Dog Tales: The Making of a Show Dog

Patti Friedman, a 20-year resident of Brewster Road, is now the proud owner of a champion show dog. Ari, her Welsh Springer Spaniel, recently became a champ and here is the story of how Patty went from being a dog lover to the owner of a dog who competes in competitive dog shows. Scarsdale10583 asked Patti a few questions and photographed Ari who was very cooperative!

Scarsdale10583: When did you first get a dog? When I was about seven years old we bought a house from people who were retiring and couldn't keep their dog. My parents agreed to take the dog, a black poodle named Andre, along with the house. From there, my parents went on to own as many as five dogs at a time. My father became known in the community as the guy to call if you ever needed someone to take a dog. My parents still have a dog they adopted 14 years ago. My father was also in the pet products industry and named one of his business ventures Andre after our first dog,

Scarsdale10583: How did you find yourself with three dogs? Is it difficult to take care of them? We ended up with 3 dogs because our first dog Teddy had some health issues early on. We loved him so much that I got worried he might not be around too long. When he was three and a half we got our next dog, Casey, a female. They were doing fine, but as they were aging, it became clear that we would always want two dogs. We had been talking about a third, but my husband Alan kept saying no. He finally relented while his father was very ill and said he wanted to get a puppy when our son Peter was still home so that Peter could bond with the dog. We have been very lucky that our housekeeper of 15 years is wonderful with the dogs and has taken great care of them. She is retiring and since we both work long hours in the city, we are lucky to have found a replacement for her, but will definitely be doing more ourselves. It is a lot of work; the dogs all eat different things, take different medicine (the older two) and have very different personalities. We need to give attention to all of them.

Scarsdale10583: What kind of dogs do you have and why did you select that breed? We have Welsh Springer Spaniels because we knew someone who had a dog of this breed. We first looked into getting an English Springer Spaniel but determined there was a potential health risk with that breed, so we went for the Welsh. We chose them because we wanted a mid-sized dog, 40/50 lbs, and good with kids. They are known as “Velcro” dogs because they follow their families around wherever they go.

Scarsdale10583: How did you become interested in showing the dog? Ari's breeder was in Richmond, Virginia. I told him I wanted a dog that would be able to handle two other dogs. He selected Ari for me. As I was leaving told me Ari would make a good show dog. I gave it some thought and had to make a decision about whether or not to neuter him or see if he would have success in the ring. I decided it would be fun to try to show him and to see what happened. I had him evaluated by a couple of dog handlers (professionals) that told me he met the breed standard and therefore could be shown. I am very hopeful that Ari will meet other physical requirements that are important for breeding, such as good hips, eyes and elbows so that he can be a stud dog. He is such a great dog that we want others to have an opportunity to own one of his offspring.

Scarsdale10583: How did you train the dog to be a show dog? We didn't do much in the way of training other than run him around in circles. I met a handler at one of the shows that shows his breed and had a Welsh Springer Spaniel. She told me what we really needed to do was to let her train him for a week and take him to a show. She did all the work and trained him so he knows exactly what to do with her in the ring. We have been working with her since last August, and he had a win at his first show. We then continued through May when he got the championship. We plan to enter more shows later this summer for his Grand Championship and the opportunity to go further in the rankings.

Scarsdale10583: Why is your dog a good show dog? Temperament? Physical characteristics? In order to be a show dog, the dog needs to meet the breed standard -- which takes into consideration height, physical appearance, proportions, teeth, bite, length of ears, and gait. The dog can't be shy and also has to be happy in the ring. The dog needs to exemplify the breed while they are in the ring. Ari is very friendly to the judges, always has his tail up and wags his tail when the judge comes to examine him. The dog has to be able to take commands and listen to the handler who takes him into the ring.

Scarsdale10583: Do you enjoy taking the dog to shows? Anything you can say about the people? I like going to the shows. Ari typically goes separately as his handler takes him in and out of the ring and grooms him. If any of us go from our family, we "hide" while he is in the ring so he doesn't get distracted. I have met a lot of wonderful people from the Northeast that breed, show and own the breed. They are very knowledgeable about the breed and how to distinguish a good performance in the ring from a poor performance as well as how to pick out the top dogs. Many of these folks are second and third generation "dog people." It has been a very interesting learning experience. There is a great deal of discussion about genetics in the different breeding lines and understanding the competitive process.

Scarsdale10583: Many of our readers probably saw “Best in Show.” Is the film accurate? The film is quite accurate. Many of the dogs look like their owners and the prep that goes on before the shows in the movie is exactly the way it is at all the shows. There are people from all walks of life showing a variety of breeds at most of the shows. Many travel all over the country in their RVs to dog shows every weekend. It takes a lot of hard work to show the dogs at their best in all kinds of weather and in a variety of venues.

Scarsdale10583: What prize has your dog won? What categories are there and in which one did your dog win? Ari has attained the Champion level. In order to become a champion the dog needs to have 15 points, which includes at least 6 points won at a "major" show-3 points each. A major show is determined by the number of entrants in the breed. There are a variety of designations a dog can achieve in order to get a point or multiple points. There is competition by sex, age (puppy class) and then by other distinctions including open dog, shown and bred by owner and they select those that have at least a championship designation. Once the dog wins the class (which is by sex, e.g., puppy dog age 6-9 months) he goes into the ring and competes with other winners of different classes in order to finally get to the winner for the breed of that show. The winner of the breed then competes against the winners of all the different breeds that are in the class of dogs. Welsh Springers are in the sporting dog category. The winners of each class then compete in best of show.

Scarsdale10583: What are your plans for the future? We are going to see how Ari does in the next level of competition. He is on the smaller size for the breed and many of the male champions he will now compete against are larger. We will see whether or not there is any opportunity for him to make it to grand champion. Most of the dogs that compete at Westminster are grand champions and the highest-ranking dogs in the breed nationally.

Scarsdale10583: Any funny anecdotes to share? Most breeders give each dog a formal name that typically includes the kennel name. The dogs may have a nickname related to that formal name or a completely different name, which is their everyday name or "call name." For some reason, my breeder didn't give me that name. As a novice, I registered him into the AKC, American Kennel Club, as Ari Friedman. He is listed as Ari Friedman in the AKC records and he is the only dog whose name does not have a kennel related name like his mother, Killagay Tudur Joy O'Meadows, with a call name Joy. Ari and I have gotten a lot of notoriety at the shows because of my mistake. People are nice about it but you know they are sneering. Changing a dog's name with the AKC is not possible. I have tried. As soon as a dog is entered into a competition the name cannot be changed, no exceptions. I am waiting for the announcer at Westminster to call him “Ari Friedman,” though it is highly unlikely he will ever be seen on television. He would have had to make it beyond the breed to the sporting group and then win that group to be in Best of Show. Dog show judging is somewhat political. While I don't know if a Welsh Springer Spaniel has ever been in Best of Show at Westminster, a Welsh Springer has never won Westminster. I would love it to be Ari!