So, sure, I suggested it, but did I actually go to the Seattle Kennel Club All Breed Dog Show at Qwest Events Center yesterday?
FAAAAAHK YES I DID.
It was pretty much the best. The dog show is unstoppably fun, and I don’t even like dogs that much.
Highlights: A handler complaining that she didn’t win, and her friend answering, “Well, you know, there are more losers than winners in the world”; the pomeranians’ stupid little faces; the “canine freestyle dancing,” which is so powerfully sincere that it cannot be mocked; the bunches of yellow (urine-colored) balloons marking the sawdusty urination corrals; when the handlers put the dogfood liver chunks in their own mouths and chew them and spit them out and feed them to the dogs like regurgitating mother penguins; butt fur; petting the baby St. Bernard; petting the baby Australian Shepherd; petting the baby Mastiff; PETTING, PETTING, PETTING ALL THE BABY DOGS.
Lowlights: Last time I went to the dog show, a lady from the Basenji club said of her mostly-barkless dog, “Well, he can make a sound like a woman being raped.” Nothing of that caliber happened this time. Although the Bulliedom came close:
About a million photos of dogs wearing ridiculous outfits (plus a very special video, and a wizard) after the jump.
The amazing world of Canine Freestyle Dancing (this nice lady and her dog dance “for bonding, and to overcome shyness issues”):
(All photos and video by my pal Meags.)
Lindy, you just made my Monday tolerable. Thank you.
One of that Pom’s feet is touching the ground. Flying faildog.
To be fair, I think she actually collects her dalmatian’s menses in that diaper because they’re best friends.
@4: That is such a good point.
I mean @3. Obv.
Brilliant.
look! there’s rocky balboa and mr. bojangles!
If dog shows really represented what having a dog were all about I would never have adopted one. Some of these people actually believe that pure breed dogs are even a scintilla better than mutts. In reality dogs that are a product of a random mating are usually better and healthier than the “purest” of breeds.
Dogs have proestrus, not menses. See menses is from the Latin word for the moon? But for dogs it’s like 7 months which isn’t exactly a lunar cycle?
@9: Okay, but let’s just go with menses for the sake of going with menses.
@8, the same is true with humans — seriously. People of mixed race are significantly healthier than purebreds (not necessarily “better”).
i can’t stop thinking that the bassett hound in a bonnet could really use a fanny pack to complete it’s outfit.
lindy west, you complete me.
Dancing lady, your dog is just not that into you.
Lindy, that’s amazing. As a kid we watched the Westminister dog show as a family every year, but I think that actually going to one might be beyond my capacity.
Lindy, you are now officially tied with David Schmader as my favorite writer at The Stranger.
I’ve recently noticed a surge in the number of chihuahuas and teacup poodles in Fremont.
It’s one of the signs of the Apocolypse when they show up in the Center of the Universe.
Oh, and in case you wondered, they still pee on my bushes.
I went this weekend and I’ll have to admit I had a great time. At first I thought that people would be uptight and freak if you even looked at their dogs, but what I found was the opposite. Everyone was friendly and open to you coming up and petting their dogs. I met a lot of different types of dogs, all of which were very well socialized. I never felt like I had to fear putting out my hand and drawing back a stump. I was pretty amazed how open these people are. My wife really likes Japanese Chins. We were talking with an owner about her dog when suddenly she realized that she had to run and get something. She asked if my wife would mind holding her dog for a few minutes. My wife was happy to do it. You can’t get anymore trusting then that.
It was fun time. Somethings are a little goofy but nowhere as goof as say “Best in Show.” Thanks for the heads up on this one.
My favorite of the custom – made shirts that I saw yesterday: an upside-down pug walking on the ceiling above “spider-pug, spider-pug, does whatever a spider-pug does”
Shout out to the St. Bernard puppy Easy! Only 4 months old and he’s already a tank. Wasn’t he a cutie. I have one of his cousins at home with me now and nothing beats having a knucklehead St. B.
That video was priceless. Can’t you see that woman dancing in her kitchen, trying to convince her dog to dance with her? Because, you know, her dog is the only man in her life.
So funny, but kinda sad, too.
@18
That is great. I missed that one but I did see a “Sex, Pugs and Rock & Roll” t-shirt.
i love you lindy west.
Lindy, will you marry me?
@23 get in line!