Showing at the Piers

The Standard Poodle ring seemed a good place to measure the ease of grooming and showing in this new venue. Handler Julie Pantages of Gloucester, MA appreciated the ability to warm up her dog, GCh Blacktie Tailor Made (“Tailor”) before entering the ring– an impossible feat in the grooming area at Madison Square Garden.  “This is wonderful–we’re right next to the ring, and I don’t have to budget 20 minutes to get there,” Pantages said.

The distance to the ring may have been short, but getting there was still a challenge. Gone was the holding area from the Garden, so spectators and handlers jockeyed for position ringside.  There are no grandstands at the Piers– just a single row of chairs on three sides of the ring.  Spectators not fortunate enough to snag a seat either sat hunched on the floor in front of the chairs or tried to see over the heads of others.  A pretty impossible feat, so some owners stood on their dogs’ grooming tables.  This gave them a better vantage point, but the distance and dim light made it  impossible to read the armband numbers of the competitors, or to see the winning dogs receive their ribbons.

After the judging, Penny Dugan relaxed a bit with “Ali,” GCh Brighton Lakeridge Encore, who was awarded Best of Variety. Dugan, who assists Ali’s handler, Tim Brazier, had nothing but praise for the Westminster staff. “Everything has worked out perfectly,” she said.  “I caught the 6 a.m. shuttle bus and had no problems.”  Ali arrived happy and ready to play– which she indicates by grabbing and snapping Dugan’s wrist band.  “She got a little wet, but it wasn’t a problem,” Dugan added.  “We had time to bathe and dry her, and the electricity is better than it ever was at the Garden.”

Dugan was, however, glad that she wasn’t scissoring a black Standard Poodle.  While the Pier’s side walls were largely glass, the natural light was dim, and there were gaps in the overhead lighting.  Groomers with tables under one of these gaps were challenged with a breed as sculpted as the Standard Poodle.  “I didn’t have much trouble with Ali–she’s white. but the handlers with blacks…” ”Dugan said, shaking her head.

Ali is owned by Toni and Martin Sosnoff of New York.  She was bred by L’Dyne Brennan of Wellington, FL and Debra Ferguson-Jones of Seattle, WA.  Tonight, she’ll be back on familiar ground in the Garden–representing her variety in the Non-Sporting Group.

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Posted by JoanHarrigan on Feb 11 2013. Filed under Current Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.