Best in Show

Remember beautiful James, the English Springer Spaniel who won the Eukanuba dog show? That sassy guy won Westminster last night! He’s such a stunning dog and I was not surprised that he won.

I’ve been watching enough dog shows in the last year that I now recognize almost all of the finalists who made it to Best in Show at Westminster, the granddaddy of all dog shows. As I’ve said before, I’m truly becoming one of those dog show weird-ohs parodied in the movie, Best in Show. I find the whole thing fascinating – from the long history of dog shows, to the dogs themselves, to the strange pomp and circumstance of it all, to the obsession of the owners and trainers. It’s so odd! It’s the same feeling I got when I first started watching Iron Chef years ago…such an over-the-top show but totally intriguing.

While watching Westminster Monday and Tuesday nights, I immediately recognized the Dandie Dinmont Terrier who won the Terrier group, the Petits Bassets Griffons Vendeen who won the Hound group, and the Bouviers des Flandres who won Herding. (Have you ever heard such ridiculous breed names in your life?) The Toy Poodle won the Toy group and he’s the one that always sets Dot off when she sees him prancing around the ring. The only new dogs I hadn’t seen before were the Akita who won the Working group and the Standard Poodle who won Non-Sporting. But I was rooting for James, all the way.

My plan now is to go to a big dog show in person this year, something I’ve never done. There’s a big 2-day event in Dallas that I have my eye on.

What a dork.

Last night I had the TV remote control smoking, I was working it so hard. Flipping between the dog show, House, and a fabulous documentary our production team at work put together, I was multitasking a number of different story lines. The occasional stop over on American Idol would get me sidetracked, too. I don’t consider myself a TV junkie, so having so many programs working at once was funny.

I’m missing my little Dot, who is at the Last Stop right now where she’s been for a week. She gets to go there when I travel and she has a blast. Apparently, she has taken to barking at the cows when they are eating up at the barn, then hauling A when they come at her. Probably not the best practice for her, but it does create a visual image that makes me laugh. My dad says she has the heart of a lion. I’ll pick her up next weekend, but it sure is quiet around the casa without her.

What did people do for entertainment before TV? Or dogs? Or the Internet? Or pizza? (Note to self…GET A LIFE!).