NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Must love dogs. Really, really love dogs.
The spotlights the bond between people and dogs. But reaching the United States’ premier canine event also can be about another kind of love.
鈥淔or me, it would be very hard to do this without somebody who was as vested in it as I am,鈥� said Bill McFadden, who’s half of a dogdom power couple. His wife, Taffe McFadden, handled the , and she and Bono the Havanese were among past finalists who appeared Monday evening in a special tribute to Westminster’s .
Yes, the McFaddens 鈥� who met at a dog show in the late 1970s and married in 1985 鈥� have faced and sometimes beaten each other at various shows. And no, there are no hard feelings.
鈥淚 think some of my best memories are watching Taffe win best in show,鈥� Bill said Saturday while the couple readied for Westminster. 鈥淚f one of us takes the big ribbon home, it鈥檚 awesome. Doesn鈥檛 matter which one.鈥�
Breed competition gets underway
After starting with on Saturday, the storied show got down to its traditional business Monday. Dogs ranging from teeny Chihuahuas to towering Irish wolfhounds started competing in the that leads to the best in show award Tuesday night.
Some finalists were chosen Monday, starting with who has twice won the World Dog Show, a major international showcase. She’d never gotten this far at Westminster before, and handler Willy Santiago told the crowd he’d been waiting for 鈥渢his day for all my life.鈥�
鈥淪he鈥檚 the dog that makes me feel everything can happen,鈥� he said, choking up.
Zaida’s rivals will include a Lhasa apso named JJ, who won the massive AKC National Championship show in December.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a show dog all the time,鈥� breeder, handler and co-owner Susan Giles of Manakin Sabot, Virginia, said in an interview earlier Monday. A Lhasa owner for 53 years, she said JJ is everything the breed is supposed to be, though he departs from one norm for a breed that鈥檚 generally reserved with strangers: 鈥淗e鈥檒l talk to everybody.”
Also advancing were whose grandfather, , was runner-up at Westminster in 2013, and Cookie, a Maltese who pulled off an upset in the toy dog semifinals. Cookie bested two-time prior Westminster finalist and former AKC National Championship winner .
Graham loves showing. 鈥淗e comes from a long line of dogs that love it, and we鈥檙e just happy to be on the end of his lead,鈥� handler and longtime breeder Colton Johnson told the audience.
Three more finalists will be chosen Tuesday night.
Juggling dog shows with full-time jobs
A number of veteran Westminster handlers are married couples, and no wonder.
The McFaddens, for instance, travel the country to 150 to 200 dog shows a year and share their home with a varying cast of canines that need feeding, exercise, grooming and training.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 even imagine trying to date and explain to somebody, 鈥楴ow, I鈥檓 going to be gone five days a week, and I鈥檓 going to have like 20 dogs with me,鈥欌�� said Bill McFadden, who largely credits his wife 鈥渇or any semblance of order that we have鈥� at their home on five acres (two hectares) in Acampo, California.
The key is 鈥渂eing with someone you can actually coexist with 鈥� constantly,鈥� said Bill McFadden (who’s aware of the 2005 romcom 鈥淢ust Love Dogs鈥� but doesn’t recall seeing it). Like many top handlers, they also have assistants, he notes.
Then there are couples such as Randy and Andrea Huelsemann of Prairie Du Sac, Wisconsin, who juggle breeding and showing their own French bulldogs with their full-time jobs. He鈥檚 a 911 dispatcher, and she鈥檚 a dental hygienist.
鈥淲e do it for just the love of it, for something to do together,鈥� Randy said while waiting to bring their dog Ollie into a first-round ring Monday.
鈥淚t’s a great hobby for the two of us,鈥� Andrea added.
Show dogs with show-business ties
Not handling but no less enthusiastic were Lydia Hearst and Chris Hardwick, who cheered and whooped for their otterhound, Zoltar. He didn’t win his breed, but he probably got the most decibels.
鈥淚 die a lot in horror movies, so I can scream for a long time,鈥� Hearst said with a laugh. She and her husband, who hosted AMC’s 鈥淭alking Dead,鈥� are both actors and grew up with dogs 鈥� pets in his case, and show dogs in hers. Her mother, newspaper heir and longtime Frenchie owner , also had a dog in Monday’s competition.
Wilbur the beagle had his own Hollywood connections: He appears in the new starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. On Monday, Wilbur was performing for Charlotte Jones, 13, in a competition for junior handlers.
Wilbur’s owner, Mary Cummings, has long trained dogs for .
Which does Wilbur prefer?
鈥淓verything,鈥� said Cummings, of Binghamton, New York. 鈥淗e likes anything that involves food and getting attention.鈥�
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