Behind the scenes at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show

(15 May 2024)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York - 14 May 2024
1. Entrance to Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
2. Handlers with dogs
3. Handler running dog
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jason Starr, dog trainer:
"Black Russian terrier. They were developed as a working dog by the Russians. Five breeds make this breed. You have the Rottweiler, the Newfoundland, the giant Schnauzer, the Airedale Terrier, and a Caucasian Shepherd. This breed was bred for military police and used in prisons to help the guards to control things. It is a working dog, so she is high in demand. So she needs a job to keep her busy. Or she'll, you know, tear something up in your house.”
5. Trainer Jason Starr with Lola
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jason Starr, dog handler:
“Our job is to care for your dog, okay. That is everything. (barking) I know. From nutrition to grooming to loving them like you would at home. These are - she belongs to a family in Sarasota, where she lives. And they love her. I mean, she's an indoor dog, just like you would have at home."
7. Handlers with dogs with trainers
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Laura Lynn Coomes, dog handler:
"So there's a very famous saying, not all dogs are show dogs. But all show dogs are pets. So you must remember that they only have a show life for so long, and they have to be loved forever.”
9. Various of handlers with dogs
STORYLINE:
Behind the scenes at the 148th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, trainer Laura Lynn Coomes offered sage advice about the competition.
"Not all dogs are show dogs, but all show dogs are pets," Coomes said.
She emphasized the dogs have a limited show life, but "they need to be loved forever."
Coomes, who handles a Great Dane named after the USS Danekraaft Phasers Set To Stun, calls him Riker, after the Star Trek commander William T. Riker, for short.
Riker won Best in Breed for the Great Dane class.
The Black Russian terrier handled by Jason Starr had an equally long Russian name so he refers to her as Lola.
"They were developed as a working dog by the Russians. Five breeds make this breed. You have the Rottweiler, the Newfoundland, the giant Schnauzer, the Airedale Terrier, and a Caucasian Shepherd," said Starr.
And like Coomes, he emphasized that she's a pet.
"She belongs to a family in Sarasota, where she lives. And they love her. I mean, she's an indoor dog, just like you would have at home," said Starr.
The Miniature Poodle Sage took top honors among the 21 dogs entered within the Non-Sporting Group.
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