An Old-Timer Comes Through

A 10yo dog won Best In Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, scoring one for old coots everywhere. As someone who is striving diligently for cootdom, I was pulling for him - my daughter can verify this - although the Scottish Terrier also jumped up my list after executing a perfectly timed on-camera squat-and-squirt at the end of its spotlighted walk-around during the finals (it's 3 minutes into the Best In Show video, or 18:06 on their counter). I've watched quite a few dog shows on TV and this was the first time that I had seen that happen during the actual event. I think it deserved a special award, perhaps Best Performance of a Bodily Function.

It occurred to me that I wouldn't be a suitable member of the audience for a show like that, since booing the poodles and heckling the judge seem to be frowned upon. There's also a level of stuffiness and obsession that I probably wouldn't be comfortable around, having grown up with a more casual view of dogs. Our family dogs were black Labs with the exception of a spaniel-something cross and a black Lab/St.Bernard cross that required the purchase of a tow chain after it showed it could break a standard dog chain without effort. Real Dogs.

My Mother-in-law recently acquired almost the exact opposite; a registered miniature dachshund named Precious Hope (my suggestion of Vienna Sausage or Cocktail Wienie having been shot down) that would be small for a cat and is allegedly valued at over $1000 (no, she didn't spend that kind of money; it was a gift from the breeder, a relative). I must admit that it does make a perfect dog for her, since it doesn't require much space or sustenance. It almost never even barks. It's a dog for someone who be better off with a cat, but doesn't want one.