NEW YORK — Less than three years ago, Mary Ann and David Giordano were taking turns lying on the living room floor with their Afghan hound Frankie, hand-feeding the desperately sick dog whatever she would eat.
She developed severe kidney problems after contracting Lyme disease, despite taking medications designed to repel ticks that carry the bacteria that cause it. Veterinarians weren’t sure she would survive.
Still, on Monday, Frankie was at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show, healthy and ready to compete. She would face more than a dozen other Afghan hounds — including the winner of last month’s World Dog Show in Croatia — for a chance to advance to the next round of America’s most prestigious dog show.
“It was very difficult,” said Mary Ann Giordano, her voice cracking as she described Frankie’s eight-month ordeal. “But she did it.”
For all the pageantry of Westminster dogs – the combed poodles, the toy dogs with high knots, the formality of dogs trotting around a ring – it is also an illustration of the bond that people form with dogs and what each one will do for the other.
How to set up a series of fans and even a portable dehumidifier to dry a puli’s long, thick handles after bathing, a process that can take 24 hours, in Valarie Cheimis’ experience. Cords form naturally, although owners help the process by separating them.
Why go through all this?
“These are fun dogs. They are full of personality,” Cheimis said as he petted Csoki, one of his pulik (the proper plural), before touch time.
Sure, the Hungarian herding breed can be stubborn and noisy, Cheimis said, but Csoki also cares for her geese and chickens at her home in Kingfield, Maine, even lying next to the geese.
Mister, a hunting dog who won an award of merit in his breed on Monday, also puts his breed’s ancient instincts into action. He is qualified to track down missing people, although his calls so far have been resolved before they went into the field, said co-owner, breeder and trainer Renee Wagner of Niagara Falls, New York.
The 148th Westminster show kicked off on Saturday with an agility competition – won by a mixed-breed dog for the first time since Westminster added the event in 2014. Nimble, the winner, was led by Cynthia Hornor, who took the trophy with a border collie last year.
Monday marked the start of the traditional judging leading up to the best show award, which will be awarded on Tuesday night. The semi-finals begin on Monday night, pitting the winners of each breed against others from their “group”, such as hunting dogs or sheepdogs.
The more than 2,500 participants in the first round range from tiny Yorkshire terriers to towering Great Danes. They include a newly added breed, the Lancashire heeler, represented on Monday by a single competitor named Mando.
If he knew that a lot depended on his small shoulders, he didn’t show it when he appeared in the ring in the first round and someone in the audience shouted: “Yay! History!”
“He just has a rock star attitude,” trainer Jessica Plourde said afterward.
The show was also a first for Alfredo Delgado and Maria Davila, who traveled from Juncos, Puerto Rico, with their French bulldog, Duncan.
Their path began when Delgado’s brother found a lost Frenchie. He was soon reunited with his owner, but Delgado was intrigued by the breed.
Fast forward a few years and he was in the Westminster ring as Duncan’s breeder, owner and trainer, with Davila cheering him on.
“We made the dream of being here come true,” Davila said afterwards. “Sharing it with experienced people in the ring – it was amazing.”
Westminster routinely attracts a roster of big dog show hitters. This year’s field includes Stache, a Sealyham terrier who won the televised National Dog Show last Thanksgiving, and Comet, a shih tzu who won the massive American Kennel Club National Championship that was televised on 31 from December.
Comet is “everything you want in a shih tzu,” said co-owner, breeder and trainer Luke Ehricht after Comet won his breed Monday morning. table, the dog looked at his handler with the sweet expression that is valued in the breed.
“He’s a very sweet, loving dog” who knows when it’s time to perform and when it’s time to relax, said Ehricht, of Monclova, Ohio.
Later, Frankie, the recovered Afghan Hound, and his littermate, Belle, stood side by side in their breed’s show ring. So did the Giordanos, a couple from Annandale, New Jersey, who have been side by side since high school. David took care of Frankie, while his wife took care of Belle.
The two dogs made happy laps around the ring, but neither of them won. Neither did the recent World Dog Show winner named Zaida. The tape went to another high-ranking Afghan named Louis.
“This breed is supposed to be ‘the king of dogs,’ and he knows he is,” said trainer and co-owner Alicia Jones.
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