Westminster Dog Show Photos: Best in Show and More

[elleng]

Westminster will choose this year’s top dog on Tuesday night, but until then, the show, and the petting, goes on.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/12/sports/best-in-show-westminster.html?

[customerserviceguy]

1. I love dogs

and that's why I hate dog shows. The emphasis on "perfection" of a breed as an artwork of humankind, with the dog as the modeling clay is enough to put me off, a dog is a great because of its faithfulness as a companion to humans.

And if you knew the life of a show dog, you'd feel the same way I do. My ex-in-laws ran a business where rich people would buy a purebred dog, keep it boarded at their rural kennel, dragged around on the road to shows, to build up ribbons that the owner could display in the den, from "my dog". The dogs only got human contact in connection with the weekend shows, and twice a day for feeding. Some would behave rather neurotically.

The owners sometimes had the dog shipped in a crate in the baggage compartment of an airliner so they could "have" the dog, but inevitably the time would come for the dog to be ripped from any comfort and companionship to just spend it's days in the kennel, waiting for the next grueling trip on the road.

If you hate animal acts at circuses, you should reconsider the way you feel about dog shows.

[elleng]

2. We owned/adopted a Champion Bedlington Terrier,

adopted her from her original breeder, and saw none of the qualities you mention, tho I don't doubt they exist.