Westminster Kennel Club
Good News and Sad News with Personal Connections
Foxcliffe Hickory Wind greets her admirers with regal dignity.Two news items recently posted on the Home Page touch me somewhat personally—one joyous, one sad: the Scottish deerhound that won Best of Show at Westminster and the destruction by fire of William Frazer’s custom tailor shop in Ireland. What follows in this blog are just sidebars to the stories below. Scroll down to see them.
Foxcliffe Hickory Wind
As every dog person knows, Best of Show at Westminster is huge. Even so, foxhunting veterinarian Scott Dove was completely unprepared for the widespread exuberance, the congratulations, and the excitement of friends and strangers over his Scottish deerhound being anointed with that honor.
Scott is a long-time foxhunter and honorary whipper-in to the Old Dominion Hounds. My wife has been a client of his for her field trial Labrador retrievers. I wanted to meet Hickory and my first opportunity was a party at a local restaurant/pub in Flint Hill, Virginia.
Foxhunter Has Best in Show at Westminster
Foxhunter Scott Dove's Foxcliffe Hickory Wind Is Best in Show at Westminster Kennel Club Jack Grassa photoFoxcliffe Hickory Wind, a Scottish deerhound bitch owned by foxhunter Dr. Scott Dove, his wife Ceil, and Sally Sweatt, was judged Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club in New York yesterday, February 15, 2011. Hickory is the first of her breed ever to capture that honor at Westminster.
The news clips on TV showed her to be not only a magnificent specimen of a dog, but an astoundingly beautiful mover. Watching her trot across the ring, one would think she was filmed in slow motion—floating effortlessly—were it not for the legs of her handler doing double-time beside her!
