The Empire State Building Displays the colors of the Westminster Kennel Club
on the night of Best in Show in this photo of Madison Square Garden.
Copyright 2009 Chet Jezierski

Westminster is for Everyone

By: Elizabeth M. Jarrell 

    The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, or the Garden to those in the know since it is held at Madison Square Garden, is the undisputed high point of the year for the serious dog show fancy.  But Westminster is also an annual pilgrimage for anyone who simply loves dogs, whether or not they occasionally show dogs or just keep them as pets, have purebreds or mixed breeds, or even do not have a dog themselves.  The show is a special treat for everyone.  

    This year I attended the 2009 show with my mother and aunt, both of whom are interested in dogs but do not have one.  My aunt has a cat.  My boss and his wife, who rescue feral cats and so do not own a dog, also went with some friends.

     While Westminster weekend is notorious for ice or even snow storms, this year the weather was positively perfect.  We arrived Saturday evening.  Our hotel was a mere two blocks from the Garden.  Street vendors, with whom I love to bargain, were everywhere selling everything from purses to perfumes.  We walked to Times Square, the pulse of the city, to be dazzled by the M&M store, which carries every single color of M&M ever made including Westminster purple, and then to the Swatch store with its splendid display of colorful watches.
    I love New York and New Yorkers.  Everyone was so nice, attentive, and helpful.  And excited!  The show was the talk of the town with almost everyone we met, from porters to cab drivers to waiters.  New Yorkers were proud to share their grand city; each of them felt like a personal host for the show.
    Our weekend was off to a literary start.  Sunday we attended the Alliance of Purebred Dog Writer’s (APDW’s) elegant awards luncheon at Sardis hosted by the delightful President Ms. Jan Mahood, a consummate professional known for her sage advice coupled with enthusiastic encouragement.  Pat Enright put together a most elegant luncheon.  The APDW awards the most beautiful trophies especially designed by Dannyquest.  All were thrilled when a twelve-year-old young man became the youngest ever to win a coveted Arthur Frederick Jones Award. 
Another highlight was when Mr. Bo Bengston, who later judged several breeds at the Garden, won the 2009 Stonehenge Award for lifetime contributions to dogdom.  What a thrill it was to eat luncheon at the same table as an actual Westminster Judge!  The design of the Stonehenge trophy is pure genius.  It is a gold pocket watch which tells time the usual way but, when open, tells time the Stonehenge way.  The back is even engraved with a replica of Stonehenge.  We were also privileged to view a clip of the 2009 Captain Arthur J. Haggerty Award winning documentary “War Dogs of the Pacific,” by Harris Done of Done Productions.  All of us had a most excellent time!
    Shortly thereafter, we proceeded to the Dog Writers’ Association of America’s (DWAA’s) lovely awards banquet at the Affinia Manhattan Hotel.  Secretary Pat Santi, who organized the banquet, outdid herself.  The DWAA has the best goody bags, at least according to my pup who later delighted in our treasure hunt for all her new toys.  President Emeritus Mordecai Siegal was at his charming best as Master of Ceremonies.  Highlights included four new inductees to the DWAA Hall of Fame; namely, Captain Arthur J. Haggerty, Ms. Rachel Paige Elliott, Mr. Tom O’Shea, and Mr. Elsworth S. Howell.
    For me, the biggest delight was meeting outgoing President Dr. Carmen L. Battaglia in the lobby directly after dinner.  To my surprise and delight, he conducted a brief, impromptu handling lesson on the lobby steps.  Dr. Battaglia is the epitome of both a gentleman and a scholar, not to mention a great teacher.
    By this point, late Sunday evening, the show dogs began arriving.  All kinds of breeds were prancing about the hotel lobby.  It was great fun.  My aunt was most impressed by “the dog show walk.”  She became terribly concerned by one toy dog who seemed crushingly disappointed that no one was sufficiently admiring his great efforts.  To the fancy, it is called attitude; to everyone else, it is “the dog show walk.”
    We arrived at the Garden at 7:15 Monday morning to make the 8:00 AM ring time for Australian Shepherds, my breed of choice.  The doors opened at 7:30.  While everyone was waiting outside, a street musician played “How Much is that Doggie in the Window” on his flute which competed against “Who Let the Dogs Out” barking out of the Garden’s outside PA system.
    We found perfect ringside seats next to the videographer.  It was a large entry for a small ring full of big moving dogs, so the Judge divided the entries by sex and then divided the males into two groups.  Recognizing that many exhibitors were understandably nervous about their big moment on the green carpet, the Judge went over and above to make everyone feel relaxed.  I knew many of the dogs and people there and had always wanted to see some of the other dogs and people.  My mother and aunt, both Aussie Ambassadors through their relationship with mine, were as excited as young schoolgirls.  The three of us clapped for everyone.
    We then went to the benching area which, true to form, was altogether hot and crowded yet still quite a special place.  I shepherded them quickly through the shopping, mindful to keep them away from the various jewelers.  Westminster is like a buffet; a sample of this, then a sample of that.  It was then time for us to sample a bit more of Manhattan.
    The welcome yet unseasonably warm weather made the Garden hotter than usual.  So the three of us trooped off to the marvelous Macys by Herald’s Square for T-shirts.  Although we did not witness any miracles on 34th Street, we managed to find T-Shirts for a mere $18.93 plus the best coffee in New York at the Chinese bakery across the street for only $1.25.
    On our way to a wonderful dinner at a French restaurant in the theater district, we walked through Times Square again and then past the theater marquis.  Best of all, we saw the venerable Empire State Building lit up in the Westminster colors of purple and gold – a beautiful sight, as if the city itself was welcoming all dog lovers for this special show.
    By the time we returned for the Monday night Groups, I had somehow misplaced my admission ticket.  Noting my distress, a guard approached me without my even asking for help.  He took me to his supervisor, who quickly wrote his name and “OK” on my ticket.  All the personnel in the Garden exhibited this same extraordinary service ethic and are to be highly commended.
    For that matter, the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is indeed a show.  The Kennel Club’s attention to detail is spectacular.  Even the purple catalogue came with a purple and gold pen.  Everything is perfectly planned.
    While it is true that you do indeed see better at home on your TV, it is far more exciting to watch the show in person at the Garden.  The general feeling is that you are surrounded by dog lovers, some in the fancy, many not, united by their love of dogs enjoying the show together.  Some in the crowd are in evening dress, but most are just in comfortable clothes, purple being the color of choice.  However, the handlers and of course the judges are most elegantly attired.
    We had terrific seats almost but not quite behind the Judge.  Before Groups began, we saw a crew photographing the huge Best In Show trophy, a blindingly bright silver cup.  Several men had to hold up black cloths to deflect the glare enough to take pictures.
    However, being at the Garden, we missed Mr. David Frei’s uplifting and enthusiastic commentary.  My mother loves Mr. Frei’s breed descriptions because, as she says, “He makes you want to take home one of each breed.”  He personalizes each dog using its call name, telling you where it lives, and then offering up a special something about it.  He makes Westminster for everyone with his diplomatic, utterly positive style.  Typical of his kind nature, he kissed last year’s Best In Show winner Uno the Beagle before beginning his broadcast Tuesday night.  In person, Mr. Frei is every bit as genuine and charming as he appears to be on TV. 
    In Mr. Frei’s silence, I identified each breed then being shown and explained as best I could its breed characteristics.  I also briefly explained general show procedures.  A Mr. Frei, I’m not.
    Then my mother and my aunt got down to business.  They were particularly interested in the personalities as displayed by each dog.  Hypothetically speaking, each was trying to decide which dog to bring home.  With each subsequent dog, their minds changed.  They judged each dog by how well it performed “the dog show walk.”  Generally speaking, they were spot on with the dogs the Judges selected too.  We loudly clapped for each dog.  We had a grand time!
    Tuesday morning we walked back through Times Square to the Theater District.  We had a wonderful lunch.  We returned to Macys by Harold’s Square to buy more T-shirts as the day was even more pleasant than the day before.
    Finally the big evening arrived!  We once again had great seats slightly behind the Judge.  The crowd was appropriately dressed in dog themed jackets, sweatshirts, purses, and ties.  The Garden was more crowded.  Everyone was all smiles and all atwitter.  It was an excited yet exceedingly cordial and well-mannered audience.
    Once again, my mother and aunt requested and received breed descriptions.  They studiously evaluated each dog for its “dog show walk.”  As with the previous evening, their choices generally agreed with those of the Judges.  The crowd’s excitement began building with each group progressing up to Best In Show.
    And then the famous spotlights appeared dancing around the ring.  Such drama!  Such intensity!  We had a big discussion about which dog in the Best In Show line up had the best “dog show walk.”  By this point, several people sitting around us chimed in with their opinions as well. 
    Everyone was overjoyed when Stump the senior Sussex Spaniel, a relatively low maintenance kind of dog with a sweet, loving face, won Best In Show!  We were even more thrilled when we learned the following morning that Stump had gotten a second chance after having had a life threatening illness to come out of retirement as a senior and win it all.
    We will treasure our Westminster memories.  Although my mother and aunt are dog lovers without dogs, and my boss and his wife prefer cats, all of us totally enjoyed the Garden experience and were delighted to have been part of the action.  Whether it is the Garden or Westminster, attitude or “doing the show dog walk,” Westminster is wonderful for all.  Westminster is not just for the serious dog fancy and not only for high maintenance dogs.  Westminster is for the dogless, and even senior, relatively low maintenance kind of dogs.  Indeed, Westminster is for everyone.
   

 

CHINA 2007: THE GIANT AWAKENS...

by Bo Bengtson

From Dogs in Review, July 2007

China? Did I really want to go there? It’s too big, too scary, too different… Pretty much everything I’ve read about Chinese history from the past century has been about political oppression, totalitarian government and the suppression of individual rights. We have also heard so many horrible things about dogs in China that I was pretty worried about what I would find. However, I had also heard that China is changing, and when you are offered the opportunity to see for yourself and learn something firsthand you almost have an obligation to accept. So I went, spent ten days in China watching, talking to people, seeing dogs, asking and answering questions, and it turned out to be one of the most interesting experiences I’ve had in a long time.
China has a terrible reputation among dog people in the West for several reasons. There were practically no pet dogs in China for many years following the Cultural Revolution in 1966: they were considered a decadent, bourgeois Western concept and ownership was outlawed, at least in the cities. With the economic changes and more openness to the West things started to improve in the late 1980s, and as the middle class grows and prospers dogs are becoming increasingly popular as pets.
The dog situation in the big cities and central areas of the country is now probably better than in many Western cities. Big dogs are not allowed in the inner city, and all the dogs we saw – mostly Pekingese, Pomeranians and other Toy dogs — were obviously beloved, well-cared-for pets. Getting a dog license is expensive, so you have to really want a dog to get one — paradoxically, in this respect the restrictions actually work to the dogs’ advantage.
In the remote and impoverished parts of the country it can be a different story, as proven by the wholesale slaughter of thousands of stray and pet dogs last year in the Yunnan province in South Western China. About 2,000 people die a horribly painful death of rabies each year in China, and since few of the dogs (only about 3%) are vaccinated, the fear of infection is very real. This in no way excuses the horrors that were perpetrated, but it’s important to know that the Chinese were aware of and repulsed by what happened, and that major government officials publicly condemned and apologized for what occurred. (According to the Associated Press, there was “unusually pointed criticism” of the crackdown even in state media.) I had assumed that China was a tightly governed country, but that is obviously not the case: what’s decreed in the cities and central areas does not necessarily affect what happens in the remote provinces thousands of miles away. (China is roughly the same size as the US but has a population of 1.3 billion, one fifth of the world’s population.)
The international outrage that the killings triggered did not go unnoticed by Chinese government officials who might otherwise not be concerned about dogs but who are certainly interested in China’s international image, especially in the year before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. There is legislation against mistreatment of animals on the books (I’m still finding out more about this), although it can obviously be disregarded, just as happens here, and the Chinese we talked to were all emphatic in their statements that most people like, love and respect dogs.
This is where we should mention the common perception that “the Chinese eat dogs.” More than 90% percent of China’s population belong to the Han ethnic group, which has a long tradition – pre-revolutionary – of keeping dogs as pets, for hunting, etc. The idea of eating dogs is as foreign to them as it is to us. There are more than fifty other ethnic minorities, however, and of those some that live primarily in the remote rural areas have had a custom of eating dog meat, although it’s a habit that is increasingly rare and frowned upon by society. According to some reports the practice is outlawed; according to others that’s not (yet) the case due to government sensitivity to forcing the hand of minorities, but it is now almost impossible to find restaurants serving dog meat anywhere in e.g. Beijing. (A British journalist who tried to locate one for a BBC story a couple of years ago found those he was led to closed down or out of business; he finally found one in a grimy suburb, and also a “dog farm” outside the city, but was informed that “there is no money” in this any more and that the activity is dying out.)
It’s worth mentioning that the Chinese were completely shocked to find that we eat deer meat in America; it obviously seemed barbaric to them. Similarly, of course, there is the ongoing controversy of horse-meat consumption, which is quite acceptable in some European countries.
Over the centuries, the Chinese have often faced almost unimaginable hardships: as late as in 1959-1961 the country experienced the greatest famine the world has ever known, during which some 30 million people starved to death. In view of such facts, it is not surprising if priorities differ from those in the West; it’s actually more surprising that the Chinese have now come as close to us in their appreciation for dogs as pets as they have.
In a country as vast as China there’s very little you cannot find if you look hard enough. There’s no question that dogs are generally beloved pets and treated well by modern Chinese. Certainly more legislation and education are needed; China lags behind the US in these respects, but the situation is greatly improved. Just how the Chinese relate to their pet dogs today, and what their status is, was what I wanted to find out.

GETTING THERE

Paul Lepiane and I travelled to China as part of a group of Americans invited by a dog club in Tianjin to judge their show, report on the dog situation in China and hopefully also impart some knowledge about responsible dog ownership and breeding. We flew to Beijing on Air China (12 hours non-stop from LA, and they are 15 hours ahead, so you miss a day) and were met by our host, Mr. Shi, by our New York contact Theo Vavas, and a translator: Yukin, the first of several young Chinese we met who spoke almost perfect English. It was difficult to believe she had never been to America and had perfected her English primarily by listening to tapes and watching TV. People who were even just a few years older usually spoke little or no English, and were much harder to understand even when they did. English is now the second language for Chinese school children and is taught from kindergarten up, so the language situation will improve as the years go by.
At dinner in a great old restaurant that night we met the other Americans — Dr. Robert Indeglia and his wife Mary, Jon and Susan Cole, Matt Stander and Gene Zaphiris (with whom we got along very well) — as well as another young translator, Stanly. Like most others who deal with foreigners, Yukin and Stanly have added a Western name since their real names are often almost impossible for us to pronounce correctly: Stanly’s real name is Cui Liming and Yukin’s name, which I cannot even transcribe, consists of one single, soft syllable which sounds sort of like a breath of soft air... Both Stanly and Yukin were extremely likable, bright, friendly and anxious to find out more about us and America.
I’m not a huge fan of Chinese food but after being taken to one fantastic Chinese restaurant after another every day the food grew on me, and there were so many dishes that anyone can find something to like... and they are used to clumsy Americans who can’t handle chopsticks and provide forks if you ask. Paul of course ate everything, including the chicken feet, duck tongue and sea cucumber (a sort of slug that lives on the ocean floor). But we wondered if the absence of desserts (other than fresh fruit) was a reason that the only overweight people we saw in ten days were Western tourists. There are McDonald’s, KFC and Starbucks everywhere in Beijing; our group had lunch one day at KFC — at a reserved table, no less!
We were put up in modern, Western-style hotels with excellent service: you couldn’t lift a shopping bag without someone running up to carry it for you. (And there’s almost no tipping yet, although it’s getting more common - another Western influence.) One of the hotels was a brand new marble palace that would have looked at home in Las Vegas or the Arab Emirates – a new skyscraper or luxury hotel goes up every day, and there is a concern that the infrastructure isn’t keeping up with the building speed: drains not working, toilets backing up, etc. is par for the course. And the beds are apparently always HARD!
There was time for half a day’s sightseeing before the dog shows, and we were taken to the Forbidden City, which isn’t so forbidden anymore, judging by the number of visitors, and is officially referred to as the Palace Museum these days. It’s an amazing collection of palaces, temples, courtyards, banquet halls, ceremonial buildings and living quarters for the Chinese emperors, their families, concubines, eunuchs and servants (about 10,000 people in all); it was built in the 1400s and used as the imperial residence until 1924. It was stunning but really too much to take in during one visit, and Paul and I returned for a full day later on.
In the afternoon we were taken to the “small town” of Lang Fang (pop. 1.2 million) less than an hour outside Beijing where the shows were to be held. With about 15 million people in Beijing and another 9 million in Tianjin another hour down the road from Lang Fang, there are between 20-25 million people within a two-hour stretch from Beijing to the coast. There was still a lot of open space and countryside, which gives an idea of how densely populated the cities are.

THE DOG SHOWS

Since there’s no national kennel club in China as yet, all dog shows (about 40 per year) are organized by private clubs, and how well organized they are depends entirely on the host. A number of different clubs would like China to become aligned with either the FCI or the AKC, and how this plays out in the future will be interesting to see. The AKC would like to help, and could no doubt assist in establishing a dog registry as well as standards for responsible breeding, but is naturally cautious about involvement at this stage.
We were lucky in that Mr. Shi is a genuine dog lover (he told us, through the interpreter, that his daughter says he loves the dogs more than her!), extremely hospitable and very ambitious for his club: this was only the third year his show was held but he’s been to Westminster, wants to make this into the Westminster of China, and has brought in the Westminster BIS judges for the last two years for his show. The large, modern exhibition hall was made to look very much like Westminster with the green carpet, purple ring dividers, fantastic flower arrangements and impressive trophies. Mr. Shi’s club is the Noted General Kennel Club, because according to at least one story (I got contradicting reports) when Mr. Shi was a dog-crazy kid he was not allowed to keep a dog at home (sound familiar?), but an old retired army general agreed to keep his dog for him to come and visit every day, and the club is named in this general’s honor.
Seeing that the first dog show in China was held just seven years ago the quality of the arrangements, the dogs and the presentation and conditioning were almost unbelievable. I had expected mostly pets with a handful of more or less exaggerated American imports, but the Friday specialty shows for Chow Chows, Golden Retrievers, Shetland Sheepdogs, Miniature Schnauzers and Siberian Huskies had entries around 35-50 per breed and were in every respect as good as the equivalent in America. The handling was smooth, professional, with great rapport between dog and handler. I was frankly amazed: almost none of these people had ever been abroad, most of them spoke no English, yet almost all looked and acted like professional handlers. How that’s possible I still don’t understand, but I’m told they study videotapes, read books, and bring in handlers from Japan for seminars. The Schnauzers were beautifully trimmed – apparently Peter Green was equally impressed when he visited last year, and he should know!
There was a huge billboard facing the entrance, about 10x20 feet with the club logo, “Welcome to Lang Fang, China!” and huge photos of both Dogs in Review and our colleague/competitor Dog News front covers on either side. They took lots of photographs of Paul and me with Matt and Gene in front of the billboard, alone or with various officials. (There’s even one of Gene giving me a big smooch, which I’m sure would be very popular with the American dog press.) There were also huge posters of Westminster winners around the hall and large banners (including a vast one flapping in the wind on the wall outside) advertising the snarling guard dogs of an obviously highly commercial Tibetan Mastiff kennel: their third national specialty had been held in the same location a week before. The activities in this breed are obviously way ahead of and separate from the all-breed scene: hundreds of Tibetan Mastiffs are shown at the independent specialty events around the country, huge prices are paid for the top dogs (some of them by foreign buyers), and organizations designated to preserve the breed have been founded in both Tibet and China.
The pre-show information was rather sketchy and we were asked to decide between ourselves who would judge what breeds. It made sense that Bob Indeglia and Jon Cole would judge all the Groups and BIS on Saturday and Sunday, so the rest of us divided the specialty shows between us: I was happy to take on the Goldens and also got the Shelties, which I would been more worried about if I had known how many or how good they were... but it worked out OK. The adult classes in Goldens were like a small specialty in the US, and my BOB turned out to be an American import, Can. & Thai Ch. Gangways Forever in Blue Jeans (sired by Ch. Gangways Sweeter Than Whine and bred by Rhonda Hovan), who had won a BIS and a couple of specialties before, including one under Jim Reynolds just a few weeks earlier. The Shelties were obviously also of mostly American breeding, and I found a nice sable bitch from Korea for BOB and a striking blue merle male as BOS.
During the next two days we found that the quality was quite impressive in a few other breeds as well, notably Samoyeds, Welsh Corgis, Poodles, Dobermans, Boxers, American Cockers, Pekingese and Shih-Tzus. The other breeds were mostly scarce, non-existent or of pet quality. Hounds were by far the least impressive group: a couple of mediocre Afghans, a happy Saluki puppy, a Ridgeback, a few Dachshunds and a couple of decent Beagles. There are no Whippets in China, I was told. After judging I came across two very nice-looking Afghans at ringside: they had arrived too late for judging and would easily have “swept the group” — one was an American import, the other from Australia.
Jon Cole awarded BIS to another top winning Golden Retriever, Korean Ch. Arnold of Atlas Golden (we pulled out the same two dogs but chose different winners), sired by Am. Ch. Nautilus White Christmas), with one of several attractive American-bred Siberian Huskies as Reserve BIS. At Sunday’s “Golden Necklace” show, which was restricted to dogs that had won at least a BOB previously, Bob Indeglia awarded the top spot to a very striking Shetland Sheepdog named simply Model, apparently born in China from American parents, who came in for that event only — he had been at another show just a couple of hours away the day before. There was no Reserve BIS that day. Before BIS I judged Junior Showmanship, which was a bit of a misnomer as the upper age limit was 25. These guys (and one girl) were future professionals, and the one who won, showing a Pomeranian, would do well anywhere. Bob also judged a Puppy Show, with the top award going to a Siberian Husky.
Number-wise this was like a small AKC show, yet it was the biggest dog show (and the biggest panel of judges) in China so far: most of the shows have only a couple of hundred dogs, this one had about 900 entries over the three days and about 600-700 dogs. (A surprising number of them competed only one day.) There was no catalog and since the Chinese-born dogs don’t have any registered names (as there is no national registry) it was difficult to know what breeding or bloodlines they came from. There were a couple of American handlers and others from Japan, Russia and South Korea.
One of the most positive experiences for me was to meet Vivian Hong, who is the editor both of a dog show magazine, Show Time, and a pet magazine, Dog Fancy. That they even have a dog show magazine in China is surprising, and that they print 20,000 copies monthly is amazing; the pet publication runs to 80,000 copies monthly. Show Time must to a large degree be responsible for the dog show knowledge that people have: I can’t read Chinese but it’s clear that the content is highly educational, with lots of well-illustrated articles on grooming, handling, history of the different breeds, and translations of articles from American magazines (including Dogs in Review). There were also a lot of “show win” ads, just like in the US. Vivian started in fashion journalistm, which was easy to believe (her hair color changed from day to day, I think), and she was so likable and obviously well informed that it was a pity she spoke no English. However, the magazine director, Moses Meng, translated very efficiently and was much more familiar with the dog terms than most of the college kid translators were. Vivian and Moses told us that many of the handlers are, in fact, semi-professional “weekend warriors” of the same kind we have in the US, people who travel to dog shows most weekend but have to maintain a “real job” as well to make ends meet. The entry fees are around $50, and entries close about ten days before each show.
Looking through the pet magazine it’s obvious that China has already come a long way: there were ads for pet expos, equipment, grooming schools, major dog food brands, etc. At the show there were vendors selling Western grooming equipment and dog food; as a judge I was not allowed in the exhibitors’ area but Paul said it looked just like an American show with handler set-ups, grooming tables and crates, etc. Outside the exhibition area there was an open-air puppy market with what looked like people from the countryside bringing in dogs for sale: Mr. Shi was not happy about that, but although it looked depressing with puppies in crates, the dogs all seemed to be in surprisingly good condition and all had good temperaments, many of them sitting loose on the roof of the cars and wagging their tails at passers-by! Paul said it made him think of the dog auctions in the American Midwest, but this was much less awful.
In fact, the dogs’ temperaments were excellent throughout. Just one of my Sheltie entries was a little apprehensive; most of them quietly and casually wagged their tails during examination. When the show was over I saw an exhibitor with two Afghans letting the dogs loose in the exhibition hall; they played happily around their owner but came right back to be put on a leash as soon as they were asked. We don’t see that much in the US.
After the shows we were also taken to visit Mr. Shi’s own kennel outside Tianjin, a very impressive facility with a club house, grooming facilities and office, living quarters for the six full-time employees who work with the dogs, and modern kennels for at least fifty dogs – Goldens, Huskies, Corgis, Bichons and Cockers. In addition to the runs attached to each kennel there was a big field with an agility course in front, and even a swimming pool for the dogs, and we were assured that each dog is allowed to run in the field every day.
Mr. Shi’s charming and vivacious wife is in charge of the kennel; her husband gives her credit as the driving force who makes it all possible, since he obviously has to spend most of his time on his business. There were no puppies around, but with all those dogs I was a little concerned about over-breeding. However, Mr. Shi told me he does not breed at all anymore, and quite a few of the dogs were boarded for owners who were away travelling. One of Mr. Shi’s biggest concerns is, in fact, the problems facing the country as the economy improves and more and more people want dogs; this was one of the reasons he wanted us to come to China and help him warn people of the risks which dogs in China face in the future – very different risks from those in the past.

THE INTERVIEW

As part of Mr. Shi’s concerns in these matters he had organized for Matt Stander, Bob Indeglia and me to be interviewed by the government news media, the People’s Daily, in Tianjin. In the studio we were introduced to two government officials: Christina Ma, who lived in Chicago for eight years, and her boss, Ms. Soong, an elegant and charming lady who was obviously of great importance but spoke very little English.
The interviewer, Nie Shuang (Mr. Nie; the family name always comes first) an ebullient young man in an orange shirt, sat us down in front of a microphone and – through our interpreter - asked a number of questions about dogs in the West, our own dogs and dog backgrounds, and what we thought about the future of dogs in China — which gave me an opportunity to voice the concerns we all have, to mention that the rest of the world is watching and that we hope that China will follow in the best Western traditions of responsible dog breeding and ownership. I can only hope it did some good; Mr. Shi was very pleased. The interview would be published on their web site (over 300,000 visitors per day) with parts of it in the People’s Daily newspaper. During the banquet we were treated to afterwards – in a dazzling restaurant, one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen – Christina Ma reiterated that she would continue to deal with our concerns. I am planning on staying in touch with her and hope it might have some effect.
Ms. Ma also mentioned something both interesting and potentially worrying. She lives in a good neighborhood with single-family homes (very unusual in China; most people live in flats) where all her neighbors have one or two purebred dogs, and according to her they pay around $10,000 for a “show quality” puppy. These are obviously well-kept pets, but the demand for such puppies means that the risk of over-breeding (as in the US) is very real. Fortunately, perhaps, the market may be limited due to the restrictions on dog ownership.
One of the main reasons I agreed to go to China was that I was told they wanted Westerners to talk to the media about responsible dog ownership. I was glad to get this opportunity to do that.

SIGHTSEEING

Three days of sightseeing was barely enough for even a superficial look at some of the wonders of China’s 6,000 year old history. We were taken to the Great Wall, which stretches for several thousand miles across much of China. The spot closest to Beijing is about an hour and a half from the city, but there were so many tourists I wish we had driven further to some more isolated spot. Climbing the walls is hard work, but frankly the crowds – even on a Monday – almost ruined the experience, at least for me. It didn’t help that there were so many hawkers of cheap souvenirs. (Paul bought a stamp which supposedly spells out his name in Chinese; I think it says something like “Hello, stupid American tourist!”) Fortunately, when I was ready to give up we noticed that on the other side of the wall there were almost no people... and climbing that side gave the real experience I had hoped for. (So, if you go, either find the Wall further away from Beijing or, instead of following the crowds to the right as you get up the wall, turn left and you’ll have the wall almost to yourself.)
In the afternoon we went to the Summer Palace, the residence that Dowager Empress Cixi (Tzu Hsi) built for herself in 1880 and from where she ruled China with an iron fist until her death in 1908. It was easily one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen: a 700 acre park with a lake, bridges, exquisite palaces and temples, the Empress’ private opera house, and the Long Corridor, a painted and covered walkway on which the Empress and her retinue could walk from one building to another without exposing themselves to the elements. I would definitely have wanted to spend more time there — two major sighthseeing sites in one day was too much.
Paul and I also spent a whole day at the Forbidden City, exploring the various courtyards and buildings. The complex is so vast that in spite of the crowds it was easy to get away and feel you almost had it to yourself. The entire area is undergoing a 12-year renovation (the biggest in modern history), some of which was completed and looked stunning; more will be done by the Olympics next year but there were dusty and forgotten corners which they won’t get to anytime soon. The scale and beauty of the buildings and courtyards was breathtaking. We were approached by yet another college kid, Jerry (he studies water management at Beijing University), who asked if he could guide us around, partly to make a little money and partly to work on his English, which (once again) was really good. He knew more than the guidebooks and it was definitely worth what we paid him ($40 for four hours).
Something that shocked me was that there’s a Starbucks right there, in the middle of the Not-So-Forbidden City! How the Communist government could allow this I cannot imagine and what the Chinese think of it I don’t know, but at least it was discreetly tucked away next to a gift shop and there was no neon sign outside. Yes, we did buy a couple of lattes, although I felt guilty doing so. It didn’t make me feel much better that the souvenir items included Mickey Mouse memorabilia...
After six hours of history we strolled around Tiananmen Square right outside the palace grounds. It was a lot less oppressive than I had expected; the huge billboard with Chairman Mao’s portrait looked, if anything, out of place among all these bustling, westernized Chinese. There were families with kids, a fashion photography session, ice cream vendors, etc.
Our driver took us back to the hotel via Jianguomennei Dajie, which must be one of the most impressive thoroughfares anywhere: sort of Champs Elysées meets Fifth Avenue — wider than the latter, more modern than the former and surrounded by mostly new, gleaming and strikingly designed skyscrapers. Much of Beijing is gritty and polluted, but the combination of ancient historical landmarks and modern architechture was striking, and there were more parks, trees and flowers than I expected. The number of well-dressed women in the height of fashion was astounding, at least to anyone who expected maoist drabness: as Paul pointed out, these people didn’t LOOK like they were living under Communist oppression... In fact, the current Chinese version of communism looked an awful lot like capitalism to us.
Then there was the shopping... This is not something I usually enjoy but I have to admit that shopping in Beijing is fun. We were taken to cheap markets with knock-off designer goods sold by hawkers who did everything except physically attack you in order to get a sale — without the translators we would have been lost completely. We also went to antique, silk and pearl markets with goods that ranged from really beautiful necklaces of cultured pearls with a jade pendant for $25 to a a carved jade fishbowl for $60,000... and we even got a couple of custom-made suits for less than 20% of what they would cost in the US. (You pick the fabric, they take measurements on the spot, bring the suit for a fitting at your hotel in the evening, and drop the finished product off the next day!)
I have to mention the translator who took care of us at the shows and during the days afterwards. Gloria is in her early 20s, works full-time for Mr. Shi in an elegant office building in Tianjin, and is a real treasure. How she coped with all our questions and demands I don’t know, but she was infinitely patient, helpful and kind. She has an English Cocker Spaniel and a German Shepherd puppy, and when we delicately – we thought – tried to tell her that a GSD needs a lot of training she was almost offended: OF COURSE she takes it to training class every week! She also told us that she had switched from feeding Pedigree to Purina Pro Plan and asked if we didn’t think that would be better? She had a pink Hello Kitty credit card and is a huge Kobe Bryant fan. (She was very disappointed in us because we live close to LA and have not even once been to a Lakers game.) We hope she will come to California for a visit: visas aren’t easy to get, one of the few reminders we had that this is, in fact, still a totalitarian Communist state.
Then it was time to get on the plane again... We had a great time and although certainly both dogs and people face big challenges in China, and new ones will no doubt appear, I feel a lot better having been there. The “Great Wall” that has kept China isolated for so long is coming down, faster than anyone could expect, and that’s a good thing. I would like to get back in a few years to see how the country, the people and the dog sport develop: it could go in any direction but there’s hope that things will be all right.