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The Otterhound, GCH CH White River's He's A Keeper!

The Next Extinct Breed?

Wandering around the Internet, I stumbled across an article on extinct dog breeds. Now, in our world of politically correct syntax, some would argue that dog breeds cannot become extinct because they are not naturally occurring subspecies of the domestic dog (Canis...

Kalamazoo Judges, Entries and More

This year I am a making a point of visiting every part of these United States to see dogs I don’t normally see and talk with people I don’t normally hear from. Next week I will be in Kalamazoo, MI. for a...

With Three You Get a Mountain

We are ramping up for the huge Memorial Day weekend with 41 all-breed shows this week, the most so far this year. The action is already underway in Scarborough, ME, where the Vacationland Dog Club opened a four-day set with the York...

Saying Goodbye

Our 18-year-old Toy Poodle, Brenbill’s Scooter, passed over the Rainbow Bridge at 2 this morning. We have had several dogs live to be 15 or 16 years old, but were still impressed with Scooter’s determination to stay with his family as long...

Designating a DOG2WATCH

One of the most popular features of my blog, Dog Show Poop, is my DOGS2WATCH list. I am a numbers nerd and rely on mathematical tools for all sorts of things in my life. When my daughter was deciding where to attend...

Keeping Cool When It’s Hot

Memorial Day is the official beginning of summer here in the South, a day when women can wear white shoes and men can wear seersucker jackets. In anticipation of my upcoming trip to Kalamazoo, MI, for the five-show Apple Blossom Cluster, I’ve...

GCH CH Mt View's Ripsnorter Silver Charm BY LISA CROF T ELLIOT 2

Happy Mother’s Day

On this Mother’s Day, I can’t help but think of how much pleasure my wife takes from the little things that our children and grandchildren do. Almost daily for the last 36 years, Brenda has called me to tell me that my...

Expect Excitement Everywhere

12:15 p.m. PDT I’ve been manning the iPad & iPhone this morning, texting, tweeting & talking to various people around the country this morning. While we don’t have many big shows this week, the plethora of shows makes it all more likely...

My Fantasy Campaign

One of my fantasies, and I suspect also of many people who have shown a champion or grand champion, is a dog worthy of a national campaign supported by unlimited funds. Don’t roll your eyes. You know you have dreamt about it....

A Very Long Weekend of Shows

Our dog show “weekend” started today in Perry, GA, and will conclude next Tuesday in Albuquerque, NM. Today’s Columbus Kennel Club is the first of four slated for the Crossroads of Georgia Cluster in Perry. Tomorrow’s Southeast Alabama Kennel Club show will...

Take a Look at the Top Twenty

I’ve just finished updating my statistics and have the following to share. As I wrote here on Sunday, we have a new Number One Dog All Breeds, the German Wirehaired Pointer, GCH CH Mt View’s Ripsnorter Silver Charm. Oakley’s Best in Show...

Go to a National

We started Dog Show Poop doing a few show reports on the nation’s Top Ten Dogs. Since then we have evolved to the point where we provide a show report on every AKC all-breed show (OK, we do occasionally miss a show...

A New Number One Dog All Breeds!

We have a new Number One Dog All Breeds. The German Wirehaired Pointer, GCH CH Mt View’s Ripsnorter Silver Charm, overtook the Doberman Pinscher, GCH Ch Protocol’s Veni Vidi Vici, with a Best in Show at Sunday’s big Trenton Kennel Club show in...

The First Saturday in May

One of the reasons I have stayed with dog shows for over 40 years is that they represent a kind of civilized lifestyle that I have always admired, one that respects tradition, while living life to the fullest. Most dog people have varied...

Join Me in Kalamazoo

One of my goals this year is to get out to each part of the U.S. and talk with my Dog Show Poop and Back Story readers. Over the last 40 years, I have attended shows in a lot of places, but...

Social Equalizers

When my wife and I were preparing for our first child 37 years ago in San Francisco, we underwent a baby boomer rite of passage known as the Lamaze Childbirth Method class. At that class we met four other couples, all expecting...

May Milestones

The first weekend in May is traditionally a major milestone on the dog show calendar. Most fanciers in the Northeast will head for West Windsor Township, NJ, centrally located between New York and Philadelphia for Sunday & Monday’s Trenton Kennel Club shows....

Life at the Bottom

Every year the AKC releases its annual report on the 10 most popular dogs. Once again, the Labrador Retriever is the most registered dog in the U.S. However, here we want to focus on the 10 least popular dogs in the U.S....

Not Funny

OK, is it just me or are you as offended by the President of the United States and those around him making jokes about his childhood experience with eating dog? While I am willing to forgive a child who was forced by...

The Latest from the Show Ring

We have been going over the results of this weekend, and we can tell you that we had expected the Top Ten to get even more chummy as the new week begins. While the Number One Dog All Breeds, the Doberman Pinscher,...

GCH CH Protocol‘s Veni Vidi Vici head shot

Tracking Down Our Top Ten

Among the most closely guarded secrets in dogdom is where each of our Top Ten Dogs will be each weekend. Now that the weekend is underway, I can tell you where some of our Top Ten Dogs All Breeds are. First, the country’s...

The Nanny State as Travel Agent

I grew up in a blue collar, suburban environment. Both of my parents grew up in homes struggling with the Great Depression. As a result, although we were decidedly middle class, we watched our money closely, and we were all expected to...

Top Ten Gains a New Member

We had to wait a day longer than normal to verify this past week’s numbers, but we now have an up-to-date Top Ten Dogs All Breeds to share with you. A glimpse at the below chart reveals some changes from last week....

Sand, Surf & Show Dogs

Just about everywhere you turn this week, there will be a dog show nearby. We have 39 all-breed shows in 15 different locations this week, including two island vacation spots. If you are in the Northeast, you have your choice of two...

What Makes a Marquee Show?

It’s been my goal since beginning my blog, Dog Show Poop, to get out around the country to see the country’s best dogs, and meet and learn from the country’s most knowledgeable dog folk. I have been focusing on the “marquee shows.”...

Let’s Do It Again

I just posted on my Dog Show Poop site the results of today’s Lewis-Clark Kennel Club show in Lewiston, ID, the last show of the past weekend. Today’s BIS was the Standard Poodle, GCH CH Brighton Lakeridge Encore. It was the second...

Where Are the Winners?

One of the things that I depend on is that dog folk will always play the dog show pundit game. You know what I mean. We all aspire to be the Anderson Cooper or Sean Hannity of the dog world. The truth...

Release the Hounds…& the Herding Dogs

You may have noticed that I have been bemoaning the fact that there seems to be a paucity of Hounds and Herding dogs at the top of our rankings this year, but have you noticed what’s been going on so far this...

How Do You Want to Be Remembered?

A couple of years ago, I was having lunch with a group of owners and handlers, all of whom were campaigning dogs in the Top 100 Dogs All Breeds. All were hoping to get their dogs higher in the rankings. I asked...

Closer Than They Appear

This year’s rankings race continues to be extremely close as we begin the show week. While our Top Ten remains intact, there has been some tightening of the positions. The Number Eight Dog, the Affenpinscher, GCH CH Banana Joe v Tani Kazari,...

Spring Has Sprung

Spring has sprung in the dog world with 35 all-breed shows in 13 different locales this week. Exhibitors with stamina can choose from four four-day clusters, the Terre Haute Kennel Club & Bloomington Indiana Kennel Club’s collaboration in Terre Haute, the Burbank...

The First 100 Days

For over 100 days now, I have been sharing the back stories from the world of AKC dog shows with you here at Best In Show Daily. I actually started my association with BISD back in December just before I went to...

An Everyman Best In Show

Mondays are my busiest day over on Dog Show Poop. It’s the day for the Monday Morning Mop Up, reports on all the shows I haven’t reported on over the weekend. Unlike all the other show reports out there, I actually talk...

Dog Owners Make Better Godparents

As I have written here this week, I am here in Northern California for my new granddaughter’s baptism. Such an event invariably brings together family and friends one hasn’t seen in a while. My son & daughter-in-law, both in their mid-30s, have...

April Is a Great Month

My wife, daughter & I are here in Northern California this weekend for my granddaughter’s baptism. When the three of us left California back in 1998, my son stayed behind with his then girlfriend, now his wife, the mother of my two...

Reserve Best in Show, a BFD

On July 3, 2012, AKC will institute a Reserve Best in Show award. I applaud this. It appeals to my sense of order. In fact, I would like to see all the finalists ranked one through seven. One would think that after 14 seasons of “Dancing...

A Wheeler Family Vacation

Family vacations at my house are complicated. First, there is a negotiation about who needs to participate. My family has become accustomed to the fact that my wife and I don’t always travel together. With two elderly mothers and five demanding dogs,...

A Dog Show in Every Time Zone

Almost every American will be within a tank of gas of a dog show this weekend with shows in every region and every time zone. New Englanders can check out the Rhode Island Kennel Club’s two shows in Warwick. Harrisburg, PA, is...

This Weekend’s Winners

Once again, the week’s shows have resulted in some significant wins. Here are some of the dogs that had great results. The Miniature Poodle, GCH CH Surrey Sugar Baby, reminded us all that there is more to the Non-Sporting Group than Standard...

Showing with the Lotus Eaters

I am a proponent of keeping a balanced life. I have found that dog shows alone will not provide me all that I need from life. That being said, I rarely pass up a chance to combine dog shows with other pursuits....

Holidays at My House

On every family holiday, the dogs wake me up a little earlier than usual. It is not remarkable that the dogs can tell time. They know when it’s time to get up and go out, when it’s time for breakfast, when Mommy...

Live Healthier with a Dog

My mother-in-law is 96, and she lives alone. We are within walking distance of her apartment and drop in on her a couple of times a day. Twelve years ago, our son gave his grandmother a Manx cat he picked up at...

How Many Points Does It Take?

Yesterday I shared with you a chart showing the Top Twenty Dogs All Breeds as of 1 April 2012 and remarked how competitive I thought this year’s field was. I thought it might be fun to look at the past decade and...

The Rankings Get Interesting

This morning I loaded the last of the weekend numbers for the Top 100 Dogs All Breeds into the Dog Show Poop database, and I thought I would share some observations with you all. Our Top Three Dogs have started to open...

The Golden Age for Dogs?

I recently saw the Woody Allen film, “Midnight in Paris.” The premise that man’s golden age is the one you live in is a bit like “The Wizard of Oz” tagline, “There’s no place like home.” I share Allen’s fondness for the...

How About a Dog Show AND Yosemite?

Once again exhibitors & spectators will have several options this week to see the best that AKC has to offer. If you have the time and interest, you will have an opportunity to take in one of the four show clusters spread...

Matchups to Watch

Three months into the show year and some interesting breed matchups have started to develop. The most interesting races are in two groups, Toys and Herding. Now I am talking all-breed points here. I will go out on a limb and say...

GCH CH Longo Miller N Lore's Diamond Lil

This Week’s Winners

I have mostly completed this weekend’s show reports for Dog Show Poop, and again we have a couple of clear winners. The Maltese, GCH CH Scylla’s Small Kraft Re-Lit, continued his meteoric rise (see Upwardly Mobile Dogs) through the rankings with a...

Every Dog Has His Day

Every dog has his day. I don’t know why it happens this way, but it seems that we frequently see multiple BIS from the same breed on the same weekend. This weekend the English Setters had their way with the competition. In...

Canine Super Models

One of the things I think we are missing in our daily lives is the canine advertising icon. Among American males, I may be alone in thinking that Spuds MacKenzie is more memorable a super model than Gisele Bundchen. After a century...

Upwardly Mobile Dogs

As we wrap up the first quarter of the show season, I am impressed with how wide-open the rankings race is. While our current leaders have a pretty comfortable lead on the field, one should take note how many dogs have moved...

Where Are the American English Coonhounds?

I remember when my first child was still small that someone older and wiser gave me a very good piece of parenting advice, “Make your child entertain himself. If you keep choosing his activities, he will never find what he is really...

GCH CH Windemere's Dusting Of White At Pevyne

This Week’s Top Ten

As we get poised for another show week, I thought I would share the following chart showing the relative position of our Top Ten Dogs All Breeds. If you have been visiting Dog Show Poop (and we hope you have), you know...

Showing, My Way

I like to think I represent the everyman in the dog show world. Part of that persona depends on me stepping into the show ring now and then. During the past 40 years, I have tried many different approaches to showing. In...

The Weekend’s Winners

I’ve spent most of the day going over the show results from this past weekend, and it’s pretty clear we have some big winners coming out of the last few days. After several weeks with the Sporting Dogs dominating the top of...

Bouvier Breed Battle

While I focus much of my attention on the all-breed races, I always find the intra-breed competitions fascinating. One of the breeds that I have been watching is the Bouvier des Flandres. We have three Bouviers in the Top One Hundred Dogs...

We Don’t Understand

In this political year there has been much discussion about how much our elected officials are out of touch with their constituents. I suppose that one could argue that politicians actually are in tune with the electorate. What could not be truer, however,...

A Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious

Once again, it’s been an OBE (Overcome By Events) day for me. As I start going through topics for today’s column, I started getting results from the Tarheel Circuit in Raleigh, NC, where several of our country’s top dogs are gathered. Today’s...

Keeping Up with the Leaders

As I approach my first 100 days here at Best In Show Daily, I find that writing a daily column has its pluses and minuses. The obvious challenge is not running out of things to say. Most people who know me wonder...

The Show Week Begins!

Dog show options on both the East and West Coasts have been limited these past couple of weeks, however, this week will reverse that trend. Our show week is already underway in Raleigh, NC, where the Carey Kennel Club opens a five-day...

Louisville Breakout Performances

The Kentuckiana Cluster has always been a place for breakout performances. Last year the Boxer, GCH CH Winfall Brookwood Styled Dream, the Affenpinscher, GCH CH Banana Joe v Tani Kazari, the Pekingese, GCH CH PalaceGarden Malachy, and the Standard Poodle, GCH CH...

Learning a Lot in Louisville

I just made it home from Louisville, KY, and I can’t help but think how much I learned during this trip. The Kentuckiana cluster is one of the best for seeing several representatives of one breed, including all ages from puppies to...

Live from Louisville

Blogger In Chief Billy Wheeler is live in Louisville for four days to give you The Back Story on the Kentuckiana Cluster. Check back regularly as he updates this blog. To see photographs of winners and the day’s results, click on the...

Lots of Louisville

Day One is over in Louisville and I am recovering from a day of dog show gluttony. I got an early start and managed to stop by several of the breed rings during the first couple of hours. As I have noted,...

A Day Without a Dog

I’m a bit late checking in with you today as I have spent the day traveling to Louisville, KY, for the Kentuckiana Cluster. I had intended to get an early start, but a series of early morning phone calls delayed my departure....

Group Leaders

After 10 weeks of competition this year, our rankings are starting to take form. If you read my blog, Dog Show Poop (and you should!), you know that I update the national Top Ten rankings every week. What a lot of people...

Know Thyself

I celebrated my 63rd birthday last month. I spent the day traveling to New York for the Westminster Kennel Club show. It was pretty much the perfect way for this dog show junkie to celebrate the event. For some time now I...

Be an Effective Advocate

Looking at some of the responses to my earlier post about the British Kennel Club’s new policy requiring health certifications for certain breeds, it reminds me that many people in the show community need to prepare themselves to defend our way of...

Trans-Atlantic Alliances

As much as I am enjoying irritating the animal rights loonies on both sides of the Atlantic, I feel inclined to move on to some more positive subject. I am old and have a short attention span. Besides, the show scene is...

A World Without Roses

As regular readers of Dog Show Poop know, I pretty much confine myself to being a cheerleader for AKC dog shows. I don’t usually get embroiled in legislative issues (although I have a background in such) as I think there are others...

Crufts’ Campaign Against the Purebred Dog

I am an admirer of most things British. I love tweeds, tea time, & cottage gardens, so it is no wonder that I am fascinated by Crufts. I have been up since the early AM awaiting results. While looking through today’s results,...

This Week’s Shows

Once again, fanciers in the Northeast & Mid-Atlantic will have few choices about where to get their dog show fix this week. The lone offering is in Milton NY where the Monticello New York Kennel Club & the Saw Mill River Kennel...

Loving Louisville

I love Louisville, Next week I will be Louisville KY for the Kentuckiana Cluster, traditionally the biggest weekend of the season. Now, the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship week may actually have more entries, but the restriction to champions and grand champions, means that...

Life at my House

I suppose I am different than most people…no, I know I am different than most people, but I suppose I am different than most show dog owners. I have no kennel runs, no exercise paddocks, no dog room…well, I do have a...

The New Numbers Behind Majors

I’m off on a numbers nerd tangent again today. In compiling the national rankings, I’ve noticed some unusual distributions in the entries. When was the last time you saw four Sporting Dogs in the Top Six Dogs All Breeds? Admittedly, January’s point...

Worth the Trip

Even though gas is over $4 a gallon in many parts of the U.S., it has not kept our top dogs from seeking out the points wherever they are. This weekend the points are in Scottsdale, AZ, where nearly 10,000 points are...

We Have Video!

As much as I wax nostalgic for the “good old days” in the dog game, I have to face the fact that I am addicted to modern technology. Let’s face it, you would not be reading my rambling ruminations were it not...

We Need Converts!

I admit to being a little off center. I’m not sure whether it is born out of that left brain/right brain thing or simple naiveté. In discussing the dog fancy, I find that the majority of insiders have difficulty looking at our...

This Week’s Shows

People think of the Northeast and West Coast as hotbeds of dog show activity and normally they are. However, this week, fanciers will look elsewhere for their weekly show fix. There are 22 all-breed shows this week in nine different areas from Florida...

173 & Counting

173 & counting, breeds that is. Last week I looked at the AKC’s proposal for realigning and expanding the current seven groups of breeds. What struck me as extraordinary was the number of new breeds included in the realignment, a staggering 53...

New Faces This Weekend

I love this time of year on the dog show calendar, post-Westminster. Many of the multi-BIS winners have traded in weekends on the road for romps in the backyard, chasing squirrels rather than breed records. As last year’s A-listers fade from the...

Hoisted on Their Own PETArd

As a self-avowed cheerleader for AKC’s conformation shows, it should come as no surprise to anyone that I am an ardent anti-animal-rights advocate. While I have tried to be restlessly optimistic on Dog Show Poop, I admit to the occasional lapse into...

The Latest Rankings

I am now caught up with my statistics and have both the Traditional Top Ten Dogs All Breeds and my Dog Show Poop Top Ten Dogs updated through last weekend. Here, early in the year, the rankings are very volatile, but even...

Where Are the Shows?

While looking at my dog show calendar, I began my monthly pity party, whining about the dearth of dog shows in my immediate area. I have fond memories of living in Brooklyn, NY, and showing every other weekend and never driving more...

Emergency Planning

I was pulled away from my computer this morning by a visit from a friend I had not seen in several months. My friend is a very energetic, self-made man, who has started more than one successful business. Among his companies is...

Compare the Costs

As I review my monthly credit card statements, once again I must explain to my wife why dog shows are a bargain hobby. I know, I know, it seems like the dogs are living the life of luxury you dreamed about when...

A Fairer Ranking System

For the past three years, Dog Show Poop has maintained its own ranking system. I wanted to recognize some of those dogs owned by the average dog show exhibitor, the exhibitor who doesn’t have a trust fund, the exhibitor who has a...

AKC Owner/Handler Series

I get a lot of email about the influence of professional handlers in our sport. The best piece of advice that I ever got on competing against the professionals was in the ’70s from Bob Forsyth, then one of the most successful...

Group Realignment

The Simon and Garfunkel song, “At the Zoo,” notes that “Orangutans are skeptical of changes in their cages.” That pretty much describes me and the dog game. I would just as soon that the dog game be as it was in the...

There’s No Business Like Show Business

If you are like me, when you get home from a dog show, especially a big event like Westminster, you need to go to the grocery to replenish those stores and you look at your bank balance and you say to yourself,...

Catch The Wave

In the post show news conference, David Fitzpatrick announced that his Pekingese, GCH CH PalaceGarden Malachy, the 2012 Westminster Kennel Best In Show winner, would be retiring to become his pampered house pet. This is the happy fate of most Westminster BIS...

To Bench or Not To Bench?

Much of my post-Westminster conversations with fanciers have been about the change in venue for next year. As I wrote yesterday, I was initially put off by the decision to move to the benching and breed judging to New York’s Piers 92/94....

TRADITION

After leaving the 136th Westminster Kennel Club show and New York behind I begin sorting through the moments which caught my attention. Several things stick with me for the dog show scrapbook in my head. I had expected some inconvenience due to...

Twists and Turns

The mood around the breed rings today at the 136th Westminster Kennel Club show was bittersweet, as it sunk in that only the breed winners next year will get to show “At The Garden.” This is the last year that the mere...

Surprise, Surprise!

Today was a day full of surprises. I’m not sure you can call them upsets, but there were plenty of dogs with multiple BIS before their name beaten by dogs who had received their first big rosette. Among the surprises was in...

Come on In! The Party Room Is Open!

Welcome to Our Garden Party. Tune your TV to USA Network and join us for the dogdom’s ultimate armchair quarterbacking. Please say hello to your host when you come in and then feel free to mingle. It’s like any other open house....

Sunday at the Hotel Pennsylvania

New York is, well, New York, even more so during Westminster. I stopped by the Hotel Pennsylvania on Sunday to take in the New York Metro Specialties hosted by the Knickerbocker Dachshund Club, the Meadowlands Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club, the Chihuahua...

Show or No Show

I am sitting in Manhattan eating a real Reuben sandwich–OK, it was prepared by a Korean counter man–and ready to dive into the uniquely New York experience that is the Westminster Kennel Club show. Now that I am here and the show...

The Whole Story

Master blogger Billy Wheeler has been telling “The Back Story” to Best In Show Daily readers since the year began. From his ringside reporting to his book reviews, Billy brings the world of the show dog to life with an inimitable voice...

Progressive Dog Club

One of the most anticipated Westminster Warm Ups each year is the Progressive Dog Club show, an all Toy Dog limited breed event. The event is often a harbinger of things to come at the Garden. The entry this year was over...

What Are the Odds?

For the sixth year, Johnny Avello, Executive Director of Race and Sports at the Wynn Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, has published the odds on the Westminster Kennel Club Best In Show winner. Now no one disputes Mr Avello’s expertise in...

The Way I Saw It

As I attend to the last minute details for my trip to New York for next week’s Westminster Kennel Club show, I started reminiscing about some of the recent shows. What I find interesting is how different segments of the dog world...

Dog Show Shoe Shopping

I am in the process of packing for my trip to New York this weekend to cover next week’s Westminster Kennel Club show, but I am already looking forward to March’s Kentuckiana Cluster in Louisville KY. The mammoth four shows ranked first,...

Here We Go

I was a football fan once, back when I lived in San Francisco during Joe Montana’s years with the 49ers. Now I only watch football occasionally–the games conflict with my dogs shows–, but like most of Americans I watch the Superbowl. While...

Around the Ring this Weekend

After this weekend, most of last year’s top dogs will be heading to New York for the Westminster Kennel Club show. The show’s February date makes it a kind of canine all star game. The season is already over and all the...

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Come To A Garden Party

I just finished a two hour Twitter Party with 11 of my fellow bloggers during the initial broadcast of December’s AKC/Eukanuba National Championship (AENC). It was a great opportunity for all of us to share our experience of being at ringside during...

Westminster Circa 1976

As I prepare for my trip to New York for this year’s Westminster Kennel Club show at New York’s Madison Square Garden, I remember my last time showing at “The Garden”. It’s been 36 years since the last time I had a...

A Book About Us

One of the recent trends in journalism is the practice of “embedded journalists”. Growing out of reality television, it began as serious journalism with the coverage of US military action in Iraq and has evolved into the reportingon the current political campaigns...

January’s Top Ten Dogs All Breeds

• Yesterday, I talked with you about how we rank the top dogs in our conformation game and whether the current system really measures the accomplishments of our best dogs. Today I am going to share with you the ranking that everyone...

Who’s Top Dog?

I am a numbers nerd. I spent most of my professional life as a management analyst/consultant pouring over statistical data trying to interpret it. When I began writing the blog, Dog Show Poop, I fell back on my statistical background to support...

Who Will Take Your Dog?

“Soap actor commits suicide after pup’s ‘forced’ euthanasia” The headline disturbed me on so many levels. First and foremost, every suicide invokes a common guilt for all, the feeling that we, as a society, failed the victim. However, I want to keep...

Does Momentum Matter?

Momentum is a factor in lots of pursuits in life. An individual baseball player can be on a batting streak or an actor can have a string of box office hits or a dog can have several consecutive weekends of BIS and...

Westminster Multiple BIS Winners

Any one who has every stepped inside a show ring knows that winning a Best In Show at the Westminster Kennel Club show is the pinnacle of a show career. What is amazing is that some dogs have been to the top...

Westminster Warm-Ups

While every dog lover knows that the Westminster Kennel Club show will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York next month, most do not know that there are several warm-up events of note in the days before the main event....

Westminster Breed Match Ups

For most of the general public the Westminster Kennel Club show is known for the six hours of live televison coverage of the Group & BIS judging. For most of exhibitors the focus is on the breed judging. In my book, winning...

Man’s Oldest Friend

The worlds of science and archaeology are abuzz this morning about a domesticated dog skull found in a cave in Siberia. The skull was found in the Altai Mountains, in East-Central Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together. The University...

What Will Westminster Judges Do?

As I prepare my annual Whom to Watch at Westminster (WWW) list for my Dog Show Poop site, I am perusing the judging assignments, trying to get some data that might help me with my predictions. First, let me say that the...

Westminster Grooming Over The Years

As I prepare for my February trip to New York for the 136th Westminster Kennel Club (WKC) show, I am reminded just what a wonderful on line site the WKC maintains. If you haven’t spent some time meandering through their pages, you...

A New Generation

GCH CH Coventry Allure at Wyndstar One of the most fun things about this time of year is the chance to become familair with a whole new generation of show dogs. Yesterday on Dog Show Poop I wrote up the Best In...

An Early Peek at the Rankings

All my life I have been fascinated by numbers. I spent most of my work life as a management consultant, relying on a wide range of mathematical tools. So when I began my blog, Dog Show Poop, including a ranking system was...

Getting Around at the Garden

This will be my first trip back to the Westminster Kennel Club (WKC) show in three decades. Though I exhibited there frequently in the 1970s, in recent years I have preferred to enjoy the competition from the comfort of my family room...

Flash Drives & Horcruxes

It should come as no surprise to anyone who reads my blog, Dog Show Poop, that I spend a lot of my time on line. After spending two hours on the phone this morning with my new on line pharmacy, I began...

Stop SOPA & PIPA!

While I don’t normally get political in my public writings, I feel obliged to join the hundreds of thousands of on line information providers in protesting our federal government’s attempt to censor the Internet. Pending before your US House of Representative is...

Rose City Classic Begins

This week’s Rose City Classic in Portland, Ore. is one of the marquee stops on the annual dog show calendar. It’s also one of the largest clusters of the year, with over 10,000 dogs actually competing. Only December’s AKC/Eukanuba National Championship and...

My Westminster Moments

I look forward to the Westminster Kennel Club show like most kids look forward to Christmas. When other kids were running down to the corner dime store (a distinctly 1950s term) to get the latest Marvel comic, I was looking for the...

Upset or a Glimpse of Greatness?

I hope you followed my rule not to bet the lunch money on a dog show. For if you did bet on the outcome of yesterday’s Inverness Florida Kennel Club in Brooksville, Fla., you are likely brown-bagging it today. While the eventual...

Countdown To Westminster

GCH CH Foxcliffe Hickory Wind, 2011 WKC BIS Winner It’s just 29 days to the granddaddy of all dog shows, the Westminster Kennel Club (WKC) show. The second oldest continuously running sporting event in the US (Only the Kentucky Derby is older),...

Don’t Bet The Lunch Money

The Florida Marathon can be a brutal, even for those at the top of this sport. All seven of the finalists at yesterday’s Manatee Kennel Club opener were multi Best In Show winners. Three of them were among the Top Ten Dogs...

Behind The Show Reports

The show year is fully underway and I have been pouring through the early catalogs. Here are a couple of things that I thought you might find interesting. First, the Fancy’s most respected Pekingese breeder and handler, David Fitzpatrick, went Best in...

What Is The Purpose Of A Dog Show?

Today begins the five-show Celebrate Virginia cluster in Fredericksburg, Vir., I have always found this venue to be one of the most inviting in the Mid-Atlantic region. Housed at the 6-year-old Fredericksburg Expo & Convention Center, the cluster boasts modern facilities, a...

Checkout The Florida Marathon

My trip home from Palm Springs was reminiscent of the John Candy/Steve Martin film, Trains, Planes, & Automobiles, but I am now home at my computer desk and able to blog to my heart’s content. Witt the 2012 shows of the Kennel...

Look For These Dogs

As I await my plane to leave beautiful Palm Springs, Calif., I am going through the Kennel Club of Palm Springs catalog, making notes about the dogs I saw this weekend that I think are the ones I will be reporting on...

You Need A Plan

I woke this morning on a mission to see more of the amazing dogs I have not yet seen here in Palm Springs. I do have a kind of plan when I visit these mega shows. I make a list of...

Palm Springs Day Two

I spent day two in Palm Springs focusing on the nearly 700 hounds that showed up for today’s Inland Empire Hound Club of Southern California. For a dog show junky like me it was overwhelming to watch 118 Rhodesian Ridgebacks, 74 Whippets,...

Palm Springs Begins!

There are few sites that evoke the glamor of yesterday like the Empire Polo Fields in Indio Ca, home of the Kennel Club of Palm Springs. Though today was just the opening salvo of limited breed shows & local breed specialties,...

Dog Show Travel Tips

My day began today at 0400 (That’s 4:00 AM for those of you with no military acquaintances) a rude reminder of the pleasures of air travel today. There was a time in my work life when I and most of my associates...

Deja Vu All Over Again

In one of my earlier posts I was reminiscing about all the breed records that fell in 2011. As I head to Palm Springs CA for the first show of the year, I am getting a sense of déjà vu for I...

2012 Terriers2Watch

Yesterday I asked you where were all the Terriers in 2011. Here are four Terriers who made my Dog Show Poop DOGS2WATCH list last year and are likely to be among the Top Dogs All Breeds in 2012. Two are based in...

Where Are The Terriers?

On Thursday we will be at one of the first dog shows of the year, the Desert Empire Terrier Club Of Southern California day one limited breed warm up to the big Kennel Club of Palm Springs weekend. As a Terrier guy...

Anticipation

Today begins my daily visit with you all here on Best In Show Daily. I hope to bring you a little closer to the world of AKC dog shows and all the Back Stories from one of the greatest hobbies around. I...

Get An Early Start

I have barely wrapped this dog show year and I am already looking forward to the new year and the January shows that will set the pace for 2012. There are three venues in that critical first month of the year that...

Be Part of History

As I sort through all the events of the past week, I keep going back to what encourages me to visit these large “marquee” shows. While I freely admit that I still think of the Westminster Kennel Club (WKC) show, the second...

Introducing “The Back Story”

Welcome to Best In Show Daily! I am Billy Wheeler and I’m here to give you the Back Stories from the dog show world. Some of you may know me as the publisher of the dog show blog, Dog Show Poop. I...

Orlando Day One

I am in Orlando FL for the 11th Annual AKC/Eukanuba National Championship and while we wait for tonight’s Group judging, I want to bring you The Back Story. I missed last year’s event and had forgotten how much walking one does. No...

Orlando Preview

Now that the RVs are actually in queue to unload in Orlando I can give you some predictions for this weekend‘s AKC/Eukanuba National Championship (AENC). Saturday evening’s Groups will be Hound, Toy, Sporting, & Non-Sporting in that order. I expect the four...