Time to say a fond farewell to Kratu, the adorable rescue dog who has stolen so many hearts in the past three years by being himself and completely ignoring the agility course at Crufts, the annual dog show in England.
Kratu, you see, is retiring from agility after 2020, so he did one more run that was once again filled with errors, including picking up a pole that was supposed to be something he jumped over.
You’re a delight, Kratu. Never change, even in retirement, and thanks for all the memories.
Here’s the run from over the weekend, with a great call from the booth:
Check out the latest meme taking over social media.
Welcome to FTW Explains: A guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world.
Here’s a sentence I never thought I’d write, but then again, maybe I should have, given the state of social media: a video of a wild javelina sprinting in Arizona went viral and became a meme, in which people are putting soundtracks under the video of this creature going full bore (boar?) while running throughTucson.
I know, you probably have so many questions. But that’s what FTW Explains is here for! Let’s dive right in with the first, most obvious query.
The collared peccary (Tayassu tajacu), commonly known as the javelina, is found as far south as Argentina and as far north as Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Collared peccaries are in the even-toed, hoofed mammal order of Artiodactyla. Javelina are mistaken for pigs, but they are in a different family than pigs.
So your terrible “boar” joke above doesn’t work.
… Right.
How do you pronounce that?
Have-eh-lee-na.
And what’s this now about the meme?
We’ve got the javelina running to the Chariots of Fire theme:
Siba the standard poodle took the Best in Show honors at the 2020 Westminster Dog Show (although a lot of folks were pulling for Daniel the golden retriever).
The dog’s secret to success? McDonald’s.
Per the New York Times, Siba loves to eat chicken, so before the nonsporting group judging that would lead to a win and the eventual Best in Show, she needed a snack. More from the piece on Siba:
“(Handler Chrystal) Murray couldn’t find any (chicken) before the judging in the nonsporting group, she turned to the closest available option: chicken sandwiches from a nearby McDonald’s. Siba gobbled them up, and then had the same meal for dinner on Tuesday.”
Sounds like there’s an opportunity for an endorsement deal:
Siba, the standard poodle crowned best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, enjoys chicken and celebrated the big win with McDonald's. pic.twitter.com/FqAOPTv1Yi
For the first time since 2006, a golden retriever won the best of the Sporting group at the 2020 Westminster Dog Show, giving a canine named Daniel a shot at Best in Show, a prize that the breed has never won.
Fans everywhere pulled for Daniel — a reminder that the golden retriever breed is among the most popular for owners in the United States — but it was Siba the standard poodle who took Best in Show after calmly waiting the entire day backstage with other Best in Breed winners.
Just listen to the reaction when Daniel was judged at Madison Square Garden:
Siba the Standard Poodle claims the top honor at the #WKCDogShow! It is the 5th win for the breed, good for fourth-most all-time. pic.twitter.com/OYBCtTcwnr
We spoke with the owners of some of the dogs competing Tuesday night for the title.
NEW YORK — Imagine if the NFL players competing in the Super Bowl were asked, on the day of the game, to stand in public, chat with fans, surrounded by the media and with cameras constantly in their faces.
That’s the life of a dog that already qualified for the Best in Show judging at the Westminster Dog Show thanks to a win in Best in Group, and it has the potential to be a huge stress on both the canines and handlers.
The show is more than just about handing out hardware to extremely good dogs. It’s also a show of another sort, a chance to help people and potential owners understand the intricacies of each breed by getting up close.
Bono the Havanese won Best of the Toy group, marking a return to the Best in Show ring for the second year in a row after finishing as runner-up in 2019. So while Bono is a pro, it doesn’t make it any easier on owner Taffe McFadden.
“It takes a lot of energy for the dogs and for us,” she says. “There’s a lot of energy here on the pier, and it’s a completely different energy at Madison Square Garden because it’s so packed with people and everybody wants to take a picture of your dog and asks how much they weigh.
“As an ambassador,” she continues, “you have to be there, you have to be civil, you have to answer the questions, because we’re trying to promote purebred dogs. But in the same token, you’re worried your dog will be too tired for the final event.”
But she has some strategies, after Bono’s rested while the crowd at Pier 94 swirled around: pampering. Lots of it.
“I’m going to go out and get him a really yummy steak so that he’s really keyed into it for Best in Show,” she says. “He has a massage booked for later on.”
Bono the Havanese. (AP Photo/Ginger Tidwell-Walker)
If you’re lucky, you’re handler Paul Clas, who stayed with Siba the standard poodle — winner of the Non-Sporting Group — before his wife would take the dog around the ring Tuesday night. His canine was more than happy to sit around.
“Poodles are good at that,” Clas says. “She’ll zonk out on her side and be in a deep sleep while we wait another two hours for Best in Show.”
(AP Photo/Ben Walker)
“You have to have a dog that can relax, they can get rest, they’re not stressed,” he adds, “because then they can go in the ring and give out that energy they need.”
But what about the handlers and owners? It’s a very public way to wait and think about what’s ahead, especially if you’ve never been under the bright lights of The Garden, under the watchful eye of the Best in Show judge.
“Nothing’s like Westminster,” says Tyler Crady, the owner of Conrad the Shetland sheepdog, winner of the Herding group on Monday night. “This is our best event, our Super Bowl.”
So while Conrad was content to sit with Crady and watch well-wishers come say hi, the owner admits his nerves ahead of his first-ever Best in Show, and the advice he got from handlers with more experience.
“Stay calm, breathe and take your time walking in the ring,” he says. “I have no tips other than, ‘please don’t trip.'”
NEW YORK — Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers are among the most popular dog breeds to own in the United States.
But when it comes to the Westminster Dog Show, they’re underdogs.
Neither breed has won Best in Show since they were recognized by the American Kennel Club (1917 for the Lab and and 1925 for the Golden), and only twice has a Golden Retriever won Best of the Sporting Group, the last coming in 2006.
What gives?
“Labradors are a working breed and they’re not as flashy as the setters and big heavy-coated breeds,” says Anne Thornbury, an owner of Cooper the Labrador Retriever from Cincinnati. “They’re under the radar, and I think that’s where they miss out.”
“At the end of the day, in that venue,” she adds, referring to the rings where the canines compete, “they’re looking for the one that has a huge ego, and most Labradors are low key.”
It’s not as if these Retrievers aren’t at the top of of their game. The dogs who qualify for Westminster are the best of the best. They’ve won championships and awards at both competitions specific to their breed and Best in Show elsewhere. In the past five year, the same Labrador Retriever — Heart — has won the Westminster Masters Obedience competition, including in 2020.
“They’re very workman-like, it’s not a lot of flash in the ring. They’re supposed to be moderate, dependable and with a wonderful temperament,” says Susan Palius, who is the chair of the Meet the Breeds booth for the Golden Retriever Club of America. “They’re bred to assist people and put food on the table.”
“It’s hard to get the judges’ eyes with the amazing setters flipping their hair,” she adds with a chuckle.
Still, it’s possible that a showier dog — both in personality and look — might stand out more than one that’s “low key.”
“Ultimately, there’s a lot of … I don’t know, showboating that happens after the breed level,” theorizes Kim Downing from South Portland, Maine, whose Golden Retriever, Biscotti, also competes in obedience. “Maybe it’s not in our breed standard to be as showy as other breeds. I’m fine with that in the fact that we’re true to our breed standard.”
To her, winning the breed matters more. That shows the dog-loving world the best version of a Golden Retriever, a top representative of what the breed should be.
“To me, it’s going out in the ring and representing our breed,” says Dianne Mullikin, the owner of Jetson the chocolate Lab from Nipomo, California, who’s happy just to compete and see New York City. “It’s the experience.”
Although Westminster is the top competition, it’s still all about celebrating what matters the most.
“I think it would be really cool (to win Best in Show) because it’s about time,” says Thornbury. “But if it doesn’t happen, I still go home with a great dog.”
A lamb attempting to follow the rest of a fleeing bighorn sheep herd didn’t quite get to the other side of a barbed-wire fence as gracefully as the others.
A lamb attempting to follow the rest of a fleeing bighorn sheep herd didn’t quite get to the other side of a barbed-wire fence as gracefully as the others, taking a wild forward flip between the wires and tumbling to the ground before quickly righting itself and moving on.
The amusing incident occurred Monday just outside Kootenay Plains Ecological Reserve in Alberta, Canada, and Michael J. Kossin happened to capture it in video.
Kossin was returning from Abraham Lake with friends when they came upon the herd licking the salt off the road along AB-11 highway. They snapped several photos (seen below) before the herd began fleeing.
When the bighorn sheep headed for the fence line, Kossin started taping.
“At first I was concerned for the lamb, and the audible gasp you hear in the video is from me,” Kossin told USA Today/For The Win Outdoors. “I thought he or she might have been hurt, or would get tangled in the wires, but was relieved to see it immediately be able to stand up and catch up to the rest of the herd.”
As for the shaky footage when the lamb flipped, Kossin told For The Win that “I was not bumped while recording the video, but I think I reflexively attempted to center the frame on the lamb as it tripped. The sheep were pretty far away and I had the lens zoomed-in to 200 mm so even slight movements are exaggerated.”
Even so, it’s impressive video footage of a big herd of fleeing bighorn sheep, despite one wild flip.
