TV Week COVER STORY Seven newly recognized breeds debut this year

Kennel Club show returns with 199 breeds

140th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
140th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show

This is the annual TV Week cover story where I usually start off by saying TV is going to the dogs.

I've decided not to do that this year, seeing as how every other TV critic in the country will be doing the same. This year I shall respect your disdain for hackneyed, wearisome cliches and just say that once again it's time for the dog-eat-dog competition that is the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

The 140th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show will be televised from 7 to 10 p.m. Tuesday on USA, with co-hosts David Frei and Mary Carillo. Kelli Stavast serves as floor reporter, down where the paws hit the hardwood in New York's Madison Square Garden.

Lovers of canines don't have to wait until Tuesday to get in on the action.

The preliminary events will be televised live on CNBC from 7 to 10 p.m. Monday. Tuesday's USA coverage will feature the final competition and the always thrilling crowning of Best in Show.

More? You want more? USA is offering extensive online access featuring the live judging of all 199 breeds and varieties beginning at 7 a.m. Monday at WKCLive.com.

If you want to zero in on a favorite breed, here are the morning and evening schedules.

Monday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.: hound, toy, nonsporting and herding groups; 5 to 10 p.m.: more hound, toy, nonsporting and herding groups.

Tuesday: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.: sporting, working and terrier groups; 5 to 10 p.m.: Junior Showmanship, sporting, working and terrier groups. Best in Show begins at 6:30.

USA brags that the online action "will be filmed by more than 11 fixed and roaming cameras for a custom interactive experience that will showcase the action in and out of the ring, as well as all-access interviews and behind-the-scenes coverage of the prime-time action."

If you're up for all of that, you're a bigger dog person than I am. But if you're that gung-ho, you might want to check the online link where you can post selfies with your pooch "for the chance to be seen on-air during the live telecast and other great prizes."

This will be Frei's 27th consecutive -- and final -- year as co-host of the dog show. It won't be the same without him.

Frei is a longtime breeder, owner, handler and judge, and has enjoyed a great deal of success with his Afghan hounds, Brittanys and Cavalier King Charles spaniels.

He is the author of Angel on a Leash, a book about therapy dogs.

What's new at Westminster?

This year, seven breeds newly recognized in the past year by the American Kennel Club will make their competitive debuts. The new pups on the block include the Bergamasco, the Berger Picard, the miniature American shepherd and the Spanish water dog -- all competing in the herding group.

In addition, the Boerboel, will be competing in the working group; the Cirneco dell'Etna in the hound group, and the Lagotto Romagnolo competing in the sporting group.

The handlers will also have a lot of poop to scoop. A total of 2,706 dogs were entered this year. They represent 50 states and 12 foreign countries.

For the sixth year in a row, New York topped state entries with 270. That was followed by California (219), Pennsylvania (203) and New Jersey (190).

Arkansas has five dogs in this hunt.

Labrador retrievers were the largest entry breed with 51. Other top entries include golden retrievers with 50 and French bulldogs with 48.

For the record, the 2015 Best in Show (see cover) was a spunky 15-inch beagle named Ch. (for champion) Tashtins Lookin for Trouble, but answering to the much more mundane name Miss P.

The nearly 4-year-old Miss P was quite the regal beagle. She's the grandniece of the legendary Uno, the first beagle to win Best in Show back in 2008.

But regal or not, there was nail-biting high drama at the 2015 event. It took Best in Show judge David Merriam an agonizing 20 minutes to make up his mind between the seven finalists.

The obvious crowd favorite was Swagger, an Old English sheepdog. Every time Merriam would stop to ponder Swagger's merits, the crowd would erupt in cheers and call Swagger's name.

Others looking like possible winners during the final tension were a Skye terrier named Charlie and a Portuguese water dog named Matisse. Miss P was a dark horse and Merriam's surprise choice.

At a news conference later, Miss P's handler, Will Alexander, reported, "She's hungry and I'm overwhelmed."

Where's Miss P now? Happily retired to motherhood.

Style on 02/14/2016

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