“I'm sorry, I'm sorry,” Gillian Irving apologized, then turned to her dog, Handsome, who didn't apologize. “You're being very naughty.”
The 148th Annual Dog Show, which began Saturday, drew more than 2,500 dogs representing 200 breeds to Queens. Many of the owners, handlers, and dogs come from outside the tri-state area and utilize the same tourism infrastructure as traditional visitors.
When the show dogs aren't trotting around the ring, they're relaxing like hotel pets, with plenty of treats and chew toys purchased for them. They travel by shuttle bus or private car to the competition venue at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, or take a ride to Brooklyn or Times Square for a special adventure. Multiple times a day, they sniff out local sights.
“We think the dogs are going to love Queens, and the people attending are going to see just how great Queens is,” said Rob McKay, president of the Queens Tourism Council. “I'm really excited about this show. It's kind of crazy because I'm a big cat person.”
Neighboring hotels definitely rose to the occasion. Voco Fiorello LaGuardia East, which opened last September, has built a special dog run for its guests. They also set up a custom shuttle to transport dogs and their people to the tennis center, and loaded up with “pet relief supplies” (slang for poop bags) for the front desk.
“We have those and we always have them on staff,” said Stephanie McCabe, the hotel's director of sales. “Our houseman or lobby attendant will take care of any incidents that occur on the spot.”
Since the brand's inception in 2005, Aloft, a Marriott company, has provided pet amenities to all guests through the Arf program. On Monday, Lawrence Hou, general manager of Aloft's LaGuardia Airport store, sat on the same purple sofa where Dozer had been snoring the day before. Last year, the hotel enhanced its services for Westminster patrons, he said. Staff tore up brush and built an L-shaped dog run with artificial turf and a small red fire hydrant. There were also bowls of dog treats laid out like the perfect cocktail party host.
However, Mr. Hou said it became clear that show dog owners were picky about their dog's treats, so employees were forced to take away the leftovers. This year, he cut down on the amount of biscuits and two full bowls on his doorstep, but he didn't cut down on the amount of hospitality. He prepared a chew toy and his puppies chewed on it.
The 148-room hotel has sold out of the 50 rooms it had blocked off in Westminster, but guests are limited to two pets per room. Mr. Hou had a sneaking suspicion that the visitors were ignoring the rules. He had heard that patrons had his four dogs, and in some cases more. But he had no intention of intervening.
“We don’t want to abandon them,” he said diplomatically. “He's leaving tomorrow, so there's no point in him bringing it up.”
There's also no guarantee that the show dogs will return to Queens next year.
For more than a century, the Westminster Kennel Club has hosted the nation's second-longest continuously running sporting event in Manhattan. Winners from seven groups (including cattle, toys, sports, and non-sport) competed for “Best in Show” at the prestigious Madison Square Garden. Many of the dogs and their owners and handlers remained in Midtown. So did many spectators and dog lovers, who booked the same hotels to hang out with the contestants.
The pandemic has upended tradition. In 2021, the Westminster Kennel Club moved its show to the stately Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown, New York, and resumed the show the following year. The event just landed at the National Tennis Center in Queens last year (the venue is also home to the U.S. Open), and rumors suggest the show could boomerang back to Manhattan in 2025. That's what it means. There is also the possibility of resuming the traditional event period in February, an ideal month for the energetic Tibetan Mastiff but a tough month for the hairless Xoloitscuintli.
But for now, the Westminster shuttle route passes several hotels in Queens. In addition to Aloft, buses will also pick up and drop off at Hampton Inn New York LaGuardia Airport, New York LaGuardia Airport Marriott, and LaGuardia Plaza, although LaGuardia Plaza has a no-pets policy for the event. exempted.
The hotel said about 80% of Plaza guests attend the show. The facility has designated four pet rescue centers and added staff, including parking lot security guards to monitor large vehicles that serve as mobile pet homes, pet shops and pet salons. During staff sensitivity training, employees learned proper etiquette for dealing with four-legged guests. They're not “animals” or “that dog”, they're more of a fun “your furry friend”. On Wednesday, the hotel will resume banning pets.
With few dining options near the airport, Elements restaurant in the plaza has become the default gathering place for many dog owners and handlers. On Sunday night, purple, the Westminster color, was the dominant shade of clothing.
Three friends from Washington state were sitting quietly in a cozy corner of the restaurant. The tip of its white tail curled up and came out from under the table. Julia Rylander, who has competed many times at Westminster, was showing her Siberian Husky London Fog. Bailey Lewis was working with Tibetan Mastiffs. With her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Henry, resting at her feet, Kathy Ogle was making her debut.
“It's been a dream for me for 15 years. I came here to support others and cheer for my friends,” Ogle said, pressing her fingertips to her eyes to stop the tears. . “This is my Olympics.”
The trio said they've made a few adjustments to their rooms to make sure they're good dog parents as well as honorable guests. Ms. Rylander lowers the thermometer for the double-furred dog. “We are in a bind,” she said of travelers who are not in quarantine. Ogle brought Henry his own towel, hair dryer, and fur trap for the bathtub.
“We don't want to lose the privilege of being here,” Ogle said.
When dinner arrived, Henry's head popped out like a gopher's, his little black nose a few centimeters from the splay. He was a professional and knew how to play this moment. He stared at the plate of fries with round eyes and waited calmly and patiently.
“Would you like to take a picture with them?”
On Monday morning, the first day of breed and team competitions, the shuttle bus carried a Beagle (on his lap), an Australian Shepherd (sitting in his seat like a normal commuter), and an American Eskimo dog. I picked it up and departed from Aloft. (On the floor, in those white people's clothes!) And Beauceron, a stocky 90-pound man, was struggling to find a comfortable position.
In the background, former judges couldn't help but judge. They criticized the scheduling (which was “a bit unreasonable”) and the travel to the stadium.
“You have to take 70 different ways to get to the same place,” said a former official named Phil.
When Ryder asked for his prediction for Best in Show, he agreed that the winner would not be a sporting dog. As she was leaving, Laura Reeves, host of the Pure Dog Talk podcast, gave her some unsolicited advice.
“The first rule of Westminster is that you can't pet a dog without asking,” she said sternly.
Of course, this courtesy and precaution applies to all dogs. This includes dogs with only one name and no consecutive seemingly nonsensical words. Owners are amazingly tolerant of their animals, especially when they feel safe off stage.
“Would you like to take a picture with them?” Kathy Wright asked me, staring at her pair of Scottish deerhounds in the lobby of the Hampton Inn.
With her permission, I scratched Fidish and Cooper's knobby heads as they enjoyed a cheese and egg breakfast in bed that morning.
“I'm sitting on the floor on a dog bed,” joked co-owner Gary Wright. “Please give me a pillow and blanket.”
The owner of Sebastian, a Great Pyrenees who had flown first class from Northern California, invited me on a field trip to the self-service Astoria Dog Wash. Last year we showed up in the afternoon and had to wait in a long line. for their turn. This year, they were determined to stay ahead of the crowd. We arrived before it opened and found a cafe with enough space for Sebastian to lie down without bothering cars on the sidewalk.
At the facility, Sebastian stood in the bath like a trapped bear while one of his owners, Christine Palmer Persen, got to work. While she was scrubbing, rinsing, brushing and drying, several dogs came, washed and left. They included two Bernese mountain dogs, a golden retriever (not a show dog), a flat-coated retriever, and a 150-pound Leonberger. We just arrived after a 46-hour drive from Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
Even after 45 minutes in the dryer, Sebastian was still damp. Palmer Persen donned a bib over his giant head, which had grown even bushier from salon treatments, and covered his head with a glittering gold coat fit for a heavyweight champion. She was going to finish him off with the hair dryer in her hotel room. Unlike dog car washes, which are free for 15 minutes and every 5 minutes he takes, it costs him less than $5.
“It's going to cost a lot of money to dry him,” said her husband, Steve Axelrod, as he paid the nearly $50 bill.
The benefit of staying at the Westminster Hotel Triangle is that you'll run into the same dogs and owners over and over again. In addition to more wag and face licks, owners share their dog's results.
Fidish and Cooper were named Best of the Opposite Sex (male to female winner) and Selectman (as well as runner-up), respectively. Henry made it to the final round with his breed. Sebastian's coat finally dries and he wins the grand prize, moving on to the working group competition.
On Monday night, I sat at the Marriott bar with two women from Georgia who showed me their Australian Shepherd. Neither dog made it. Several televisions were tuned to live events.
After the judges chose the winner of the toy group, a Shih Tzu named Comet, the contestants finished their beers and returned to the room to comfort their pets.
