The competitors can come in forms as different as a Chihuahua, a great Dane, a bulldog and a greyhound. Each one is a champion. So how is a judge to decide which dog is the best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club competition?
To the casual viewer, it might be hard to fathom what judges glean from patting down and peering at carefully prepped canines. But choosing a winner at the United States ' most storied dog show requires an encyclopedic knowledge of different breeds and varieties.
And it takes some steady nerves. Sturz is now the kennel club's president as the show returns to Madison Square Garden this week after four years elsewhere. Consider, for example, a Pekingese β specifically, Fiona, Sturz' month-old pet, show champion and obliging model when he demonstrated for Associated Press journalists how judges work. Fiona, a niece of Westminster winner Wasabi, is not competing at this year's show.
A clinical psychologist and retired suburban school district superintendent, Sturz has shown dogs since he was 10 and judged them for decades. Demonstrating with Fiona, Sturz started by scrutinizing the big, round eyes on the little dog's dark, flat face. Then he felt the shape of Fiona's forelegs, the depth of her chest, the length of her neck, the breadth of her ribs and how much her body tapered from her forequarters to her rear. The standard calls for Pekingese to be pear-shaped, compact and low-slung.
As Fiona continued to stand serenely on a table, it was time to check out the shape of her back, the texture of her voluminous, tawny coat and the way her tail sits. The next step is, well, steps. Judges watch each dog walk with its handler. Pekes are known for their slow, rolling gait, which Sturz describes by invoking both the stride of a heavyset rugby player and the wavy grace of a swimming goldfish.
