Declan will have his own cheering section when he hits the show ring Tuesday to compete in the Westminster Dog Show.
The 4-year-old golden retriever will help his owner/handler Megan Ash of North Huntingdon achieve a goal in the process.
“This has always been on my bucket list to go, but to go and show your dog is a dream come true,” she said.
Several local canines are set to compete in the 149th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City, which opens this weekend with agility and obedience competitions. Breed and group competitions start Monday and the best in show winner is expected to be announced Tuesday evening.
Pennsylvania has the second most dogs competing with 178 entries, following California, which has 191, according to the Westminster Kennel Club. Dachshunds lead the way with the most entries at 52, followed by poodles of all sizes with 44.
In preparation, Ash said she kept Declan’s routine as normal as possible. That included therapy dog duties at Franklin Regional Middle School on Friday. She’s been taking golden retrievers to shows and competitions around the country for more than 25 years, but this will be her first time at Westminster.
“We’re just going and we’re going to live in the moment,” she said. “We are going to enjoy and be grateful. It’s like the Super Bowl of dog shows. It’s the most prestigious show in the whole country.”
Declan will have stiff competition — there are 38 golden retrievers registered to compete in the Westminster Dog Show, the most in the sporting group. His registered name is Damels I Hope You Dance.
Ash said she will be one of the few owner/handlers there with a dog of that breed, so she is proud of her accomplishments.
Another Westminster first-timer, Rachel Tyras of South Fayette, is taking along a sparkly pink outfit to wear in the ring Monday and grilled chicken for Toxin, her 2-year-old beauceron.
Tyras said she encountered beaucerons, a lesser known breed in the herding group, while at dog shows with her border collie and fell in love with them. Thirteen beaucerons will be competing at Westminster.
“Sometimes beaucerons can be kind of aloof, but he’s more like a golden retriever,” she said.
They’ve been preparing with regular handling classes so Toxin trots through the ring and stands correctly on his own to be judged. His registered name is Eagle Valley Tendency Towards Violence.
“Since he was a puppy, we have done lots of socialization and training to accept being examined by judges,” Tyras said. “Toxin enjoys it all, but I also give him lots of chicken for participating.”
Jo Ann Evans and her 4-year-old Alaskan malamute Brio are Westminster veterans, having competed there together the last two years. The breed standard dictates that an Alaskan malamute, in the working group, should be shown in its natural form, but that takes a lot of work with a double coat — about four hours of it from bath to show ring, said Evans of Richland.
Brio will be competing Tuesday against seven other Alaskan malamutes under the registered name Edgend’s Allegro Con Brio.
“What gets him most excited is his show collar,” Evans said.
For her, it’s the hours spent together in preparation.
“It’s my destress time,” she said. “You can turn off your brain and bond with your dog.”