National Dog Show - Behind the Scenes with Curry the Champion Glen of Imaal Terrier

You may remember Curry, the celebrity Glen of Imaal terrier who has occasionally toiled as Paw Nation's canine advice columnist. Unfortunately, with her go-go show-dog life, she's been too busy to write for us lately, so her co-owner (and PopEater columnist) Rob Shuter, stepped in to give us the scoop on Curry's winning day at the National Dog Show presented by Purina.

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Since her triumphant Best of Breed win at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog show last February, Curry, our beloved Glen of Imaal terrier, has been a busy little showgirl. She's competed at American Kennel Club shows from Maine to Indiana and won Best of Breed 35 out of 36 times.

Along the way, Curry racked up an amazing 18 terrier-group placements, including three times in first place, a new record for the breed, making her the No. 1 Glen of Imaal terrier in the land. With this brisk wind at her back, she arrived in Philadelphia for the National Dog Show,

Like Westminster, the National Dog Show is one of the few remaining benched shows, i.e. the dogs are each assigned their own holding/grooming area and must remain on display all day so the public may have the opportunity to meet all the breeds. Curry spent the morning greeting her public, answering their probing questions, kissing many a face, and posing for photos and video shoots. A bit past noon, it was time to make her apologies to her adoring fans and get to the serious job of grooming in order to prepare herself for the Best of Breed competition.

After Bruce Sussman, Curry's handler and co-owner, had every hair in place (both hers and his), Curry and the other Glens headed toward Ring Three to parade their stuff before the AKC judge, Mrs. Barbara Alderman. Only the winner of the breed competition would have the honor of competing in the terrier group later in the day. Judge Alderman examined each Glen thoroughly and had them gait in several different patterns, Finally, she pointed to Curry as the winner! This was the second year in a row for which Curry triumphed at this event.

For the next hour or so, Curry received the congratulations of her adoring public, took more photos and kissed more faces. Then it was time for a quick touch-up of her grooming before heading before the television cameras and onto the big blue carpet of the terrier group.

Curry's first stop was the green room where Best of Breed winners for each of the 28 terrier breeds were lined up in the order they would enter the ring. Curry took her place behind the Sealyham Terrier and in front of the big-winning American Staffordshire terrier. Announcer Wayne Ferguson asked, "May we have the terrier group in the ring please?" Curry and Bruce went into the bright lights for the first parade around the ring before a cheering crowd.

Judge Michael Dougherty, decked out in tuxedo and black tie, had the honor of adjudicating this handsome and talented group of terriers. One by one, each terrier was examined and then gaited across the full length of the ring. Curry drew a big smile from Judge Dougherty after she completed her "down and back," but alas, when it came time to award the group placements, he pointed to four other dogs. No Glen of Imaal terrier has yet managed to nab a terrier-group placement at this prestigious show, but it was still an exciting and rewarding day. There's always next year!

Check out the video of Curry and Bruce Sussman below.

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Tags: bruce sussman, glen of imaal terrier, Glen of Imaal Terrier Curry, GlenOfImaalTerrierCurry, national dog show, national dog show presented by purina, NationalDogShowPresentedByPurina