A long time ago I posted on the old board a question about whether Dog Shows are a sport. USA Today does cover the Westminster Dog Show in the Sports section.

Anyway just wanted to share that our puppy will be in her first show this weekend. I will show her myself and let me tell you it is hard work to learn how to do it. I have started taking classes in a a park on weeknights. This old lady stands around and "barks" orders at us. She reminds me of a HS coach screaming at a team in practice.

Good luck! What breed is the bitch? ... the puppy, not the old lady!

She is a Havanese. They are a new breed to the AKC. We actualy have two, Sissie is 6 months and Miss Kitty is 9 weeks. They are a small breed in the Toy group and are in the Bichon family. I'll post our results when we get back. We don't expect to do well since this is her first show.

Did you happen to catch the Eukenuba Championship on Animal Planet this week? That Shihtzu is not a real dog, come on. But the Afghan was certainly beautiful, and the Boxer is quite a dog. Pretty devoted dog show guy here, head to Westminster every year.

Sorry for the delay.

Sissie took 3rd out of 7 in her class!!! We are so excited because this is her first show. Wish us sluck on Sunday. By the way she beat several pups that have pro handlers and a lot more show experience.

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Check her out.

Today we got a 4th out of 7. Not bad considering she had a fit in the ring.

Not bad indeed! Can you imagine what that would do to a Miss America contestant's chances?? :eek:

LOL! Just imagine the hoopla if one of those girls had a "fit" in the ring!

Has anyone on this thread seen "Best in Show"?

Rocky vs. Mr. Bojangles!!

I love dog shows, but more for the aesthetics than the competition. I do think, however, that sports fans are drawn to competition as well as athleticism, and we tend to like dog shows, Miss America, chess, Survivor, that sort of thing, whether it qualifies as a "sport" or not.
You could define a sport as athletics plus competition, but that would leave out mountain climbing. The definition of sports is difficult, and the Outsports article a few weeks back on "possibility of failure" was interesting, but way off the mark, I thought.