I have watched the live Westmin- ster coverage every year for as long as I can remember (except for the years I’ve been there in person!). It borders on religion: West- minster, the second-longest running sporting event in the United States, the one televised dog show that includes the entire Group and Best in Show judging live. The Garden. 2017 brought some new changes, plus some more multi-talented Best of Breed winners and Group placers (I do love those versatile dogs!). THE CHANGE This year change came to the West- minster Kennel Club dog show in the form of the start of the ten-year con- tract with FS1 for television coverage. I discovered this at 7:45 Monday night as I begged my internet connection to play nice with the streaming. Overall, I think FS1 got through their initiation fairly well. I know there were issues— streaming during the daytime judg- ing crashing, difficulties accessing the channel for viewers, inexperienced cameramen, inexperienced announc- ers. These things were not ideal, but I do not think we can really say they were unexpected. The reality is that
“THESE THINGS MAKE OUR DOGS REAL— THEY AREN’T JUST WELL-TRAINED ROBOTS, THEY PLAY WITH TOYS AND STEAL FOOD OFF THE COUNTERS JUST LIKE ANY OTHER DOG.”
dog shows are not something that the general public understands or knows much about and FS1 is included in that population. There were bound to be blips. We should be happy that they were willing to take on the challenge of learning a new sport, and try to nicely suggest ways they can improve. FS1 did show that they are willing to learn. There was a major outcry Mon- day night over the failure to put each dog’s registered name on the screen. This definitely falls under the category of “things that non-dog-show people don’t think about”. To the average per- son, registered names don’t really mean anything, whereas the call name of the dog is something they understand because every dog has one. But by Tues- day night, they had adjusted and added the registered names in. Personally, I think that including the call names and little fun facts on
the screen were good additions. Even for members of the dog fancy, the con- nection between a dog’s call and regis- tered names is not always apparent. For example, there was a Tervuren years back named Gourou du Crepuscule des Loups. His actual call name was “Ghor”, but many people just referred to him as “Gourou”. It was a long time before I realized that “Ghor” and “Gourou” were the same dog. If I had to choose one name to know, I would rather have the registered name because it allows you to track down the breeder and pedigree of a dog, but including the call name is a nice plus. Call names also add a layer of relatability for the average person watching the broadcast—these dogs may be show dogs, but they have regu- lar names just like their dogs at home. The same can be said for the fun facts, such as what a particular dog’s favorite treat or activity is. These things make our dogs real—they aren’t just well- trained robots, they play with toys and steal food off the counters just like any other dog. I know we all miss David Frei, but let’s give Gail Miller Bisher some credit. She’s no slouch—she has been involved with dogs her entire life in both confor- mation and performance, and is a judge. She is one of us. Were there bobbles? Yes. But I’ve also heard Mike LaFave make mistakes, and it is still one of my biggest wishes to hear his voice call out
WESTMINSTER 2017 IN REVIEW
62 • S how S ight M agazine , M arch 2017
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