On Monday, Westminster kicks off its 137th contest in front of a packed house at New York’s Madison Square Garden, and no shortage of bemused TV spectators on America’s couches. For most, the world of competitive dog handling is a mysterious one – we at Word of Mouth were forced to admit while prepping for this segment that the bulk of our show-dog knowledge stems from the 2000 Westminster mockumentary, Best in Show, directed by Cristopher Guest.
Here to expand upon our limited understanding of show-dogs and their handlers is Josh Dean, author of Show Dog: the Charmed Life and Trying Times of a Near-Perfect Purebred, which is out this month from ‘It-Books’. He joins us from Argot studios in New York.