Last night an event took place that is the longest running sporting event behind the Kentucky Derby. The event…The 140th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show (WKC) which was held at Madison Square Garden. Out of 2,751 entries the final seven, came from the being the best of their group: Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting, Herding, Sporting, Working, and Terrier.

Best in Show CJ German Short-Haired Pointer

After two days of judging, this year’s “Best in Show” was named…CJ (California Journey) a 3 year old German Short-Hair Pointer which was the finalist from the  Sporting group. German Short-Hair Pointers are known for their water repellent coat as well as webbed feet. A perfect dog for outdoors men and women who hunt water fowl .

The German Short-Hair is no stranger to Best in Show, that breed has won the award 2 other times (1974, and 2005), and as a matter of fact, the 2005 winner was CJ’s grandmother!

The seven new breeds were introduced this year:  Bergamasco, Lagotto Romagnolo, Berger Picard, Miniature American Shepherd, Boerboel, Spanish Water Dog, and Cirneco dell’Etna.

I’ll be 100% honest, before I met my wife six years ago this event would’ve never been on my radar. I don’t mind dogs, I just never really had one as a pet. The first dog I vaguely remember having was a German Shepard named Gunner, that was when I was maybe 2 or 3 years old. Then when I was older we had a Black Lab that ran away, and a Golden Lab that went to a farm, both of them lasted maybe a month total in the Miller household.

My wife on the other hand has had dogs her whole life, and when we met she had a Golden Retriever  named Bailey (RIP). We have a rescue dog together whose name is Charlie which is part Bearded Collie, and a mix of several other breeds…in other words a mutt, and I honestly can’t imagine a day without him.

So, now in the dead of winter instead of another re-run of Seinfeld, I’ll watch or DVR (for later) the WKC Dog Show, it’s actually quite interesting, and full of great facts.

Charlie … 2017’s “Best in Show”

(photos courtesy: Nydailynews, thegarden)