NEW YORK — After two days, 2,500 dogs and more than 200 breeds, the Westminster Kennel Club is coming down to just seven canines vying for U.S. show dogs' most coveted prize.
The winner gets a trophy, ribbons, bragging rights and, this year, the distinction of winning the milestone 150th annual Westminster show.
Finalists so far include an Afghan hound named Zaida, a Lhasa apso called JJ, a Maltese named Cookie and an old English sheepdog dubbed Graham. Also in the running are a Chesapeake Bay called Cota and a Doberman pinscher named Penny.
One more rival will be selected Tuesday night before they all face off at Madison Square Garden for the best in show award.
Whichever dog ends up with the prize, lots of others scored meme-able moments or light up the crowd, even if they didn't make the finals.
Over two nights of semifinals, spectators cheered extra-loud for a Xoloitzcuintli named Calaco, a hairless dog who went around the ring like he had nothing to prove. A vizsla named Beamer charmed the crowd by hopping into a box set out for his handler's tools, and Storm the Newfoundland got laughs when he jumped up on his handler, standing almost as tall as she. Spectators cheered so loud for a golden retriever named Oliver that they drowned out the arena's announcer, and chants of “Lumpy! Lumpy!” resounded as Lumpy the Pekingese strolled before a judge.
One dog that made history in the semifinals was Millie, a Danish-Swedish farmdog. The small, spry breed just became eligible for the Westminster show this year, and Millie bested about 10 other farmdogs Tuesday afternoon to get to the evening round.
“It's been a very exciting journey” to establish the breed in the U.S., said Brita Lemmon, who competed with her farmdog, named Coyote. A plant nursery owner from Seal Beach, California, she got her first farmdog from a Danish breeder in 2000, after looking through an encyclopedia of breeds.
Westminster wins often go to pooches with professional handlers or owners with decades or even generations of experience behind them. But just reaching the elite, champions-only show is a major accomplishment in dogdom, especially for first-timers such as Joseph Carrero and his Neapolitan mastiff, Dezi.
After yearning for a Neo since his teenage years, Carrero finally got one when he was 35. A heavy equipment operator from Indian Springs, Nevada, he started showing the dog only because the breeder wanted him to. Now Carrero himself breeds and handles his Neos in the ring, while also working full-time and then some.
“It's really hard for us to do this, but we enjoy it, and he enjoys it,” Carrero said as a visitors gathered around to greet the jowly, 190-pound dog.
Boerboels, which are formidable guard dogs originally from South Africa, played a major role in how Natalee Ridenhour met her late husband and why she eventually left metropolitan life for a farm in Royse City, Texas.
On Tuesday, Ridenhour and a Boerboel named Invictus did something else she once would never have pictured: compete at the Westminster show.
The dog didn't advance past the first round. But as a visitor delightedly petted the 170-pound animal, Ridenhour said, “Honestly, the big win is: You're about the 50th person who's gotten down in his face and loved on him.”
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