Westminster 2013

[grizabella]

I'm really chuffed that we're getting the live stream in Australia, so I can actually watch this year! Bubbles is such a beautiful Saluki, a really stunning bitch. I must say, I'm not surprised that Jewel the American Foxhound won the group, she sure is gorgeous.

The atmosphere looks amazing, I so want to go along and watch in person!

[Gazinghound]

Oh, I'm so glad that you're able to watch it!! =D That's awesome. Perhaps we can wind up going together for both of our first times attending in person...I can only imagine that the excitement of it all makes up for not having the perfect bird's-eye TV camera view.

Bubbles was indeed absolutely breathtaking. And Jewel is such a pretty hound, too; I'm sure I've seen her win a group or two before, but not BIS. She impressed me, and is my favorite contender so far. But as usual, there were SO many dogs who stood out to me (not least of all the beautiful young Borzoi and Ibizan, the very happy Pharaoh, etc.); the first half surely was exciting, and I can't wait to see what's gonna go down tonight!! (I have some clear favorites in the Sporting group...!!)

The popular favorites seem to be the Affenpinscher, Doberman, and Wire Fox Terrier. Banana Joe and Sky have been dominating the other big televised shows for the past few months. I love 'em...especially the 'ginger'-colored Sky, for whom I was rooting on Thanksgiving when he won and kinda surprised me. I do really like seeing upset wins and unusual breeds that always get passed over, though.

[grizabella]

I think it was a very well deserved win for Banana Joe, it's a shame that there are many people on the Facebook page having a whinge (in some cases being quite rude about it), why can't people just accept the judge's decision and be happy for the winner? People seem upset that a toy breed won again, but to be fair, it was only the year before last that a VERY large dog won BIS. Maybe people just like having something to complain about.
I thought the OES, Swagger was pretty amazing to do so well as a class dog, what a start to his show career! I think Jewel still would've been my favourite to win, but they were all such gorgeous dogs.

I've been watching the recording of the Saluki judging, it's a shame they don't say who all the dogs are. I loved Bubbles, and the stunning tricolour boy who went in the ring first.

[Gazinghound]

Well, it could have been any of them in the end...but it was the second Toy group win in a row! I was pretty surprised--not just with the group upsets, but with the ultimate prizes. I mean, I *like* to be surprised. Let me be surprised, as Charlie Barkin says! It's exciting. I thought that I might be a liiiittle disappointed if one of the popular favorites I mentioned got BIS, not because they aren't outstanding, stunning dogs as well, but simply because it can be a bit underwhelming to hear the dog everyone thinks is going to get it early on, and then feel as though you KNOW s/he is going to take the top prize...and then s/he DOES. Feeling as though you knew whom the winner'd be all along, and that the rest of them were just being put through the paces out of tradition and respect and to give the appearance of competition, can make any sporting event a lot less exciting. I also liked that there were some rare and unusual ones in the running, and breeds (like the Affenpinscher!) that have never won Westminster before.
And of course, all of my pooches and little friends around my room were rooting for their own breeds (especially the Portie, Wirehaired Pointers, OES, and Bichons during BIS!) Ulla was on my bed for much of the show, but lost some interest after the hound group. ;D I think she'd have been all right with the Parson Russell or Toy Fox Terrier or something, too, though, so she could tell her best pal next door that the winner somewhat resembled her.

So, anyway. I liked the BIS judge. He was right; they were all very worthy of serious ribbonage! Liked how he coined that phrase. My top two favorites were Oakley the German Wirehaired Pointer, and American Foxhound Jewel. Jewel was just such a lovely, elegant sort of scenthound, with a very pretty head/face. Oakley was handsome as anything, with a proud stance and a strapping self-stack. And then I very much liked Matisse the PWD, Adam the "two-faced"/"black-and-white-cookie" Smooth Fox Terrier, Honor the cute Bichon Frise, saucy little Banana Joe, and of course, Swagger--he was one cool boy. That was a fabulous win for such a young guy, and you can tell that he'll be one to watch from now on. I too see an outstanding career in his future.
I loved them all, and it was not an easy year for me to pick a favorite or to rank. Throughout the show I was quite impressed by a number of contenders, whom I would have been happy to see take top honors as well as the representatives of my favorite breeds.
And I'm so glad that they've finally implemented the Reserve BIS; I always liked that Crufts did that.

So, I was very happy for the winners. Banana Joe's confident reaction to winning just totally won me over; he was so adorable the whole time, and just ate up the victory, standing up so proud and dignified and barking his feisty little barks. Affens have such spunky personalities; so much spirit and attitude. And once most of my very favorite breeds and dogs failed to win their groups, there was really no way for me to be very disappointed. I knew there would be more jerks bashing Joe--the same sorts that talked crap about Malachy last year. I can understand being disappointed in a result, but any true dog lover should be more than willing to set their personal feelings aside and be glad for WHICHEVER dog wins. After all, do they STILL not get how shows work and what the purpose is? Judges can't be influenced by which group or breed won it the prior year, whether the dog is big or small, which ones are the most popular or "audience favorites"...for crying out loud! It's sad, the reactions some people give. And they DO seem to forget that it was only two years ago that a giant, rugged hound won it--so even if they WERE deliberately trying to make the winners' list varied and balanced, it's patently untrue that "they only pick silly-looking little frou-frou dogs!" I do believe that many people are only happy if they can find something to whine about in order to make themselves feel important. Glad there was such good sportsmanship visible among the actual competitors.

I have wanted to watch some of the breed judging videos, but I'm afraid to play any of them for more than a few minutes, because my computer has developed an issue that causes it to crash if I play too much video, a Flash game for more than 10-15 minutes, etc. I guess it's a Flash thing, but I'm so sick of wasting hours restoring the thing that I'm just trying to restrict it to no more than a few short videos a day. Blaargh. I do see the marvelous tri and a few other definite stunners in there...all feathereds, it seems. Still, Bubbles was just about a perfect pick for BOB, I think. WHAT a dog!! It *would* be nice if we could be told all of the other entrants' names. =\

Oh, and I AM IN INTENSE LOOOOOVE with this year's poster!!: www.westminsterkennelclub.org/2013/show/news/poster_100812.html
Favorites galore...!!!

[grizabella]

Ooh, that poster is lovely!
How unfortunate that your computer is being uncooperative. That must be a real pain! Maybe due a date with the computer doctor. My poor laptop is still out of action, Mum's kindly letting me use her old one that she barely uses until the time comes that I can spare the money for a new one, whenever that may be (looking like a couple of years away at this point)! I think there was one smoothie if I remember correctly. I do love them smooths. <3

I assume that because Westminster is such a big thing, a lot of the people who comment aren't really 'dog show people', and don't entirely understand the concept of it being a case of judging which individual fits the standard best, rather than which individual/breed the judge just 'likes'. I think it's a bit silly to complain about the judge's choice, after all, the spectators aren't the ones actually get their hands on the dogs to feel how they're put together. There maybe reasons why a judge chooses one dog over another that spectators can't see. It is nice that for the most part people are being good sports.

Is Ulla going to be entering at all next year, or will she maybe be spayed?

[Gazinghound]

It really is...I seem to have it under control and working okay, but I'm always suspicious of that! It actually crashed earlier today and took about 20 minutes-ish to restore itself. I always pay attention to whatever was open that evidently caused the crash, and it seems that when you have any kind of contest voting on a relatively "high-tech" (maybe Flash-using?) site, such as Squishables or We Love Fine...THAT is one of the numerous things that I've (so far) discovered can lead to it, if you have it open too long. Like, say, 15+ minutes. Numerous WLF tabs also did that once.
I do everything I can to avoid involving my techno-whiz brother simply because he is so intrusive and insists on taking over the computer to try and fix it rather than telling me what to try doing, which I'd much prefer. And I REALLY don't want to have to replace it yet again and back everything up. Anyway...aww, that bites!! Lucky your mom has the rarely-used spare.

That is true. Sometimes I feel that if I have to explain the concept of shows one more time to somebody spouting off their ignorance without even trying to understand, I'm just gonna rage. xD Others do just need the explanation, and then apologize. It is in most cases quite dumb to think that one's preferences could hold more weight than the opinion of the judge--who became one after many years of study and experience, and actually gets to feel and observe the dogs up close.

I'm unsure...I believe her breeders are scaling back a great deal on their own showing and breeding, and no longer care very much whether or not she is entered again. They clearly don't plan to breed her at this point; their goal was just to title the entire show-quality litter. So on the one hand it would be rather nice for all of us not to have to deal with the heat cycles anymore. (Except that it's kinda cute how she "nests" and sleeps on my bed more often...NOT when she destroys my mom's closet, though. V.V)
YET...if I ever had the time and felt like entering a Westminster (which I've all but PROMISED myself I'm going to do next year--just give it our absolute best and have a good time with it), or going for the 25 extra Grand Champion points, it would also be neat to be able to do that. When she gets older she'd be eligible for Veterans. So, I'm not sure; we'll just have to feel it out, I guess.