Famous Ankles

One of the problems being at the Garden during Westminster is that there is little announcing beyond the “main” announcer describing the dogs, so you really don’t know what is going on.  Each time the winners are chosen, the TV audience hears who it is and all, but we had to wait until a commercial to find out who won.  Well…depending on your knowledge of the dogs.  When I saw the beagle win, I didn’t know for sure which of the dogs it was.  Not that I don’t know beagles, but there are several variations plus foxhounds and the like.  For me, it’s only leglength that distinguished that particular dog type.  So we waited til the commercial, the beagle was announced, and a lady near me said that it was the favorite for winning the whole shebang (which it did the next night).

But, this post is about the Terriers.  I love that group.  Once again, they came into the arena from the left.  At least they came after a really long delay.  It must have been interview time on TV.

Airdale Terrier #7.

American Staffordshire Terrier #9.

Australian Terrier #11.

Bedlington Terrier #8.

Border Terrier #9.

Bull Terrier (colored) #8.

Bull Terrier (white) #9.

Cairn Terrier #5.

The Dandie Dinmont Terrier was announced and then, as fast as lightning, dropped.  I guess “AB” means “absent”.  I don’t know if anything showed up on TV about it.

Fox Terrier (smooth) #5.

Fox Terrier (white) #7.

Glen of Imaal Terrier #10.

Irish Terrier #8.

Kerry Blue Terrier #5.

Then it was time for a commercial break.

During the mid-group commercials, they would switch sides for judging.  The dogs that had been show were just milling around with their handlers behind their yellow boxes.  The group that was getting ready to show would come out onto the main carpet area apparently to get the dogs ready for the limelight.

As as they were on commercial, I’ll do the same and wait for the next post to finish up the Terriers.

-H

So, the show was ready to begin.  The lights went down and the announcer said it was time to play the National Anthem.  And so they did, and the crowd, without prompting, sang it out.  Very cool.

From the left side of the arena, the Hound Group participants came out.  I’ve watched the show for perhaps 15 years on the USA Network.  The only announcer you ever hear in the Garden is the same “main” announcer’s voice.  You know, the one where he comments about the breed and how it’s a wonderful breed and everything.  (I have to admit I listen between the lines and when he says things like “This is a dog that knows what it wants” or something like that.  When I hear it, I can’t help but think about what he must be trying to really say but is too constrained.)

I really blew it on the Hound Group.  I couldn’t really figure out how I was going to handle the picture taking and missed the first few dogs.

One thing you really notice in person is how it is really designed for TV.  (Of course, aren’t all events like that?)  In this case, the picture below captures how they are showing one dog while the next dog is brought over and prepped.  The dog being prepped below is, I think, one of the foxhounds.  I didn’t get a good picture of the winning beagle till later.

I finally did figure out how to keep track of the dogs.  Below is Norwegian Elkhound #16.

Otterhound #12.  Being prepped is Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen #6.  (The PBGB was a crowd favorite, including me.)

Pharouh Hound #8.

Plott #11, with Rhodesian Ridgeback #6 being prepped.  The Plott was a brand new dog to the Show.

Saluki #5 (the only decent picture I got of it).  This shows how I kept track (take a pictue of the name and then a picture of the dog).

Scottish Deerhound #8.

And the last dog of the Hound Group:  Whippit #12.

During the review, every so often I heard a dog howling.  I figured it was the Bassett (my absolute favorite of the group), but it was the beagle that ended up winning.

Here’s the final positioning of the winners:  beagle to the right in the #1 spot.

And then it was time for a long, long commercial…and the Terriers.

But that’s for the next post.

-H

Cuz’n Cathy (she of the occasional comment to this blog) asked me to see about getting into Westminster.

“No way!,” I replied, “It’s sold out.  It’s sold out long in advance.”

That was then.  This is now.  I scored an easy ticket to get in.  But…for general admission seating (no assignment).  And…$40!  Dogs ain’t cheap to see in Manhattan, I guess.

But I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I only went the first day and even then I left early.  I only saw the hound and terrier groups.  I will say this:  the view on TV is much much better.  I like dogs a lot, but I’m not enough of a dog person to stay up way past my bedtime in a place where they practically charge for oxygen (I was high enough up to consider asking for extra and find out how much they wanted).  That’s an exaggeration.  Virtually everything they sell on the floor goes for $4.50 (water, Cracker Jacks, cotton candy, Coca Cola, etc).  I’m sure a little O2 would cost about the same.

It was held in Madison Square Garden.

I got there early and figured I’d see if I could get in.  After a couple of years of being sold out, it just wasn’t this time.  I was there very early and figured that I might be able to get in to see the dogs close-up for their breed judging before the finals for each of the types (hounds, terriers, toys, sporting, etc.).

As I walked in, I got to the main floor and found a judging going on.

I was a little mystified because of the different types of dogs being shown.  It was a pretty slow process with no announcing going on.

The crowd was pretty small and intimate.  I actually tried going onto the floor and was instantly stopped and told that my ticket was only for sitting up way, way, way high in the grandstand.  I ignored the directive to hike up and keep on going up, and just went to the lowest areas of the grandstand.

I saw another set of presentations going on and finally figured out what the entire process was:  the Junior Showmanship trials.  I think the handlers were probably being more judged in this event and not the dogs.

Below is the picture taken at the closest point I got to the dogs.

The Junior Showmanship stuff ended and the Madison Square Garden crew started the setup for the night.  I wandered around the Garden just looking at the general area.  I later found out that I could have gotten backstage if I had gone about the time I showed up.  I have no idea where “backstage” was with all the dogs being groomed; but that would have made the whole event worthwhile.

Instead I watched the crew.

If you hadn’t realized it, they put several of the breed cards inside each other in the order of the showing during the evening.  Between the groups, the crew comes out and yanks off the outside card.

At this point, I was in a pretty good spot.  I had been told that I was in the general admission area and was surprised to find such a good seat.  You know what comes next:  the seatholders showed up and I found out that I was way down amongst the assigned seating area.  I gazed upward and realized I had a climb ahead.

Below is the view from where I ended up.  When I first got there, it was pretty empty, but it filled up starting about 7:45pm.  A lot of people were carrying binoculars.  I only had my camera with the 5x zoom.  No zoom on this picture.

Over the next two posts, I’ll cover what I saw.

-H