Georgia dogs strut their stuff at Westminster

Boomer the French Bulldog, waiting outside the ring

Today, it's happening. Tonight will be an event, tomorrow it will be happening again, then tomorrow night it'll be the biggest event in the dog world.

"It" is the second-longest-running sporting event in American history, the most prestigious event in the sport of dogs, and is fun tv viewing. "It" is the 133rd annual Westminster Kennel Club dog show, being held at Madison Square Garden in New York City today and tomorrow.

And the dog who wins will take over the crown from last year's winner, Uno, aka CH K-Run's Park Me in First, the 15" Beagle. His wildly popular win at Westminster made him a media star for months, and he even Grand Marshalled a parade or two in 2008.

Dogs from all over the country are competing, including nearly 60 from Georgia. Today and tomorrow, we'll take a closer look at four, and at the people who own and love them.

Competing today at Westminster are the Hound, Terrier, Non-Sporting and herding breeds. All day, judges are deciding which is the best dog in each breed, and those are the ones that will be featured on tv tonight.

Competing in the Non-Sporting group is Gail Christensen of Cumming. Not only does she have a dog entered in Westminster, she has the youngest dog entered at this show. That fact becomes more significant when you realize that in order to compete at this show, the dog must have already earned his Championship. Since puppies under the age of six months can't compete, that means he earned his Championship as a puppy, which isn't common. Gail's dog actually earned his Champion title in less than a month, at the age of 7 months.

Gail's dog is Boomer, aka CH Floresta's Spontaneous Combustion, and is a French Bulldog. She's had show dogs her whole life, but Frenchies are a recent discovery, and as Gail puts it, are all of the fun of a show dog with none of the work. Their short coat is low-maintenance - just give them a bath and they're ready to show. As any fancier of a breed does, Gail delights in telling all of the great traits of French Bulldogs and how Boomer embodies those traits, especially his couch-potato nature and desire to please. She plans to earn titles with him in obedience and rally obedience, as well as continuing to show him in the breed ring.

Gail Christensen is a member of the Sawnee Mountain Kennel Club, where she sits on the Board of Directors, and she's the President of the Greater Atlanta French Bulldog Club. She teaches advanced obedience classes at the Family Pet Obedience School in Cumming, but all of that is not in her thoughts today. She and Boomer will be in the show ring at the Garden at 8am, and will be finished by 9:30. After that, she and Boomer head up to the press room. As the youngest dog entered in the show this year, Boomer will be featured in a segment to air tonight or tomorrow night about the youngest and the oldest. The oldest dog entered this year is a 12-year-old Schipperke, so there's quite an age difference between youngest and oldest.

Meanwhile, in the Hound rings, Robert and Janet Schwalbe's Wirehaired Dachshund is an accomplished boy from a long line of accomplished Dachshunds. The Schwalbes got bitten hard by the dog-show bug eight years ago, and have had a lot of success in a short period of time. They've earned Champion titles on twenty-two dogs, and have earned the coveted Dual Championship on four of those. A Dual Champion is a dog who earns the top title in the show ring, and then again in the field, doing what the breed was born to do. Their dogs excel at both, a testament to their good breeding practices.

Both Robert and Janet Schwalbe are AKC Field Trial judges, and Janet also judges Junior Showmanship. She and her husband are active in several clubs, including the Oconee River Kennel Club, the Dachshund Club of Metropolitan Atlanta and the Dachshund Club of America. One of their dogs is a Therapy Dog, visiting patients at Gwinnett medical Center in Duluth to cheer them up. Too modest to mention it, Janet is an award-winner at field trial cooking competitions, where competitors bring enough for everyone to share and win prizes for their culinary accomplishments.

Today at Westminster, their dog Dizzy will trot around the show ring at 9am, and judging of Wirehaired Dachshunds should be finished by 10am. The rest of their day will be spent in the benching area at Madison Square Garden, as all dogs have to stay all day so spectators get the chance to see each breed no matter what time of day they arrive.

Tonight, the Best of Breed winners from the Terrier, Non-Sporting, Hound and Herding groups will compete, and we're hopeful that both Boomer and Dizzy will make Georgia proud. No matter what happens, it's a major accomplishment for both the Christensens and the Schwalbes to be at Westminster, and Georgia's best wishes are along on the trip with them!

For information about all of the 170 breeds being shown at Westminster, click here.

To know everything that an exhibitor at Westminster needs to know, click here.

Tonight:
Hound, Terrier, Non-Sporting and Herding Groups
8-9 p.m. (ET) live on USA Network
9-11 p.m. (ET) live on CNBC

Tomorrow Night:
Sporting, Working and Toy Groups, Best In Show
8-11 p.m. (ET) live on USA Network

Dog Examiner Sandy says:  Neither Boomer nor Dizzy won the breed today, so we won't see them on tv tonight.  There will be video of them in the breed ring on this page soon.  Tomorrow in this column, two more Atlanta-area dogs who'll try their luck at Westminster, so be sure to subscribe below so you don't miss it!

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