In case you haven’t spent enough money this weekend, I’ve got a suggestion for you. Before you head home, you must stop at the Secord Gallery and check out the new show. The Sarah Evans Collection opened Saturday and several pieces had been sold by the end of the day. There is plenty to tempt dog lovers in every breed. The show featuring over 100 bronzes, paintings, etchings, porcelain, and some truly irresistible dog jewelry by artists like George Earl and Arthur Wardle.

Bill Secord’s favorite piece is the 25 x 30 inches oil on canvas by English artist Maud Earl. Painted in  1890, it depicts a Field Spaniel in a landscape. He notes that it’s not only beautifully painted, it is a historic depiction of the breed, before it was revised into the leggier, lighter boned type that we are familiar with today.

He describes Sarah Evans as “one of the old guard of the dog world. I was very fond of her.”  Evans was a devoted a Field Spaniel fancier and her dedication to her breed’s history inspired her collection. It initially focused on bronzes and drawings of her breed. Over the years, it expanded to include fine books and artwork featuring many breeds.  Secord explains that “Her art collection formed an illustrated history of her breed’s evolution.  She did not want nineteenth -century paintings of dogs that looked like her modern dogs.  She wanted beautiful paintings of dogs the way they looked at the time.”

This is a dazzling display of gorgeous artwork. Don’t miss it. My favorites include the absolutely precious oil on board portrait of an Italian Greyhound by Edwin Holt, a pair of 1932 Hound and Fox etchings by Marguerite Kirmse, and all of the Greyhound bronzes.

And that’s far from all the eye candy waiting for you at the William Secord Gallery. You will find works of every size in price ranges to fit every budget. The gallery is located at 52 East 76 Street. For more information call 212-249-0075 or visit www.dogpainting.com

Celebrity spotting  always adds to Westminster’s fun. You never know who might be there, maybe Martha Stewart, Glenn Close, or Bill Cosby. Yesterday at the Dachshund ring I ran into one of New York’s local legends, the irrepressible Murray Weinstock Murray is a veteran of New York’s music scene, a commercial songwriter, and diehard Dachshund lover. His work is a longtime favorite in the Dachshund world,  beginning with his classic Dach Song.

Murray’s songwriting talents were showcased in sitcoms and commercials until he acquired his Dachshund Sparky. He turned his talents to writing the theme song for New York’s Dach Fest, the annual Dachshund celebration at Washington Square Park. This fatally catchy tune has since become a certified classic and the breed’s unofficial anthem

“After the Dach Song came out everyone wanted me to do more dog tunes so I started writing Tails of the City, songs from a dog’s point of view.” With guest performances by John Sebastian, Phoebe Snow, and Dr. John, this jazz and blues album expanded Murray’s fan base to dog lovers in every breed.

Since then, he has written 20 more dog inspired songs featured in Top Dog Tonite.  Murray calls it a musical follies done in collaboration with Leonard Peters. It previewed last Friday, the night of winter storm Nemo. But Murray’s fans are loyal and they turned out at The Actors Guild Hall for a working sing thru of Murray’s new material. 

The story takes place at the Top Dog Tonite talent show. The “talent” includes Chihuahua twins singing a Mexican Lounge Lizard number, “Freddie & Eddie”,  King Charles Cavalier, Grey Charles, belts out “I Got An Itch”,  and that crowd pleasing quintet The Five Dachshunds perform the  “Bow Wow Polka”.

If you think this sounds good, just wait until you see what’s going on backstage! Napoleon, the French Bulldog is trying to romance Lucia, the Basenji, who has her heart set on Gustave, the War Dog Mongrel. Handsome and exciting, but unfortunately not purebred ….Gustave makes this point in his ballad “What Breed Am I?”  The building drama of this tense love triangle leads up to the shows big stage number… I won’t reveal everything, but trust me; you will love it.

Murray will be back at Westminster today. So bring along your copy of Tails of the City and get it autographed. You might even get an impromptu rendition of some of his new material.

by Amy Fernandez

Dog people pride themselves in their fortitude. Rain, snow, sleet, and hail often complicate trips, but rarely stop them. Westminster’s Midtown Manhattan location and February date traditionally makes it one of the year’s biggest travel challenges.

Last week’s snow definitely tested hardcore exhibitors. I have heard countless tales of stranded exhibitors and improvising travel plans. Like I said, dog people never cease to impress me with their sheer determination. But this story may qualify the winner.

It involves a group of local Dachshund exhibitors. A couple of them live on Long Island, one came up from Atlanta, another from Vancouver. Pre Westminster Dachshund specialties were scheduled at the Meadowlands, the Pennsylvania, and DALI, on the island. This gives you a general idea of their plans.

Many exhibitors scrambled to revise travel plans when New York area airports started canceling flights Wednesday. One member of their group was rerouted from LGA to Newark on Thursday afternoon. This may not look like much on the map, but trust me, it’s never good news.  But these are dog people, they went to fetch her. Thanks to a combination of weather related panic and typical heavy traffic along this route….round trip from LI to Newark took TEN hours.

Ok, that’s bad, but these are diehard dog people. Although Friday’s weather predictions were ominous,  it seemed like they could get out of NJ and back to Suffolk County before it got too bad. They were probably right…but there was no early star because they agreed to give the judge a ride. When it finally hit late afternoon, it came in with a vengeance- just after our Dachshund group finally got on the road.

Forecasters never accurately predicted this storm’s path. It dumped record snowfalls on Mass and Conn, before sweeping across Long Island Sound. They drove right into it.  Within an hour, it was about a foot deep and motorists were calling a truce all over the LIE. Luckily, they had four wheel drive and a driver with plenty of experience in deep snow. But it was still coming down. Finally, they got off the expressway. That was pure luck. At the next exit they would have encountered 60 stalled, buried cars that made headlines around the world last Saturday. Instead, they took the back roads. By then, they had been on the road for four hours and were about half a mile from home.

They made it within a couple blocks from home before they had to hike it. Dachshunds and hip deep snow don’t make for a pleasant hike. And the main player in this venture is 80 years old. That hike put her into a state of collapse. Calling 911 was obviously not an option.

Against all odds, everyone got up the hill and made it home. They skipped DALI the next day. Even the show chairman never made it to the show that day.  Much of LI remains buried and LIE wasn’t cleared until today. But this group was on their game for the Sunday specialty at the Hotel Pennsylvania,  and their dogs were benched today.

In my book, they deserve BIS.

Westminster has done their best to make the place look like home. The club’s colors and logo define the territory the moment you arrive at the Piers. Even so, long time Westminster exhibitors better brace themselves for a shock when they enter this big, rambling show site. Overall, you will probably come away from the experience will a feeling of déjà vu.  It’s sort of familiar, but something is not quite right.

Westminster has provided plenty of signs and diagrams, which makes it pretty easy to find your way around. In that respect, it’s nothing like the magical mystery tour that exhibitors faced last year trying to find their way between the two exhibition areas.  But that doesn’t shorten the distance to ….well…everything! If you need to find a restroom, exercise your dog, or get a snack, it’s a whole new ballgame. Although you don’t face the challenge of navigating massive crowds, absolutely nothing is steps away.

Think Crufts, not Westminster

The benching area is extremely spacious. At each pier, benching is situated between the rings at each end. If you happen to have dogs in two or more rings, plan to do A LOT of walking. The worst case scenario happened to more than a few people today. Their dogs were benched on one pier and showing on the other one.  Bring your running shoes or enlist some help before you get to the show. The exercise pens were set up outside the doors, which generally entailed a long walk. And don’t forget that this site is right on the Hudson. It is very cold and windy out there!

On the other hand, the new venue is paradise for shoppers. The vendors have plenty of space. It’s nothing like the frenzied marketplace atmosphere we’ve all come to associate with Westminster. You can browse and take your time. Likewise, the food courts are large with SEATING! (And needless to say, they are not cheap).

Most frequently, long time Westminster fans commented that the atmosphere just wasn’t the same. No, it didn’t include frenzied mobs of spectators and camera crews jostling for space in an overheated benching area with dogs and exhibitors packed like sardines. Before, during, and after the show, the travails of Westminster benching was a perpetual source of complaint for exhibitors.  Ironically, now that it’s gone, we suddenly realize that it wasn’t so bad after all.

Parking and Unloading at the Piers

By the end of day one, the verdict on Westminster’s new show site was pretty unanimous. It’s definitely  more spacious and comfortable for dogs and exhibitors. But there is a very definite trade off for this comfort.

And that starts at the beginning. Whether they were driving or using the shuttles provided by Westminster, everyone agreed that it was a long, time consuming trip. The only tactic to shorten the wait was getting a jump on Midtown weekday traffic by heading over there before 6:00 A.M. By all accounts, the bus trip was about 20 minutes that time of the day. I gave it a test run about two hours later. 

By then, it was raining hard. Exhibitors got soaked looking for the bus stop, which turned out to be on 7^th at the south end of the block between the Affinia and Pennsylvania. We waited about 15 minutes for the bus. It took another 15 minutes to get everyone onboard and organized. The crosstown trip was very slow that time of the day. In total, my shuttle took slightly over an hour.

But the passengers took it in stride. No one had taken any chances on missing their ring time. Most of the 8:00 AM commuters were planning to show around noon. As long as you’re not in a hurry, it’s a great opportunity to chat and meet new dog friends. I tried the shuttle one more time today, off peak. Around 2:00, I boarded the bus that stops in front of the New Yorker. It was equally slow- and that was two hours before rush hour.

Bus queues may be quite long when benching hours end at 6:00, and no one has the benefit of staggered arrival and departure times. Then again, every exhibitor is dreading mass exodus from the venue at 6:00.

Those who opted to drive in had mixed bag of experiences. Again, if you arrived before 6:00, you faced a shorter wait and better possibilities of parking on the roof. But regardless of your arrival time, you had a 45 minute wait in queue that snaked along 57^th Street to the unloading zone. One hardy exhibitor noted that at least you were warm and dry sitting in your car. Exhibitors who arrived alone faced the biggest challenge. According to the premium list you can’t leave your car unattended. And that’s tricky if for a lone exhibitor.

Overall, waiting to unload, driving to the parking lot, and walking back required at least an hour. Add time to that estimate if you have to hunt around for a parking lot after the roof lot fills up.

See you tomorrow!