Posts tagged "who won the national dog show"

Every Thanksgiving Day since 2002, 20 million Americans have tuned in to watch the National Dog Show on NBC, and the man they have to thank for it is Jon Miller, executive vice president of NBC Sports. It was his idea to air the Kennel Club of Philadelphia's annual Best in Show -- right after the Macy's Day Parade and right before football. He spoke with Paw Nation about how the show came to be.

How did you know that Americans wanted to watch a dog show on Thanksgiving day? When did the light-bulb go off?
On a Saturday night in January -- it was a nasty night. My wife rented [the movie] "Best in Show." We watched it with some friends, then I stayed up watching it a second time and just loved it. I thought it was so much fun.

How did that one spark lead to the show?
I came to work on Monday and grabbed one of our interns and said, "Find out what the second oldest dog show in America is," thinking that the Westminster was the oldest dog show in America. He came back about an hour later and said, "Well, the second oldest dog show in America is Westminster." I said, "Well, what's the oldest dog show?" and he said, "Philadelphia." He then got me in touch with [KCP president] Wayne Ferguson, and we had a great conversation. I asked, "Have you ever been on television?" He said no, but he'd be very interested. Then I went to Michael Crawford, who is a friend at Purina, to see if he had any interest. I said, "Michael, if we could get a dog show on NBC --" He said, "In a heartbeat, we'd support it."

I've owned a dog for seven years, and I've been a dog lover for longer, but until recently I had never been to any kind of dog show. This year, I made it to the National Dog Show, held just outside Philadelphia in Oaks, Pa. on November 14, and set to be broadcast on NBC Thanksgiving Day.

Like many folks, anything I knew about dog shows and dog-show people I gleaned from countless viewings of the movie "Best In Show". Though the popular film doesn't exactly portray dog-show people in the best light, I learned from NBC Executive Vice President Jon Miller that "Best In Show" was, in fact, what inspired NBC to put the National Dog Show on the air. (You can read my interview with Miller later this week as part of Paw Nation's week-long National Dog Show coverage.)

In "Best In Show", the focus is on the quirky dog owners, but at the National Dog Show, the dogs are the real stars. It doesn't take long to get the feeling -- even if you're a layman like me -- that these are truly exemplary specimens on display. When a particular pooch really catches your eye or takes your breath away with its beautiful face, majestic stance, regal bearing or lissome gait, you can feel like you're in the presence of something great.

They say that dogs have the intelligence of a two-year-old child, but I've never seen a two-year-old willingly sit quiet and nearly motionless for the better part of an hour as these dogs did, waiting to be judged. By day's end, I was in total awe.

And the dog-show people? Yes, they do have a sense of humor. The Hound Group was introduced to the tune of "Hound Dog." The Working Group was heralded by John Lennon's "Working Class Hero." And when the real Best In Show hopefuls entered the ring? Why, of course, "The Final Countdown" by Europe.

We're not going to reveal the identity of the winning dog here. Otherwise, where's the suspense on Thanksgiving Day? But keep checking back throughout the week for more National Dog Show features, including an interview with the winner after the big TV reveal!