The National Dog Show: How to Watch, What to Watch Out For

National Dog Show novices: what you see on your screens come Thanksgiving Day may look like nothing more than a pack of pretty pooches parading about for the judges, audience and cameras. But there's some serious consideration happening on that blue carpet. Paw Nation asked National Dog Show co-hosts John O'Hurley and David Frei for their expert tips to train your layman's eye.

Dogs are not graded on a curve. "Every breed is judged not against one another but against the written standard," explains Frei, "which is the description of the ideal specimen of that breed."

Play a game of "how doggy is that doggy in the window?" This is Frei's personal trick for judging what he sees in the ring. "You look at the Afghan Hound and you say, 'On a scale of 100, I'm going to give the Afghan a 90 as an Afghan hound. Now, the next dog is the Saluki. I love this Saluki -- it's this and this and this -- and I'm going to give it a 92.' Which means the Saluki is a better Saluki than the Afghan is an Afghan, in my opinion. Everybody doesn't do this trick, but it's what I do in my mind."

Familiarize yourself with doggy formal wear. Show dogs are often groomed much differently than dogs kept as pets. (For example, take a look at how this Shih Tzu's appearance changed from its show days to its retirement.) "Some of the coats and the cuts on the dogs may not be cuts that you would maintain your pet at home with," says O'Hurley, "but that is a way of recognizing the history of the breed. Some of the coats are a little bit more traditional in their cuts."

Train your eye on light-coated or short-haired dogs first. "Especially with some of the heavily coated dogs, it's very tough to really understand why the judge will like them or not like them," says O'Hurley, "because at home, you can't really get your hands on the dogs. I've been told you can hide a really bad dog with a really good haircut, so you really do need to put your hands on the dog to judge." When you spot a dog on TV that sports a closer cut, where you can actually see the dog's body, "the viewer can look more at the athleticism of the dogs, the way they 'stack up.' That's the phrase I've heard the experts use."

Make up your own standards. "Outside of the ring, I think it's OK to like a dog for whatever reason you like a dog," says Frei, "like if it did something cute in the ring."

Play favorites. Frei's term for this is the alma mater factor. "If you've got a Brittany at home, root for the Brittany in the ring."

Put on your artist's beret... "You have to find something that's pleasing to look at," says Frei. "Look for certain traits that set it apart and make it the breed that it is, whether it's the coat or the ears or the size or the color or whatever. Those are the things that are more artistic in nature."

...And your engineering cap. The other side to judging, Frei says, is to make sure that "all the parts are in the right place and all the angles are right. If this is a coursing dog, it's got to have the right kind of structure so that it doesn't break down when it's running down its prey."

Imagine. "As a judge, you don't really have the opportunity to see the dog doing what it was bred to do," says Frei. "Afghan Hounds run their prey down. You don't get to see the Afghan do that in the ring, but you have to be able to envision the dog doing that. And if you can't, you think, 'Oh my God, this dog could never bring down a gazelle.' So that dog obviously is not going to win in your book."

Don't take it all so seriously. Frei says the layman's lighter approach to dog shows is just fine by him. "When you're judging at home, just find the dog that makes you smile. Because I always say that the real best in show dog is the dog that's sitting next to you at home on the couch.

Tags: national dog show, NationalDogShow, shih tzu