NYC dog handlers reveal how they prepare for the Westminster Dog Show

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is a three-day event, but preparations for the weekend take place throughout the year.

The annual contest awards the hardest working dog Best in Show, and the 2024 champion will be chosen Tuesday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows. However, there is also another rare breed of dog among them. They are hard-working breeders, owners, and handlers. To make your canine teeth shine.

Here we have four humans behind a dog who are training as hard as a puppy.

jamie goodrich

“It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of pressure. It’s a lot of stress and anxiety,” Jamie Goodrich, 41, of Central Square, New York, told the Post. “There’s nothing easier than trusting your dog not to poop in the ring.”

A “very proud” breeder, owner and handler, Goodrich has been showing dogs for about 10 years and currently has a 4-year-old Akita named Aero.

She spends a lot of time helping dogs form muscle memory and mental training, but dogs also need sensory adaptations because “there’s so much going on.”

“It’s all repetitive. You expose your dog to other dogs and you have to think about how to act in crowded situations,” she says, adding that she goes to handling classes with her dog once or twice a week and teaches classes. said Goodrich, who teaches. “Sometimes you come in to get in the ring and there’s 50 dogs in there. Some dogs will be surprised.”

During class, they let a hair dryer fly in the background for audio simulation, and Goodrich takes Aero to Home Depot and Lowe’s to get used to loud noises.

“It’s pretty extensive that you have to get your dog used to, especially in New York City with all the honking horns and fire trucks and whistles,” she said. “I live next to a fire station, so I had them respond to it.”

There are moments of levity as well. At one point, Aero encountered “Zoomy” as he was preparing to enter the ring.

“I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is going to be really bad.’ She ended up putting it together, and everyone was laughing hysterically at this jumping Akita,” Good said. Rich said.

Even outside the ring, Aero has “exceeded” [her] She is now a service dog for Goodrich’s daughter, Shannon Blackwood. She will be 20 next month and she suffers from epilepsy.

While attending a dog show a few years ago, Aero started jumping on her daughter, and Goodrich looked over and saw the then 17-year-old looking “all white.” Aero stood over her, protecting her.

“Aero alerted me that he was having a seizure and he just had one himself,” Goodrich said. “Me and a few friends were completely caught off guard.”

kei rail

Kay Reil, a breeder and owner-handler for 32 years, has been to Westminster at least 10 times, this year with her bull mastiff, Arthur.

The 53-year-old former science teacher joked that she wasn’t sure which was harder to teach, dogs or children. But by showing them your dog, you can connect with them on a more emotional level.

“I showed other people’s dogs and they didn’t bond,” Reil, who lives in Huntington, Long Island, told the Post. “My dog ​​loves working with me. He gets so excited about doing things with me and getting my approval and attention and it shows. .”

Seeing the connection Reil feels with her dogs and how happy they are is her favorite part to show.

“I take them to the beach here on Long Island, which we run, and it really puts my mind at ease when I see them running and being so happy,” she said. .

Of course, the dogs have to train physically “like athletes” for the show, but since dogs imitate the “jittery” movements of their handlers, it’s important for humans to keep up, too. Reil said.

“I have to stay in shape because I have five and I have to run them all every day,” she said.

Although less common, Lail has also seen bites during her career as an actress. She once bit her dog in the face when another dog entered the ring, distracting her.

“I work hard to make sure that never happens. I cover my eyes if they get too close to other dogs and I keep them in their happy place,” says Arthur, who guided Arthur this year. Mr. Reil said. “It’s like driving. It’s not you who causes the accident, it’s the other person.”

But Reil emphasized that “the important thing for dogs is that it’s not just a hobby, it’s a family.”

flood of mara

It’s a true family affair for Mara Flood, who started showing dogs with her sisters in the late ’80s. When she got married and had children, she stopped until her daughter Becca, now 24, was old enough to compete juniors at age 9.

“I said to my husband, ‘Maybe we want another dog show champion or a show dog,'” said Flood, a breeder, owner and handler who brought in Paw, a collie, this year. “Now, 15 years later, we are here with multiple champions.”

Flood and her daughter performed in more than 100 dog shows together before heading off to college at age 18.

“It’s been several years since we’ve been doing shows without her, but my heart still breaks every time I get in the van to go to a dog show. I miss her every dog ​​show,” Flood said.

One of her favorite memories was watching her daughter win Best Junior for the third time and handing over the trophy.

“That was a goal she set when she was 9 years old,” Flood said. “We worked hard for that. It was a very, very emotional moment for me.”

And in 2016, Flood and her daughter won Best of Breed awards in the male and female puppy categories.

“It was a very memorable experience for me and my daughter to finish in the top two for this breed at Westminster,” she said.

Camila Zsasz

“I come in with my dog ​​and just trust in his ability, and that’s the best thing I can do,” said Camila Szasz, a Queens breeder, owner and handler for eight years. Ta.

But it’s not always easy.

“I’d be lying if I said nothing happens, no one gets bitten, because that’s what happens,” she said. “I saw a judge get bitten once.”

Zsasz has made many friends in the dog show world, but also “a lot of enemies.”

“This is a very emotionally charged sport. It tends to be all-encompassing. Emotions are obviously very high,” she said. “If you’re not having fun, why are you having fun?” After all, that’s my goal. I want to have fun. ”

Zsasz agreed that training will take place every day. “In my household, every aspect of life is like a training opportunity. They are my pets, they live with me, and the way I live my life is to train nonstop.

“Dogs are not forced to work non-stop,” she clarified. “It’s a really fun experience for the dog, and he spends most of the day resting in his crate.”

Zsasz said there’s added pressure to “prove something,” especially when showing dogs related to former winners.

“You have to live up to some expectations. People just want to prove they can do it,” she said.

“If you’re in a sport for the fame, the applause, etc., and not for the betterment of the breed itself, you’re probably in the wrong sport.”