EDMONTON – A northern Alberta woman is beyond excited her dog is heading to New York to compete in the world’s most prestigious dog show and hopeful her animal will win.
Crystal Davies, who is from Manning, is the owner of Scout, a four-year-old Lakeland Terrier.
Crystal Davies has owned Scout for close to four years.
After competing in several competitions in the United States, Scout was extended an invitation to participate in the Westminster Dog Show. The canine has been participating in competitions for the past three-and-a-half years.
“Westminster has been a childhood dream of mine,” Davies said.
“I remember watching it when I was very little and the whole time I was like, ‘I’m going to go there someday’.”
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Davies and Scout will be taking a plane out of Edmonton Saturday night and will spend a night in Toronto before driving down to New York City for the all-breed competition.
Davies said she thinks Scout knows he is about to embark on a memorable trip.
“He knows it’s going to be special. When he gets there, it’s going to be different than any other show he’s been to. But I’m sure once he gets in there with his handler, he’s going to be…down to business and get work done,” she said.
Davies said her breeder and Scout’s handler will be helping her prepare the dog for his debut at the event.
“We’ll just groom him and get him ready to go into the ring. Keep his mind focused on the job at hand. He does get distracted at times,” she said with a laugh.
“I think he’s going to be happy. He’s going to enjoy it. He loves attention and he loves people interacting with him. He takes advantage of it every second.”
Davies said Scout will be judged on a number of things once competition gets underway – judges will examine the dog to see if he conforms to a written breed standard, try to get a sense of his attitude and judge his movement.
“If the dog is really flat, that’s not as attractive. You want a dog that’s very intense and focused on their handler. Also…a dog that carries himself well,” she said.
“All he has to do is stand there and look pretty because that’s what they want. He quite enjoys it and he gets the attention he wants.”