🐶 Dog shows: The ruff road to glory

Humans domesticated dogs [as long as 30,000 years ago]( but it wasn’t until the [mid-1800s]( that we put them on a pedestal in the first official dog show. Originally a mere side attraction to English cattle shows, it didn’t take long for the events to grow their own enthusiastic following. The US got on board in 1877 with the launch of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, now one of the longest continuously running American sporting events, second only to the Kentucky Derby. More recently, they’ve [taken off in China]( with the rise of middle-class pet ownership. Our enthusiasm seems to be aging well. Millions of people tune into major televised competitions—including the National Dog Show on the US holiday thanksgiving, a newish annual tradition inspired by a classic of satirical cinema, if you can believe it. Which pup will inherit the crown from last year’s winner, [Somerset Wynzall Hashtag]( better known as Newton? Sit! Stay! And read on. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Join the next chapter of Quartz by downloading [our new app]( or becoming a [member](. It’s where the future gets its news. Sponsored by [Quartz Obsession] Dog shows November 21, 2018 Best in show --------------------------------------------------------------- Humans domesticated dogs [as long as 30,000 years ago]( but it wasn’t until the [mid-1800s]( that we put them on a pedestal in the first official dog show. Originally a mere side attraction to English cattle shows, it didn’t take long for the events to grow their own enthusiastic following. The US got on board in 1877 with the launch of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, now one of the longest continuously running American sporting events, second only to the Kentucky Derby. More recently, they’ve [taken off in China]( with the rise of middle-class pet ownership. Our enthusiasm seems to be aging well. Millions of people tune into major televised competitions—including the National Dog Show on the US holiday thanksgiving, a newish annual tradition inspired by a classic of satirical cinema, if you can believe it. Which pup will inherit the crown from last year’s winner, [Somerset Wynzall Hashtag]( better known as Newton? Sit! Stay! And read on. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Join the next chapter of Quartz by downloading [our new app]( or becoming a [member](. It’s where the future gets its news. Giphy By the digits [10:]( Breeds added to the Westminster Dog Show since 2016 [$250,000:]( High-end costs of grooming, handling and “campaigning” a dog for Westminster [$0:]( Prize money for winning Best of Show at Westminster [$1,500:]( Prize for winning the World’s Ugliest Dog title [33,500:]( Dogs presented in the 2018 World Dog Show [1:]( Dog who has ever won the Westminster Dog Show three times: Ch. Warren Remedy, a fox terrier who took home Best in Show in 1907, 1908, and 1909. A primer Dog shows 101 --------------------------------------------------------------- The dog shows that most of us think of are actually known as conformation shows; that is, the dogs are being judged on how well they conform to the defined standard of their particular breed. The dog deemed to best exemplify that standard for its breed is declared the—wait for it—Best of Breed, and then goes on to compete in Group competitions. The American Kennel Club (AKC) [recognizes]( seven groups: - Sporting dogs bred to hunt game birds: Pointers, Retrievers, Setters and Spaniels. - Hound dogs bred for hunting other game: Beagles, Basset Hounds, Dachshunds and Greyhounds. - Working dogs bred to perform services: Akita, Boxer, Doberman Pinscher, and St. Bernard. - Terriers bred to kill vermin: Airedale, Cairn Terrier and Scottish Terrier. - Non-Sporting dogs, bred for other reasons, often companionship: Chow Chow, Bulldog, Dalmatian and Poodle. - Herding dogs, bred to herd livestock: Briard, Collie, German Shepherd Dog and Old English Sheepdog. - Toy dogs bred for household companionship: Chihuahua, Maltese, Pomeranian and Pug. The winner of each Group competition goes on to compete for the Best in Show title. Those are the basics—but as you know if you’ve ever tuned in for a dog show or experienced one in person, it gets much, much more complicated. Each breed has a long list of physical attributes and behavioral traits they must “conform” to. In order for a dog to receive an official “champion” (Ch) designation from the AKC, they must obtain a total of 15 points by winning categories such as Winners Class, Best of Winners, Best of Opposite Sex, and Best of Breed. The number of points depends on variables including show location and number of dogs entered. TL;DR: [It’s complicated](. Sponsored by JPMorgan Chase & Co. You don’t have to be a CEO to be a leader in gender equality. --------------------------------------------------------------- Job titles are important markers for your career, but they don’t indicate your ability to create gender parity at work. According to Mark O’Donovan, CEO of Auto Finance at JPMorgan Chase, both women and men at all levels can be leaders in making an equitable workplace.[Learn how everyone can support gender equality at work.]( Fun fact! From [2010 to 2015]( the winner of the Westminster Dog Show was invited to meet Donald Trump at Trump Tower the day after the show. The tradition appears to have ended when he became president. Reuters/Issei Kato Pop quiz Which celebrity has never entered a pooch into the Westminster Dog Show? Martha Stewart Bill CosbyKatharine HepburnLou Gehrig Correct. Lou Gehrig entered his German shepherd in 1933, Martha’s Chow-Chow Genghis Khan II won Best of Breed in 2012, and Bill Cosby’s Dandie Dinmont named Harry won the terrier group in 2007. Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. Life imitates arf How a mockumentary inspired a Thanksgiving tradition --------------------------------------------------------------- In January 2002, Jon Miller and his wife were enjoying a night in with their neighbors, drinking wine and giggling at the onscreen antics of Fred Willard, Catherine O’Hara, and Eugene Levy. The Millers had snagged [Best in Show]( at Blockbuster; Jon found it so funny that he watched it again when their friends left. The Christopher Guest satire about the cutthroat world of dog shows struck a nerve, and he realized that he had found the solution to a problem at work. As the president of programming at NBC, Miller watched abysmal Thanksgiving ratings come in year after year. The annual broadcast of It’s a Wonderful Life just wasn’t cutting it—which is why he pitched the dog show idea to his then-boss, NBC Sports head Dick Ebersol. Ebersol “practically threw him out of the office,” [Philadelphia]( magazine reports, but entertainment chief Jeff Zucker was willing to take a gamble. Though the Kennel Club of Philadelphia was reluctant to agree to a deal—because of Best in Show, they believed that NBC was poking fun—they eventually agreed to try it. The gamble paid dividends almost immediately: That year, more than 19 million viewers tuned in to watch a standard poodle named Miki take the top honors. Today, the National Dog Show is a holiday programming staple for NBC, with more than [22 million]( viewers—about [6 million more]( than the 2017 season finale of Game of Thrones. Giphy timeline [1859:]( The first official dog show takes place in Newcastle, England. [1877:]( The first Westminster Kennel Club show is held in New York City. [1891:]( The Royal Family, including Queen Victoria, enters dogs at Crufts in England. [1948:]( The Westminster Dog Show is televised for the first time. [2000:]( Christopher Guest’s mockumentary Best in Show debuts to critical acclaim. [2014:]( Westminster allows “mutt” dogs to compete in the agility portion of the competition. Reuters/Darren Staples Quotable “A show dog’s career is short, and judges are unforgiving. Each breed is judged by an explicit standard for appearance and temperament, and then there’s the incalculable element of charisma in the ring. When a show dog is fat or lazy or sullen, he doesn’t win; when he doesn’t win, he doesn’t enjoy ancillary benefits of being a winner, like appearances as the celebrity spokesmodel on packages of Pedigree Mealtime with Lamb and Rice.” —Susan Orlean in [“Show Dog”]( Glossary Decoding dog shows --------------------------------------------------------------- Before you tune in, train up on these terms. Bait: A tasty treat of liver or cheese used to get a dog’s attention Dam: A dog’s mother Sire: A dog’s father Free stack: To get a dog to pose for a judge in a manner that shows off its strong points Hand stack: To physically arrange a dog in a pose for a judge Nobble: To sabotage a show dog (OK, you probably won’t need to know this one, but just in case…) Giphy Not-so-perfect pedigrees --------------------------------------------------------------- Dog shows are not without controversy—and we don’t just mean over who piddled on the floor. In 2008, BBC One aired the investigative documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed, which alleged that an alarming number of purebred dogs suffer from serious health problems. Examples [featured in the documentary]( included a King Charles spaniel with syringomyelia, which occurs when the skull is too small for the brain; pugs with severe breathing problems; and boxers with epilepsy. Many of the issues were attributed to inbreeding. “People are carrying out breeding which would be first of all entirely illegal in humans and secondly is absolutely insane from the point of view of the health of the animals,” said Steve Jones, professor of genetics at University College London. After the documentary aired, the UK’s Kennel Club [banned mating]( among first-degree canine relatives. Giphy Watch this Molly Shannon and Will Ferrell served up some wonderfully weird characters on Saturday Night Live. Among their cast of eccentrics were dog enthusiasts David Larry and Miss Colleen, accompanied by canine companions Mr. Bojangles and Rocky Balboa. What’s in a dog’s name? --------------------------------------------------------------- If you’ve watched a dog show, you’re familiar with the contestants’ elaborate names: the 2018 Westminster winner was GCH Belle’s Creek All I Care About Is Love; the 2009 winner was Ch. Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee. It’s not a new phenomenon: the 1921 and 1922 winners were Ch. Midkiff Seductive and Ch. Boxwood Barkentine, respectively. According to a 1962 Sports Illustrated piece, the tendency towards baroque names [originates with the English](. Show dog names are a bit like internet passwords: they [have rules]( for how long they can be, what they can contain, and how often they can be used. (The AKC allows [37 instances of the same name]( within a breed; sometimes it assigns Roman numerals to differentiate dogs, like popes.) As with easy-to-crack passwords, people usually rely on a pattern. The owners of Boulder, dba GCH Night n’ Barrett’s Pioneer Mountain Man, [break it down]( earned titles (like “Ch.” for “champion”) + kennel name + “litter theme” + something related to the dog’s “call” name (what its owners call it) + more titles. take me down this 🐶 hole! Like any type of competition, there’s a dark underbelly in the world of dog shows—and in 2016, Vanity Fair dove right in. From bad haircuts and chocolate snacks to dog-nappings and poisonings, [“The Dark Underside of the Show-Dog World”]( is worth a read. Giphy Poll How many times have you seen Best in Show? [Click here to vote]( I watch it as often as I canJust once, and I didn’t understand the hypeNever heard of it but I’ll add it to my queue In yesterday’s poll about [morning routines]( 43% of you say you try but you stumble; 33% say “it’s the secret to my success.” ⭐ [Become a Quartz member]( 🗯 [Discuss on the new Quartz app!]( ✏️ [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20dog%20shows&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) 📬 [Forward this email to a friend](mailto:replace_with_friends_email@qz.com?cc=obsession%2Bforward@qz.com&subject=%F0%9F%90%B6%20Dog%20shows%3A%20The%20ruff%20road%20to%20glory&body=Thought%20you%27d%20enjoy.%20%0ARead%20it%20here%20%E2%80%93%20http%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2Femail%2Fquartz-obsession%2F1471816) [🎁 Get the Quartz Tabsession Chrome Extension]( 🦃 [Dive into the archive]( Today’s email was written by [Stacy Conradt]( edited by [Jessanne Collins]( and produced by [Luiz Romero](. 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