Couples at the Westminster show bond over dogs, and each other

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This article was published 02/02/2026 (244 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEW YORK (AP) — Must love dogs. Really, really love dogs.

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show spotlights the bond between people and dogs. But reaching the United States’ premier canine event also can be about another kind of love.

“For me, it would be very hard to do this without somebody who was as vested in it as I am,” said two-time Westminster-winning handler Bill McFadden, who’s half of a dogdom power couple. His wife, Taffe McFadden, handled the second-place winner in 2019, and she and Bono the Havanese were among past finalists who appeared Monday evening in a special tribute to Westminster’s 150th annual show.

Yes, the McFaddens — who met at a dog show in the late 1970s and married in 1985 — have faced and sometimes beaten each other at various shows. And no, there are no hard feelings.

“I think some of my best memories are watching Taffe win best in show,” Bill said Saturday while the couple readied for Westminster. “If one of us takes the big ribbon home, it’s awesome. Doesn’t matter which one.”

Breed competition gets underway

After starting with agility and other sports on Saturday, the storied show got down to its traditional business Monday. Dogs ranging from teeny Chihuahuas to towering Irish wolfhounds started competing in the multi-round, breed-by-breed competition that leads to the best in show award Tuesday night.

Some finalists were chosen Monday, starting with Zaida, an Afghan hound who has twice won the World Dog Show, a major international showcase. She’d never gotten this far at Westminster before, and handler Willy Santiago told the crowd he’d been waiting for “this day for all my life.”

“She’s the dog that makes me feel everything can happen,” he said, choking up.

Zaida’s rivals will include a Lhasa apso named JJ, who won the massive AKC National Championship show in December.

“He’s a show dog all the time,” breeder, handler and co-owner Susan Giles of Manakin Sabot, Virginia, said in an interview earlier Monday. A Lhasa owner for 53 years, she said JJ is everything the breed is supposed to be, though he departs from one norm for a breed that’s generally reserved with strangers: “He’ll talk to everybody.”

Also advancing were Graham, an old English sheepdog whose grandfather, Swagger, was runner-up at Westminster in 2013, and Cookie, a Maltese who pulled off an upset in the toy dog semifinals. Cookie bested two-time prior Westminster finalist and former AKC National Championship winner Comet the shih tzu.

Graham loves showing. “He comes from a long line of dogs that love it, and we’re just happy to be on the end of his lead,” handler and longtime breeder Colton Johnson told the audience.

Three more finalists will be chosen Tuesday night.

Juggling dog shows with full-time jobs

A number of veteran Westminster handlers are married couples, and no wonder.

The McFaddens, for instance, travel the country to 150 to 200 dog shows a year and share their home with a varying cast of canines that need feeding, exercise, grooming and training.

“I can’t even imagine trying to date and explain to somebody, ‘Now, I’m going to be gone five days a week, and I’m going to have like 20 dogs with me,’” said Bill McFadden, who largely credits his wife “for any semblance of order that we have” at their home on five acres (two hectares) in Acampo, California.

The key is “being with someone you can actually coexist with — constantly,” said Bill McFadden (who’s aware of the 2005 romcom “Must Love Dogs” but doesn’t recall seeing it). Like many top handlers, they also have assistants, he notes.

Then there are couples such as Randy and Andrea Huelsemann of Prairie Du Sac, Wisconsin, who juggle breeding and showing their own French bulldogs with their full-time jobs. He’s a 911 dispatcher, and she’s a dental hygienist.

“We do it for just the love of it, for something to do together,” Randy said while waiting to bring their dog Ollie into a first-round ring Monday.

“It’s a great hobby for the two of us,” Andrea added.

Show dogs with show-business ties

Not handling but no less enthusiastic were Lydia Hearst and Chris Hardwick, who cheered and whooped for their otterhound, Zoltar. He didn’t win his breed, but he probably got the most decibels.

“I die a lot in horror movies, so I can scream for a long time,” Hearst said with a laugh. She and her husband, who hosted AMC’s “Talking Dead,” are both actors and grew up with dogs — pets in his case, and show dogs in hers. Her mother, newspaper heir and longtime Frenchie owner Patricia Hearst Shaw, also had a dog in Monday’s competition.

Wilbur the beagle had his own Hollywood connections: He appears in the new Netflix police drama “The Rip,” starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. On Monday, Wilbur was performing for Charlotte Jones, 13, in a competition for junior handlers.

Wilbur’s owner, Mary Cummings, has long trained dogs for both the show ring and show business.

Which does Wilbur prefer?

“Everything,” said Cummings, of Binghamton, New York. “He likes anything that involves food and getting attention.”