Dog lovers special: At Westminster, familiar breeds (like Labs) end up getting a lack of respect

  • By KATIE THOMAS c. 2011 New York Times News Service
  • Wednesday, February 16, 2011 4:50pm
  • News

Labrador retrievers are the No. 1 breed in the country. Their Best-in-Show wins at Westminster? None.

SLIDE SHOW: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/02/15/sports/SPTSDOG0215.html?ref=sports

MORE PHOTOS: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2011/02/15/MN3F1HNNHQ.DTL&object=%2Fc%2Fpictures%2F2011%2F02%2F16%2Fba-108760708SP00_0502979724.jpg

By KATIE THOMAS

c. 2011 New York Times News Service

In the hours before a dog competes at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, tensions can mount as owners and handlers furiously prepare their canine divas for the ring.

Hair is blown straight or teased into fanciful poufs. Snouts and paws are daubed with talcum powder. Wayward hairs and whiskers are trimmed with precision.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Over by the Labrador retrievers, owners and handlers lunched on hamburgers and mingled with their neighbors before their competition Tuesday afternoon.

Orange power cords dangled idly from the ceiling. The dogs napped in their crates.

Meili, a yellow Lab from Brooklyn, had spent the morning playing in Marine Park. Her owners, Micki Beerman and Linda Pensabene, did not bother to give her a bath, let alone trim her whiskers or toenails.

“We just made sure she didn’t have any more sand on her face,” Pensabene said as she wiped Meili’s muzzle with her hand.

The Labrador retriever is the most popular breed in the United States, according to American Kennel Club registration statistics.

And yet, when set against a Westminster backdrop of elegant Afghans, jaded poodles, lumbering St. Bernards and impertinent Pomeranians, the humble Labrador retriever can get lost in the crowd.

So perhaps it is not surprising that the Labrador retriever has never won Best in Show in Westminster’s 135 years.

Other breeds better known as pets have also been overlooked.

The golden retriever has never won, either, and the German shepherd and the pug have only won once apiece.

In 2008, Uno the beagle became a household name after he was the first of his breed to win the top prize.

Jenifer Haekl, who was showing her pug, Newman, on Monday, said pugs, too, are not properly respected.

She does little to prepare Newman, other than feeding him a diet of luxury dog food and chicken livers and shampooing him with Suave the night before shows.

“There really is not a lot you can do,” she said.

The story is the same for Maxxim, a beagle owned by Victoria Braddock.

She washed him for Westminster because he had recently been digging in dirty snow, but otherwise, he only gets a bath “when he starts smelling like a dog.”

Maxxim does get his nails trimmed, along with the stray hairs along his throat and the tip of his tail.

Still, she said, “You are supposed to be able to take them from the field to the show ring.”

Wendi Huttner owns Wes, a 7-year-old black Lab who visits five elementary school classes a week in Richboro, Pa.

Sometimes, Huttner wonders about the high-maintenance dogs who spend their lives on the road.

“I see them walking with towels on their backs and with their ears pinned down and I wonder what kind of life they have,” she said.

Huttner says Labs and other ordinary dogs suffer precisely because they are so wash and wear.

“I think they’re too plain for the judges,” she said. “They look for something with flowing hair — more curb appeal for the audience.”

Labrador and other family-pet owners take pride in their dogs, of course.

They note that outside the show ring, Labradors are all-purpose dogs, skilled at guiding the blind, performing search-and-rescue missions, sniffing out bombs and excelling at nearly everything they are asked to do.

“It doesn’t go: ‘Me! Me! Me! Me!’ ” said Sue Willumsen, a show judge who has been breeding Labradors for three decades. “It’s not a ‘ta-da’ dog. It says, ‘Let’s go out hunting.’ ”

Because golden and Labrador retrievers are in the sporting group at Westminster, judges look for fitness and muscle tone.

Sandy Nordstrom and Bob Ashenbrenner feed their golden retriever, Benny, a diet of raw bison, chicken and ground vegetables, and put him through regular workouts.

He likes to romp through the brush near their home in Austin, Tex. Even so, “if we brought him in with thistles in his coat, he probably wouldn’t win,” Ashenbrenner said.

Still, some Labrador owners say their breed is overdue for a big win.

“I think it’s a cold shoulder, because Labs are the No. 1 breed,” said Eileen Ketcham, whose sister, Susan, was showing Sam, a 3-year-old black Labrador.

Pensabene made much the same point.

“It makes me crazy, because how many Irish water spaniels do we have?” she said. “They always go for the flashy, and Labradors are just a good, reliable, sturdy dog.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: February 16, 2011

A caption for a picture in a slide show in an earlier version of this article incorrectly identified a breed of dog. It is a Bernese Mountain Dog, not a Burmese Mountain Dog.

Original Story: http://feeds1.nytimes.com/~r/nyt/rss/…

More in News

Ellen White Face, left, and Dora Ragland enjoy some conversation after finishing a Christmas dinner prepared by Salvation Army Port Angeles staff and volunteers. The Salvation Army anticipated serving 120-150 people at its annual holiday meal on Tuesday. (Paula Hunt/Peninsula Daily News)
Hundreds served at annual Salvation Army dinner

Numbers represent growing need for assistance, captain says

Jefferson separates prosecutor, coroner roles

Funeral director hired on one-year basis

Public concerned about hospital partnership

Commenters question possible Catholic affiliation

Sylvia White of Port Townsend is making a major gift to the nonprofit Northwind Art. (Diane Urbani/Northwind Art)
Port Townsend artist makes major gift to Northwind

Artist Sylvia White, who envisioned an arts center in… Continue reading

Skaters glide across the Winter Ice Village on Front Street in downtown Port Angeles. The Winter Ice Village, operated by the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce, is open daily from noon to 9 p.m. through Jan. 5. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Fresh ice

Skaters glide across the Winter Ice Village on Front Street in downtown… Continue reading

Paranormal investigator Amanda Paulson sits next to a photo of Hallie Illingworth at Lake Crescent, where Illingworth’s soap-like body was discovered in 1940. Paulson stars in a newly released documentary, “The Lady of the Lake,” that explores the history of Illingworth’s death and the possible paranormal presence that has remained since. (Ryan Grulich)
Documentary explores paranormal aspects disappearance

Director says it’s a ’ Ghost story for Christmas’

Funding for lodge in stopgap measure

Park official ‘touched by outpouring of support’

Wednesday’s e-edition to be printed Thursday

Peninsula Daily News will have an electronic edition on… Continue reading

Joe Nole.
Jefferson County Sheriff Joe Nole resigns

Commissioners to be appoint replacement within 60 days

Residents of various manufactured home parks applaud the Sequim City Council’s decision on Dec. 9 to approve a new overlay that preserves manufactured home parks so that they cannot be redeveloped for other uses. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Sequim preserves overlay for homes

Plots can be sold, but use must be same

A ballot box in the Sequim Village Shopping Center at 651 W. Washington St. now holds two fire suppressant systems to prevent fires inside after incidents in October in Vancouver, Wash., and Portland, Ore. A second device was added by Clallam County staff to boxes countywide to safeguard ballots for all future elections. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Political party officials fine with Clallam’s loss of bellwether

With election certified, reps reflect on goals, security

For 20-plus years, Bob and Kelly Macaulay have decorated their boat and dock off East Sequim Bay Road for Christmas, seen here more than a mile away. However, the couple sold their boat earlier this year. (Doug Schwarz)
Couple retires Christmas boat display on Sequim Bay

Red decorations lit up area for 20-plus years

You're browsing in private mode.
Please sign in or subscribe to continue reading articles in this mode.

Peninsula Daily News relies on subscription revenue to provide local content for our readers.

Subscribe

Already a subscriber? Please sign in