Poodle perfection: Siba top dog at Westminster show
12 February, 2020
Primped and poised, Siba the typical poodle owned the ring.
Despite having the crowd at Madison Square Garden chanting for a favorite golden retriever, the statuesque Siba strutted off with best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club on Tuesday night.
Adorned with black puffs and pompoms, the 3-year-old Siba was the absolute picture of what many see as the epitome of a show dog.
Not everyone shared that view. As judge Bob Slay studied Siba in the best-of-seven final ring, a fan shouted out: “No chance, Slay, no way!”
Slay stuck with what he saw.
"She's beautiful and has that something," handler Chrystal Murray-Clas said.
Bourbon the whippet finished second. Daniel the golden retriever was obviously the crowd favorite - a golden has never won at Westminster - and fans chanted his name as Slay deliberated.
Bono the Havanese, Wilma the boxer, Conrad the Shetland sheepdog, and Vinny the wire fox terrier also made the ultimate grouping.
Poodles can be found in three sizes which was the 10th time one of them is becoming America's top dog, the first since 2002. A typical last won in 1991.
Siba put on an entertaining performance in the nonsporting group judging Monday night, doing the downward dog yoga pose before circling the ring. The next day, she was again at her best.
She won't get much rest, either. Siba was set to wake up early to hit the morning Television shows, eat lunch at famed Manhattan restaurant Sardi's, pose on the observation deck of the Empire State Building as well as perhaps walk onto the stage at Broadway musical "Beetlejuice."
The Westminster winner receives no prize profit a sport where owners can spend thousands of dollars on the pet. Instead, the reward is a silver bowl, lucrative breeding rights and an eternity of bragging rights in dog lore.
And in canine competitions, the poodles often rule.
But that is true, too: In the world of dogdom, among all of the beagles, retrievers and terriers, there's nothing that polarizes people such as a poodle.
Especially the big standard size, with their fancy coifs that could put the supermodels now in town for Fashion Week to shame.
"I don't care for the cut. I am aware it's for function, to keep their joints warm, but not for me personally," Carol Sebastian of Aberdeen, NJ, said earlier in the day.
Sitting with four of her spinone Italiano pals, snacking near Ring 1, Sebastian offered another take on the pooch pageant.
"I think if indeed they cut the poodle in different ways, they'd have much more fans. They'd get beyond frou-frou."
Either way, Siba sure looks the area of the Park Avenue crowd, despite the fact that she's from Allentown, Pennsylvania ---- sleek, with shiny black hair and a shaved backside.
"I always say, don't allow the haircut fool you. This is a smart, athletic, active dog that was formerly developed in Germany as a water retrieving dog," longtime dog expert David Frei said.
With a far more simple trim, he figured, "the world could unabashedly root for them. In the meantime, I will anyway."
Poodles can be found in three sizes, and they've done just fine at Westminster. Standards have won best in show five times, miniatures three and toys twice.
Siba was showing going back time, set to retire following this event. "She had the something extra at a age," Murray-Clas said.
Longtime handler Clint Livingston said he saw Siba 2 yrs ago at a show in York, Pennsylvania, and predicted an excellent future.
"I fell in love with her," Livingston said.
He also understands the poodle predicament. "They've been glamorized and for them, it's a beauty pageant," he said. "But underneath all that hair and everything, there's structure and function."
To Sebastian and her spinone Italiano friends, there are two sides to the poodles.
"They're beautiful dogs and super smart. There's something for everyone," said Andi Gabler from Fredricksburg, Virginia. "They're wonderful dogs. But would I want one? No."
"Our dogs like to roll in the mud," chimed in Becky Tevis from Portland, Oregon. "We're not that fancy."
Simple truth is, neither is Siba. A picky eater, she's not.
Just how did she prepare for the nonsporting group judging Monday night at the Garden? A gourmet meal? Nope. Rather, a fast-food fix: a grilled chicken sandwich from a convenient McDonald's.
And no reason to improve the winning formula.
Tuesday night, Siba returned for what became a most happy meal.
Source: japantoday.com