Westminster 2009

[Seravieve]

The only dog I don't understand winning is the herding group winner. I've seen that Puli in person and he's, in my opinion, not that nice. Plus, they dye the dog's coat. I was kind of bummed about the Ridgeback not getting placed. Not because I'm a huge fan of the breed, but BOY THAT DOG COULD MOVE!!!!!

Can't wait for tonight!!!

They dye the dog?!?! Oh geez. I take back my comment then. I really like the Puli breed but that seems like cheating.

[boomersooner]

I was wondering about the dye thing, too....when they were showing the dogs backstage, they kept showing this cute little beagle, but it looked like his handler was putting brown dye around his face....maybe it was something else, but I don't know.....My little dalmatian almost never gets chosen, either...a few years back, there was one that went pretty far, but not the case lately. We'll see the sporting tonight....Diamond Jim the springer won a few years ago...we'll see....I love them all....

[Alysser]

I watched it all last night even though I was Dead tired. The Deerhound won the hound group, I was also rooting for the Ridgeback, he was one of the most beautiful dogs I've ever seen. I thought the Wolfhound deserved 2nd place, he looked AMAZING, but man I think that was the biggest dog I've ever seen.

Who won the Terrier? I also wanted to ask why some of the terriers were disqualified right there in the show ring? I didn't get that.

I can't believe they are even allowed to dye the dog! That's really unfair to the other breeds, I don't even like pulis that much.

Uno was there last night, he was all excited when people were cheering for him LOL he was adorable he did deserve that win!

[cali]

they are NOT allowed to die or chalk the dogs, everyone just kind of looks past it. its chalk that was being put on the beagle BTW. i wish the Dalmation did better, it was a gorgous dog, first truly good Dal in a long time. I was upset that Lecks sister was absent, she was entered and the only Toller absent, I was like "booo" lol, Tyson won though, he is a nice dog.all the barbie collies were gross as usual. I was upset about the GSD..I was so impressed with the picture that I was expecting a decent dog, then when I saw her on TV.. oh my, she was nervous, her rear was wobbling when she tried to stack, and the handler dragged the poor thing off her feet on the down and back!

[scrain2329]

The the Airedale was DQ'ed right? The judge from the terrier group knew him and worked with him previously and was disqualified due to conflict of interest. I didnt know anybody else was...

I loved the irish wolfhound. So beautiful.. so BIG!
I am so excited for sporting!!!

[boomersooner]

Thanks for answering the question about he chalk!! Never thought of that.....no, and that doesn't seem fair......I thought the ridgeback was pretty, too.....Our dog trainer had one named JJ, and he was always so bored, demonstrating what had to be taught, etc....that is until Cassie came...he loved Cassie!! Even his owner was laughing at him...he would get so excited when she came to class....he even wet on her back!! I guess he was "marking" his territory....his owner was mortified! HA....back to the topic....I loved the bloodhound and the wolf hound, too.....I also love black and tan coonhounds...don't know why, met one once, and he was soooo friendly.

[Alysser]

Thanks for answering the question about he chalk!! Never thought of that.....no, and that doesn't seem fair......I thought the ridgeback was pretty, too.....Our dog trainer had one named JJ, and he was always so bored, demonstrating what had to be taught, etc....that is until Cassie came...he loved Cassie!! Even his owner was laughing at him...he would get so excited when she came to class....he even wet on her back!! I guess he was "marking" his territory....his owner was mortified! HA....back to the topic....I loved the bloodhound and the wolf hound, too.....I also love black and tan coonhounds...don't know why, met one once, and he was soooo friendly.

Aww that's so cute.

Oh that's another dog I forgot about, I'm not a fan of those dogs at all but he was downright GORGEOUS!!

[Alysser]

STUMP the SUSSEX Spaniel just won the 2009 Westminster Dog Show!

All the dogs looked fabulous, I was rooting for the Giant Schnauzer and Stump was my second favorite in the last line-up. Congratulations STUMP!!

[Grace]

Stump is totally adorable!! At the age of 10, he is the oldest dog ever to win Westminster. He was retired for 5 years. He was terribly ill back in 2004 - spent 19 days in the Vet hospital at Texas A&M.

[Alysser]

The the Airedale was DQ'ed right? The judge from the terrier group knew him and worked with him previously and was disqualified due to conflict of interest. I didnt know anybody else was...

I loved the irish wolfhound. So beautiful.. so BIG!
I am so excited for sporting!!!

But he can't just DQ a dog for it's owner can he? I mean he can't just put DQ a dog for his personal conflicts with it's handler.

[scrain2329]

But he can't just DQ a dog for it's owner can he? I mean he can't just put DQ a dog for his personal conflicts with it's handler.

because he is the handler, he is showing the dog, he is responsible. He can DQ the dog because if he has a friendship with the handler, it will be unfair to the other dogs. If somebody else was showing it wouldn't matter, the dog wouldn't be out. They were saying that they knew the chances and went anyways, just being there was enough for them; to qualify. I can understand. They put the faith, money, and attention into one handler, to switch could make the dog nervous and ruin the chances anyways.

At my shows for horses, if there is any relation to a judge by friendship, family, or business matter you can not show under the judge and will be excused. Same ruling for dog shows it seems.
Makes sense I guess but a bummer for the owners!

[scrain2329]

http://www.doggeddogdom.com/news/?tag=disqualification
found this, which was interesting about the disqualified dogs

[Grace]

But he can't just DQ a dog for it's owner can he? I mean he can't just put DQ a dog for his personal conflicts with it's handler.

It was my impression that the judge of that group had worked with the handlers previously. There was more than one disqualified last night.

I figured it was known in advance that it would happen. Otherwise an owner could raise a stink that s/he wasn't notified about it.

[Giselle]

Shayna, I really liked the GSD and I watched the breed judging with scrutiny. The GSD didn't wobble for me. Granted, it was cow hocked when it free stacked, but due to its standard, even the most ideal GSD will have a slight cowhock upon freestacking. Whether that's right or wrong is pretty subjective, but I've definitely seen wobblers and that GSD wasn't a wobbler to me. At least, that's what I could pull from the breed judging video.

Also, in breed judging, I would argue that the winning GSD was one of the more confident ones. When the judge asked each individual GSD to approach him, the winner approached him and actually sidled up to him versus the second GSD (the darker one) who approached him with caution and wariness. So, maybe the group judging was a bad representative and maybe undeserved for the GSD. I will say that I thought the GSD's reach could improve, but it I'm very very glad that they chose a moderate dog for once.

[finn's mom]

I actually picked the winner this time. That's a first for me. There was just something about that spaniel. Not a breed I am into, but I loved Stump. The non stop tail wagging I think it was did it for me.

I have become an admirer of the Norfolk Terrier, for sure. And, David I both really loved the Scottish Deerhound. What a beautiful, happy gait!