Dog Show: Westminster Kennel Club 2021, part 2

Now that we're home safe and sound, I can bring you up to speed on our New York Adventure.

I had the pleasure of seeing a TM friend who was kind enough to drive nearly 2-hours to be our kennel help for the weekend.

Photo Credit:  Emily Brun

Ramen had a great time and he was given an Award of Merit.  

Photo Credit: LoriSwissRanger

Pretty good for our first show in 16 months.  :-D

The Lyndhurst Estate was an absolutely gorgeous venue.  If you're ever in the area of New York City, I recommend taking the tour.  I believe they are open for these sort of things now.

Photo Credit:  Emily Brun

Photo Credit:  Emily Brun

Photo Credit:  Emily Brun

Photo Credit:  Emily Brun

It was a long 3-day drive each way from Colorado to New York.  Fortunately the weather was favorable and we had a few stops to rest and visit with friends and family along the way.

I do think that next time I'll either bring a second driver or break the trip into smaller chunks.... 10 hours of driving each day plus stops was very long for one person.

That being said, June is a beautiful time to take a road trip across the US... everything was very green.  We saw parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.

Most of the people I met were friendly and most of the rest areas were at least partially welcoming to dogs.

There were a lot of wind turbines in IA, which I found to be quite encouraging.... 

and one of their rest areas was a monument to the history of wind energy.

Hubba and I have been exceptionally careful during the COVID-19 Global Pandemic.  Neither of us have gotten sick and we are both now fully-vaccinated,  The Westminster Kennel Club took individual safety seriously, which is why I decided to make this trip.

I was prepared to wear a mask during the entire event and wore my mask anytime I was outside of the car or hotel room along the way.

This year's event was not benched nor was it open to the public.  However, each entry was allowed to bring one person to help and all were ticketed.

Everyone in attendance completed a health screening that morning and had their temperature taken prior to being admitted to the grounds.  Vaccine status and Negative Covid Test Results were also validated.

Those who were fully-vaccinated were given a green wristband and allowed to go mask-less.  All others were expected to wear masks.  I wore mine most of the time that we were at the venue with the exception of actual competition.

You can watch the Tibetan Mastiff breed judging video here.  Either we started early, or the broadcast started late.  Tibetan Mastiffs were the first breed in our ring on Sunday and Ramen was the first dog of the day.

I'm happy that my first WKC was held in this way.  Next year will be in January, benched, and back at the Piers and Madison Square Garden, which means the crowds will also be back.  But it also means it will be much less hot.  ;-)