Westminster

This year's Westminster Dog Show hosts 173 breeds and varieties including three new breeds out of 2,500 entries. It started Monday and runs for two days. Each breed must have become a champion before entry and be a breed recognized by the American Kennel Association.

Old Trunks was disappointed when I used to leaf through Olaf's book. There was no Wiemeroner. It had not been recognized in the states and would not be for another 30 years or so. Cesar's Blue Diamond, the hunting dog in our house, was purchased in 1949 in a kennel in Southern Minnesota for $1,000. The dog was developed by the Court of Weimar. Weimar is one of the great cultural sites of Europe, having been home to such luminaries as Bach, Goethe, Schiller, and Herder. It has been a site of pilgrimage for the German intelligentsia since Goethe first moved to Weimar in the late 18th century. The tombs of Goethe and Schiller as well as their archives, may be found in the city.

In another life in a different part of the states, we had a satellite dish. That was before there was any control and we snatched on to the Madison Square Garden link and watched dogs from early morning to late at night. Now the show is limited to a couple hours a night showing only each breed against other breeds in the same category, i.e. all hunting dogs or all toy breeds.

You can just bet when it comes to the best of each of the categories comes into the ring tonight, there will be some sort of a poodle in doodle.

Woof to all.

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