry in the herding group. I didn’t think it was ugly, but I do think if I saw one out on the street I’d assume it was some indeterminate mixed breed. Here comes the corgis!
I think it’s because they are such “look at me!” type dogs. Some of the breeds are definitely more exuberant than others. Personally, I liked the dalmation.
Most of “my” breeds (Corgis and sighthounds) went tonight. I can still cross my fingers for the Brittany tomorrow. The GSD not picking up the Group win for Herding has to be a bit of a surprise; Geneva is a top 10 all-breeds dog.
For reference, the Standard Poodle that picked up Non-Sporting is 3rd all-breeds, the Sealyham Terrier is 4th (and won Best in Show at the AKC/Eukanuba show), and the Beagle is 6th.
The #1 dog all-breeds is a Toy Poodle and the #2 dog is an Akita; both of their groups go tomorrow. There are also two spaniels (one’s a Cocker and the other’s an English Springer) in the top 10 all-breeds who will go tomorrow.
ETA: Pedigree, your ads are killing me! I am an ASPCA monthly contributor, I contribute time and money to various breed rescues and I will rescue once I have a place that allows it. There should be a button on my TV that allows me to skip these ads. I can’t take those poor, pathetic faces!
I thought it was funny that the dog-expert commentator mentioned that that stupid cut makes people think poodles are dorks. No shit. The cut doesn’t even make sense for the supposed reasons given, i.e. that the poofs keep the joints warm in cold water. Then why clip the poor pooches nearly bare on the back legs and a chunk of the spine?
I love dog shows, even though I can’t watch the Westminster without thinking of Best in Show. But the commercials are great.
A: Because Standard Poodles are clearly superior breeds.
Exhibit A.
B: What a magnificient Beagle that was, though. First time the breed won hound since '39. Too bad about the Dachshund having to compete against it, his carriage was superb.
C: Plott Hounds in Westminster. Never thought I’d see the day. Probably didn’t win because of the light brindling, it looks like a flaw. Personally, I think they have a lot of Weinmeraner in them.
I missed this but a friend of mine is taping it for me so we can “squeee!!” over the dogs. She loves Boston Terriers and I love Corgis and Newfies. I’d have one but daHubby isn’t much of a dog fan. Go Corgis!!
It was nice to see the Cardi get a lot of love in group tonight. Usually the Pem is the crowd favorite, but, at least on their first pass, the Cardigan got a good round of applause.
Saw most of the hounds and about 1/2 of the terriers. Really like the way most terriers look, but not so crazy about their personalities. I’ll be watching my faves - sporting - tonight.
Which beagle won - 13" or 15"? Impressed me as a particularly silly distinction! I thought the wire-haired dachsie was beautiful.
It’s funny how having a breed skews your former perception of it. I used to be a “eewww…poodles” person, now I have a standard poodle and absolutely love them. My Maggie is a farm dog, though, and certainly not clipped like that. She gets a going over a few times a year with the horse clippers.
I had a migraine last night, and it really hurt my enjoyment of the dogshow. The afghan looked much like my afghan from 20 years ago. Siddhartha was a dark brindle with a white spot on his chest. Back then, any white was a ring fault, so he was considered a pet quality dog, although he was beautiful and flashy. He had a wonderful temperment, great with kids and loved my cat.
Don’t get me wrong, I think standard poodles are great dogs – it’s that silly show cut I don’t understand. They’re definitely a dog I’d consider when we’re in the market for a dog again. (Assuming one is available for adoption; we don’t buy animals.) There are just so many breeds with great show personalities, it surprises me how often poodles win against others who I think are equally “look at me!” types.
Fortunately for us all, Echo was apparently adopted in November. Of course, the moment I found that out, they started running a new ad featuring another equally heart-string-tugging dog. :smack:
I agree, poodles can be awesome dogs - if their owners would let them. I think “poodle-people” really do the breed a disservice.
Did anyone catch what they said about the wire fox hound (or was it a terrier)? They said the coat needed to be plucked by hand 4X a year. I never heard of anything like that.
