Several central New York owner-breeders have their fingers crossed that their dogs will go all the way to group judging and beyond during Monday, Feb. 13 competitions at the 136th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog show in New York City. Monday's judging features individual dog and breed judging during the day, followed by nationally televised group judging for the Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting and Herding breeds beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
First up in Monday's classes is Japanese Chin Roadie (Grand Champion Cin-Don On the Road Again), bred and owned by Beverly Merritt of Newfane in western New York on the shores of Lake Ontario. Merritt hopes Roadie will repeat his 2011 Best of Breed (BOB) Westminster Kennel Club win at this year's show.
When Roadie enters the ring, he'll have to out-strut three other male champions. Judge Judy Webb will then judge the best of the males against the single female champion to determine her Best of Breed, who will go on to Monday night's televised Toy group competition. Webb's ring starts at 8:30 a.m. with judging of 10 Manchester Terriers, followed by six Miniature Pinschers. The AKC standard for conformation judging is 30 dogs per hour, so local fanciers should look for Japanese Chin class and breed judging to begin about 9 a.m.
Next up is Smooth Collie Arrow (GCH Travler's Pierce Arrow IT), bred and owned by Becky Tehon, Candy and Bree Ann Ardizzone and Gary Lewis. Sisters Becky and Candy breed Travler collies in Brewerton and Central Square, north of Syracuse, with Candy's daughter and retired junior handler Bree Ann. Lewis lives east of Syracuse in Cazenovia. Their multi-Best in Specialty Show (BISS) and group-winning smooth collie Arrow is the first central New York dog ever awarded the AKC Grand Champion (GCH). Arrow has also earned his Herding Intermediate title (IT).
Feb. 10 - 12, Arrow is being shown at the four-show Collie specialties of Connecticut circuit as a warm-up to Wesminster KC. According to an email from Tehon, on Saturday, Feb. 11 Arrow went Best of Variety (Smooth, BOV) and then Best in Specialty Show (BISS) at the largest of the four shows, the Collie Club of Connecticut specialty. Arrow bested 140 other collies, smooth and rough coated, to win the BISS ribbon.
Smooth collies are first in judge Walter Sommerfelt's ring on Monday at 12:30 p.m. Sommerfelt will examine five males and four females to choose one dog to send to Westminster Kennel Club's Herding group ring for Monday evening judging.
Last to show in Monday's class judging is Miniature Smooth Dachshund KO, (GCH/UKC Ch R'Hills Total Knockout RN CGC), bred and owned by Terri Frenia of Ripley Hill Dachshunds in Homer, N.Y. just south of Syracuse. Standard and miniature sized Dachshunds are shown together by coat variety: long-haired, smooth (short coated) and wire-haired. When KO competes in the ring, he'll be showing against both standard and mini smooth coated Dachshund champions.
KO has also earned AKC's Grand Champion (GCH) title, along with his United Kennel Club (UKC) Championship, and is also a multi-BISS and multi-group winner. Along with his conformation resume, KO can also claim a Rally Novice (RN) performance title and Canine Good Citizen (CGC) certificate.
Smooth Dachshunds will be the last breed judged in Ralph Lemcke's ring. The smooths enter the ring after 21 wire-haired Dachshunds at 1 p.m., followed by five Petits Bassett Griffon Vendeen. Readers should expect to see class competition between the 10 male and 7 female smooth Dachshunds start sometime between 1:45 and 2 p.m.
Read more about the road to Westminster KC for these local dogs and owners in Deb Eldredge's Utica Dogs column:
- Japanese Chin Roadie and Beverly Merritt
- Miniature (smooth) Dachshund KO and Terri Frenia
- Smooth collie Arrow and Becky Tehon, Candy and Bree Ann Ardizzone, and Gary Lewis
Central New York readers who can't be in New York City for judging can keep up with these local stars by following tweets from the Westminster Twitter feed @WKCDOGS, show updates on Facebook, and by watching the live streaming videos of judging and posted results at Westminster Kennel Club online. The schedule for the live television broadcast of Westminster Kennel Club group judging is:
- Monday: Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting, Herding group competition, USA Network, 8 - 9 p.m. ET and then continued on CNBC from 9 - 11 p.m. ET.
- Tuesday: Sporting, Working, Terrier, and Best In Show competition, USA Network, 8 - 11 p.m. ET.
For Syracuse and Onondaga county readers, USA Network is Time-Warner Cable ch. 31, and CNBC is Time-Warner Cable ch. 37.
See the complete judging schedule at Westminster KC online.
Keep an eye on Syracuse Dog Training for news from Westminster Kennel Club as it becomes available.
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