The 132nd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show Opens Today

The 132nd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show began today in New York City's famous Madison Square Garden.

Dog enthusiasts from across the world have brought their best and brightest pets for the chance to be named best in show, and thousands more will be watching via cable television to see the furry (and sometimes not so furry) pets in action.

I remember my first (and only) experience with the world of show dogs when I attended a local pet event and showed a German Shepherd for a family member.

My aunt owns a group of dogs and puts them in shows as often as she can. And occasionally, she asks her family members to show the dogs for her when she enters multiple dogs into the same show, as one person can only show one dog at a time. And just a few months back, I was lucky enough to show one of her German Shepherds at a show in Reno on April 1 of last year.

The show was sponsored by the German Shepherd Dog Club based in Northern California, but took place in Reno, which is a good two hour drive. My aunt, uncle and I took the dogs up to Reno in two cars--as most of you dog lovers already know, German Shepherds can take up a great deal of space--with my aunt and uncle in one car with one dog and myself in another car with the other two.

It was a long, smelly drive (due to the dogs in the back seat) that took over two hours, but it was nice weather and a smooth ride that was mostly freeway, allowing me to use my cruise control and relax a bit.

Once we arrived, my aunt, uncle and I each took a dog--my aunt's oldest dog, Rowdy, came with me--and began registering them for the show. I had no idea what I was supposed to do, and was more than a little embarrassed to ask an employee what was required of me, but she was very kind and explained the basics of the dog show process and told me that a lot of people are new and that they offer help at every step of the way. She explained that this particular show was a "specialty show," meaning it was only for dogs of a specific breed--in that show, the breed was German Shepherd.