Angel on a Leash (15 page)

So with Chet's guidance, I made it my objective to talk about the real dogs and real people in our great family sport of showing dogs. It was important for the credibility of our messages that people understood that the same dogs they were seeing in the show ring are beloved family pets. These dogs don't spend their days between shows sitting around on doggy cushions eating doggy bonbons; they are real dogs that chew up our shoes, sleep on our couches, bark at the mailman, steal food off our counters, and shed on our clothes. I wanted everyone to realize that Westminster is a celebration of the world's greatest show dogs, but it is also a celebration of the dogs in our lives.

I gave all of the owners of the Best of Breed winners a TV information card to fill out so I would have something interesting to say about them on the telecast when they appeared in their Groups that evening. I asked them to tell me about more than their dogs' twenty-seven Group wins and nine Bests in Show; I asked them to tell me stories about what their dogs do at home or elsewhere.

I've gotten a lot of great stories on these cards over the years in a lot of categories:

Funny:

• A dog's favorite thing to do each day was to go through the drive-through at Dunkin' Donuts for donut holes

• A dog named Rembrandt was one of a litter of five, all named for toothpastes by their retired dentist owner

• A Dachshund accompanied his famous archaeologist owner on excavations; she said that he was an excellent digger but never kept notes and tended to mix up the bones

Near-tragic:

• One winner survived ingesting 176 allergy pills

• Another survived an airline mishap in which two of his littermates were killed

• Another winner survived being “misplaced” by the airline for eight hours en route to New York

• Others survived vehicle rollovers and crashes, emergency surgeries, and getting hit by a car

Please say “hi” to:

• Wives at home expecting to give birth any day

• The parishioners of an owner-handler who is a priest and knew he would have to answer to them for missing Mass on the Sunday before Westminster

• A handler's two daughters, who were both in the hospital about to deliver new grandchildren for her

Congratulations:

• To a handler, a mother of eight, who had just graduated from college. My question: “She had time to study?”

Hero awards (all dogs who won their Breeds at Westminster):

• To the dog who absorbed a shotgun blast and saved his owner's son

• To the dog who foiled an attempted armed robbery at his owner's veterinary clinic

• To the dog who saved his handler's husband from a house fire

I also found out how some of the winning dogs spent their time when not in the show ring. They had been part of print and television ad campaigns, in magazine articles (even as a “centerfold”), in MTV music videos, on Animal Planet's
Breed All About It,
in plays and operas, on
Hollywood Squares,
in movies, on
Oprah,
on the
Today
Show—and the list goes on.

Eventually, people began sharing stories about their dogs visiting children in schools, seniors in nursing homes, and patients in health care facilities. When these stories were told on television, they begat more stories. I wondered if the dogs had been doing these things all along, or if some of the owners heard that such stories made for good TV and subsequently got their dogs involved in these kinds of activities. However it happened, having a non-dog-show story about your show dog suddenly became a big deal, and people loved sharing those stories. Even better, therapy dogs started showing up everywhere. Even in the Best in Show ring.

The winners of Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show instantly become the world's newest single-name celebrities. That gets confirmed many times on the day after the show with appearances on NBC's
Today Show,
CBS's
Early Show,
ABC's
Good Morning America,
and many other programs. There are photo opportunities at the Empire State Building, at Sardi's, and with Donald Trump. People holler at the dog (“Rufus, you can come to work with us any time,” yelled a hard-hat construction worker in 2006); they come running over to take cell-phone pictures or call friends and family (“Mom, you'll never guess who I am standing with!”); they cheer as the dog passes by.

As great as they were as show dogs, some of the Westminster Best in Show winners had an even greater impact as therapy dogs. Some of them were officially registered and making regular visits. Others got a paw in the door due to their celebrity status and performed admirably in limited exposure. After all, show dogs are accustomed to strangers (judges and others) putting their hands on them and working in close quarters, and sometimes that makes the transition to being a therapy dog a little easier than it might be for non-show dogs.

In 2006, the Colored Bull Terrier Ch. Rocky Top's Sundance Kid capped a great show career by going Best in Show at Westminster. “Rufus” had previously won many Bests, but notably he captured BIS at two big shows in the fall of 2005—the Morris & Essex Dog Show and the National Dog Show presented by Purina—in a career that saw him become the top-winning Bull Terrier of all time.

Rufus became the hardest working dog in show business over the next few years, serving as a Therapy Dog Ambassador for the National Dog Show on NBC, doing appearances for Angel On A Leash, winning an American Kennel Club ACE (Award for Canine Excellence) in the therapy dog category, and helping to raise money for Bull Terrier rescue. All of this was in addition to his volunteer work with his just-as-hardworking owners, Barbara and Tom Bishop, visiting children's hospitals, schools, wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and many other people and places.

Rufus has his own Facebook page, on which his education is listed as follows: “Studied Therapy Dog at Westminster Kennel Club School of Best in Show Winners.”

I was doing an interview once about Rufus, and I was asked if Rufus was in a class by himself because of all of the therapy dog work that he was doing. I gave the writer a great quote from Houston Oilers football coach Bum Phillips when he had been asked years ago about his star running back, Earl Campbell: “I don't know if he's in a class by himself, but whatever class he's in, it doesn't take long to take roll.”

In this case, I told the interviewer, I know that Rufus and James are both sitting in the front row of that class.

James (Ch. Felicity's Diamond Jim), an English Springer Spaniel, had won top honors at Westminster in 2007 after a great career in which he had won nearly everything there was to win, including BIS at the AKC/ Eukanuba Invitational Championship. He was Number Two All-Breeds in 2006 and finished with fifty-one career Bests.

James was co-bred and co-owned by Terry Patton, with whom he lived. Terry is a dog trainer, and she volunteered with James in health care and extended care facilities. James began making nursing home visits when he was eight months old, and he eventually became an assistance dog and an emotional support dog for Terry's father, who suffered from dementia. “He was having a great career as a show dog, but he was unique in that regard because showing was not the most important thing in his world, or in ours,” Terry said.

Along the way, James became a registered therapy dog, specializing in working with Alzheimer patients. Three days after his Westminster win, he visited one of his favorite senior care facilities in Fairfax, Virginia, where he had been a regular before his show career took him on the road. There, he celebrated with the residents, who served him dinner on a silver platter in honor of his win.

James made appearances all over the Washington, DC, area, helping to raise money for and awareness of Alzheimer's disease. He was the only canine celebrity in a star-studded group (including David Hyde Pierce and Dick Van Dyke) that helped launch the first Alzheimer's Association awareness campaign. He also made a number of appearances for Angel On A Leash to bring attention to the great work that therapy dogs do.

I watched James work many times, and I have always said that I thought he was the greatest working therapy dog I had ever seen. Every time I saw James working, he was focused on the person he was visiting, he was gentle and quiet, and he was totally responsive to Terry's nudges and commands at the same time. There aren't very many dogs who can do that; too many are very dependent on having direction to do what they do.

James came to Ronald McDonald House New York a number of times, and to watch him work was a thing of beauty. There are hundreds of pictures of therapy dogs at work at the House, and it's no surprise to me that James is in so many of them. He was a walking therapy dog textbook. Look up
therapy dog
in an encyclopedia, and there should be a picture of James; in fact, the
Wikipedia entry used to feature a photo of him from one of his visits to the House. The kids and the parents were all fascinated with James—his attentive, gentle manner and consoling eyes. He was just the best.

Sadly, James passed in May of 2011, just before his eleventh birthday, losing a short battle to cancer. “He always gave 200 percent of himself, and had an indomitable spirit and a heart as big as the crowds that loved him,” wrote Terry. “The bitter irony is that he delighted in visiting children who suffered from the same insidious disease that has now cut his life short as well.”

James left huge pawprints to fill—show dog, therapy dog, service dog, beloved family dog. We will never see the likes of him again.

Among our other Best in Show winners, the Bichon Frise Ch. Special Times Just Right (“JR”) from 2001 and the Sussex Spaniel Ch. Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee (“Stump”) from 2009 have made some therapy dog appearances as well, visiting pediatric patients at the famed M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in their hometown of Houston. Both dogs are co-owned by Scott Sommer and Cecelia Ruggles.

In 2011, Ch. Foxcliffe Hickory Wind (“Hickory”), the Scottish Deerhound, made a quick stop at Ronald McDonald House New York on the day after her Westminster Best in Show win. Early in the day, we had run into Archbishop Timothy Dolan in the green room at
Fox & Friends;
he was following us on the show. I had met him a few times at House activities, so I was not reluctant at all to ask him to bless Hickory. He did, referencing St. Francis and holding her head in his hands. That probably gave her some special strength for the day and some inspiration, perhaps, for her visit to the House later.

At the House, her imposing size and her quiet elegance made her a unique thought-provoking consideration for the kids and their families, and she drew a crowd in the lobby. Children circled her and stared, reaching out to touch her unique coat and face. Hickory's owner, Cecelia Dove, and handler, Angela Lloyd, were quite taken with the impact that Hickory made on the kids and the impact that the entire experience had on themselves.

Josh (Ch. Darbydale's All Rise Pouch Cove), the indomitable Newfoundland who captured Best in Show in 2004, went from show dog to therapy dog quite quickly, visiting extended-care patients on what seemed to be the weekend following his win. How can you not like a big fuzzy Newfoundland?

And then there's Uno. In 2008, Westminster's most famous winner in history used his celebrity to open a lot of doors for therapy dogs. The incomparable 15- inch Beagle, Ch. K-Run's Park Me In First, captured the hearts of people everywhere as he became the world's second-most-famous Beagle, behind only Snoopy. Remember that class I mentioned with Rufus and James? Uno is at the front of the line, standing at the door. We went through Delta Society therapy dog training with Michele Siegel. She loved him, and Uno was registered with me as his handler. He gets a lot done with his celebrity and his Beagle cuteness, but he is also “official,” and that does so much for the credibility of therapy dogs everywhere.

Uno has been invited to events all over the country, and wherever he goes, he spreads a little joy. Caroline Dowell, Uno's owner, lived in Austin, Texas, and asked me if I would do most of the traveling with him. He was a great little dog who fit right in with my family. All of my dogs loved him, which is a good thing in a one-bedroom apartment in a Manhattan high-rise. Uno would come and live with us for a few weeks at a time, depending upon his media schedule.

The White House called, and Uno became the first Westminster winner ever to visit there, meeting President Bush and helping the First Lady put on a program for schoolchildren in the East Room. After the White House, Uno and his entourage visited some of our wounded warriors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; it was a very special visit for all.

At Walter Reed, Uno formed a special bond with Lance Corporal Joshua Bleill, a Marine who had lost both of his legs in military action in Iraq. Lance Corporal Bleill was then invited to the 2009 Westminster show as a guest of the club. The day before the show, he and Uno went to Ronald McDonald House New York and visited with the pediatric oncology patients; some of them, like Josh, had amputated limbs. The next night, at the show, Josh and Uno were introduced on the floor of the Garden and received a rousing standing ovation.

Snoopy was Uno's best buddy, and Uno became the first Westminster winner to ride on a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade when he was invited to be on the
Peanuts
(Universal Syndicate) float. Uno returned the favor by inviting Snoopy to come to the 2009 Westminster poster unveiling at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. Earlier, Uno had traveled to California to visit the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Knotts Berry Farm with Snoopy.

Uno walked the VIP red carpet with Hollywood celebrities at Matthew Perry's Lilly Clair Foundation charity event. He was recognized and mobbed at a street fair in Santa Monica the night before the event, but he still had the energy to visit kids at Ronald McDonald House in Los Angeles the next afternoon.