dog lover
03-02-2007, 01:32 PM
The nation's top dog arrived in Detroit on Thursday and settled into a suite in the Hotel Pontchartrain where, before granting an audience to his thousands of fans, he spent the afternoon ... chewing on a rubber ball.
He is an English springer spaniel whose official name is Champion Felicity's Diamond Jim, but he answers to plain old James. He's in Detroit to preside over the Detroit Kennel Club's annual Dog Shows at Cobo Center this weekend as its honored guest.
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Some 60,000 dog fanciers will attend the two-day event. James, in winning the elite Westminster competition on Feb. 13, is a huge draw, representing not just the best of the English springer spaniels but, in many eyes, the best of the entire canine world.
Think of the top supermodel among humans. That's what James is to the dog world.
But if you think all this is going to his furry little head, just scratch it and you'll see what a regular dog he is.
Accompanying James and sharing the pampered pooch suite at the Pontch is his handler, Kellie Fitzgerald. She is a Dearborn native whose Westminster Kennel Club Best of Show win with James at Madison Square Garden in New York last month puts her in a class as distinctive as the handsome brown-and-white pooch.
It was Fitzgerald's second Westminster win. In 2000, she won with a spaniel named Samantha, owned by Salilyn Kennels in Troy.
"This has been a whirlwind," Fitzgerald said of the nonstop festivities since Westminster. "James is having a ball."
Literally. He lay sprawled atop a queen-sized bed in his hotel suite Thursday afternoon, chewing -- just like a regular dog -- on a blue ball presented as a gift by the Detroit Kennel Club. A few minutes before, he tugged on another gift, a stuffed octopus, growling in mock fierceness.
His short stubby brown tail wagged nonstop as he leaped and wrestled with Fitzgerald. And, yes, he knows how to shake hands.
But when Fitzgerald whipped out a grooming brush from her bag, James instantly stopped his puppy play and assumed the position.
"Stand," is all Fitzgerald had to say and there, as she began combing his long ears, was the stance of a champion, back perfectly flat, head held high, legs straight and poised.
"He loves the shows," Fitzgerald said. "He may not know he's top dog, but when he hears all the applause, he just picks up the energy. He goes to work, and he is just such a sweetheart that it's like he's smiling. And he loves staying in hotels."
Like the royalty he is, he had a long afternoon of visitors Thursday from Detroit Kennel Club members and friends of Fitzgerald, who now lives in Bear, Del., after years of dog handling in southeastern Michigan. James belongs to a group of owners in Virginia, but he trains out of a kennel in Bear where Fitzgerald works.
James politely welcomed each well-wisher and then dozed off. It's a lot of work being a show dog.
"The day starts at 7 a.m. for him," Fitzgerald said. "He gets twice-a-day workouts on the treadmill. Lots of grooming. Training. But he loves it."
Technically, James is now in retirement. But he's on the dog show circuit, and those appearances require almost as much work.
All across the Midwest, about 3,000 dogs representing 163 breeds and varieties are making their way to Detroit today in time for Saturday's 9 a.m. opening of the Cobo Center shows. They've been bathed, brushed, styled, poofed and prepped for the competition and the displays.
The Detroit event is known as a benched show, meaning that when dogs are not in the judging rings, they are required to be displayed on a bench according to breed. Visitors then can get close to the dogs and meet the owners and breeders.
Besides the judging by breed in various classifications, there are demonstrations, exhibitions and various competitions, ranging from obedience and canine agility to herding and retrieval
He is an English springer spaniel whose official name is Champion Felicity's Diamond Jim, but he answers to plain old James. He's in Detroit to preside over the Detroit Kennel Club's annual Dog Shows at Cobo Center this weekend as its honored guest.
Advertisement
Some 60,000 dog fanciers will attend the two-day event. James, in winning the elite Westminster competition on Feb. 13, is a huge draw, representing not just the best of the English springer spaniels but, in many eyes, the best of the entire canine world.
Think of the top supermodel among humans. That's what James is to the dog world.
But if you think all this is going to his furry little head, just scratch it and you'll see what a regular dog he is.
Accompanying James and sharing the pampered pooch suite at the Pontch is his handler, Kellie Fitzgerald. She is a Dearborn native whose Westminster Kennel Club Best of Show win with James at Madison Square Garden in New York last month puts her in a class as distinctive as the handsome brown-and-white pooch.
It was Fitzgerald's second Westminster win. In 2000, she won with a spaniel named Samantha, owned by Salilyn Kennels in Troy.
"This has been a whirlwind," Fitzgerald said of the nonstop festivities since Westminster. "James is having a ball."
Literally. He lay sprawled atop a queen-sized bed in his hotel suite Thursday afternoon, chewing -- just like a regular dog -- on a blue ball presented as a gift by the Detroit Kennel Club. A few minutes before, he tugged on another gift, a stuffed octopus, growling in mock fierceness.
His short stubby brown tail wagged nonstop as he leaped and wrestled with Fitzgerald. And, yes, he knows how to shake hands.
But when Fitzgerald whipped out a grooming brush from her bag, James instantly stopped his puppy play and assumed the position.
"Stand," is all Fitzgerald had to say and there, as she began combing his long ears, was the stance of a champion, back perfectly flat, head held high, legs straight and poised.
"He loves the shows," Fitzgerald said. "He may not know he's top dog, but when he hears all the applause, he just picks up the energy. He goes to work, and he is just such a sweetheart that it's like he's smiling. And he loves staying in hotels."
Like the royalty he is, he had a long afternoon of visitors Thursday from Detroit Kennel Club members and friends of Fitzgerald, who now lives in Bear, Del., after years of dog handling in southeastern Michigan. James belongs to a group of owners in Virginia, but he trains out of a kennel in Bear where Fitzgerald works.
James politely welcomed each well-wisher and then dozed off. It's a lot of work being a show dog.
"The day starts at 7 a.m. for him," Fitzgerald said. "He gets twice-a-day workouts on the treadmill. Lots of grooming. Training. But he loves it."
Technically, James is now in retirement. But he's on the dog show circuit, and those appearances require almost as much work.
All across the Midwest, about 3,000 dogs representing 163 breeds and varieties are making their way to Detroit today in time for Saturday's 9 a.m. opening of the Cobo Center shows. They've been bathed, brushed, styled, poofed and prepped for the competition and the displays.
The Detroit event is known as a benched show, meaning that when dogs are not in the judging rings, they are required to be displayed on a bench according to breed. Visitors then can get close to the dogs and meet the owners and breeders.
Besides the judging by breed in various classifications, there are demonstrations, exhibitions and various competitions, ranging from obedience and canine agility to herding and retrieval