“One last job” is a popular story trope, from the prolific criminal’s last heist before going straight to the world-weary detective’s final case before turning in their badge. In Dogland: Passion, Glory, and Lots of Slobber at the Westminster Dog Show, it’s a much-lauded samoyed named Striker who’s on the verge of retirement, and his big finale is the 2022 Westminster Dog Show.
Tommy Tomlinson, a Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Elephant in the Room, leads readers behind the scenes and in front of the judges as he crosses the country touring 100-plus dog shows, a three-year-long venture he affectionately calls “Dogland.”
With wry wit and fascinating detail, Tomlinson explores what it takes to be a contender for Best in Show. For example, dogs must first compete in often ill-attended smaller shows, called clusters, to gain experience and name recognition: “If Westminster is the Super Bowl, clusters are the regular season.” The dogs must be the best of “breed standard,” as if “humans decided that George Clooney was the consummate man, and we measured all other men by which ones were the Clooneyest.”
“Are those dogs happy?” is a question on the author’s mind as he tours the swirl of training, grooming and “for your consideration” ads in trade publications. Tomlinson spends copious time with Striker and his handler, Laura King, traces the history of canine competition and takes a look at dog shows in popular culture. (Perhaps not surprisingly, “People I talked to in Dogland seem ambivalent about [2000 mockumentary] Best in Show.”)
There’s no ambivalence in the connection between Striker and his handler, forged via countless hours together and a remarkable 111-show-winning partnership. Tomlinson’s love for dogs shines through in a moving essay about his late pooch Fred, and his playful “Pee Break” interludes that rank dogs in art, advertising and the like make Dogland ever more jovial. To wit, those lucky enough to meet a show dog mustn’t pet the dog’s carefully coiffed head, but rather “go for the scritch under the chin.” Wise words from a winning read.
