Watching for the Winners at Westminster - Tuesday

EverythingDogBlog #27

(This blog first appeared on ColumbiaPatch.com on February 12, 2013.)
Four of the seven 'finalists' for Best of Show have been determined. Do you know which breeds won last night?

    

EverythigDogBlog: Watching for the Winners at Westminster, Tuesday

by Skye Anderson, MS

Fascinating fact for those watching the finals tonight – make note of the dog’s number. If the number is 1 – 5, that means the dog was in the top five of that breed for the country the past year.

Having said that, look at the 4 group results from last night (below) and note that two of them could be said to be surprises (not the top ranked in their breed) but it has also been said that the ‘sport’ of dog showing is subjective. Essentially, each dog is compared to the written standard for that breed but the standard itself is fairly subjective and a judge who judges two days in a row may put different dogs on top each day – a function of the who is in the competition that day and the dogs’ personalities.

Results from Monday Night Groups

Hound Group winner was American Foxhound #5 (followed by a Basset, a PBGV – Petits Bassets Griffons Vendeen, and an Otterhound)

Toy Group winner was Affenpinscher #9 (followed by a MinPin – Miniature Pinscher, a Pomeranian and a Pug)

Non-Sporting Group winner was Bichon Frise #1 (followed by a Standard Poodle [the largest of the 3 poodle sizes], a French Bulldog, and a Tibetan Spaniel)

Herding Group winner was Old English Sheepdog #11 (followed by a Puli, a Beauceron, and a Canaan Dog)

All in all, a good mix of dog breeds we all know and those that you may have never seen before!

For Tuesday

On tap for Tuesday is, sigh, the Labrador Retrievers (all three colors) starting at 8:30 am and the Golden Retrievers starting at 10 am, both large classes. These very popular family dogs have never won Best in Show and are not favored for tonight but I hope they will be some of the breeds that will be taped during the day.

Starting at 8 pm on USA Network tonight will be the group competitions for Sporting Dogs, Terriers, and Working Dogs followed by the 7 dogs in the finals for Best in Show (approximately 10:30 pm).

(Photo: Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show Tonight! Credit, Westminster Kennel Club)