‘Kind of unheard of’: Hardeeville pup takes on 146th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
When James Brady and his wife Suzanne Reynolds-Brady were looking to add to their household in Latitude Margaritaville Hilton Head, a Jimmy Buffett-themed community in Hardeeville, all they were looking for was a pet.
Instead, they unknowingly brought home a champion.
“He comes alive when in the ring,” James Brady said of the couple’s 4-year-old flat-coated retriever, Ruger, who has been competing in the dog show circuit for mere months.
Though the 67-pound dog has not competed for long, he’s already achieved at least 109 championship points, something that takes other dogs at least a year if not more to achieve, he said. Their previous dog, a beloved pet named Finn, “couldn’t even get one point.” To become a champion, the American Kennel Club requires dogs have 15 points plus two “major wins,” an accolade worth three or more championship points under at least three different judges.
“Show dogs are evaluated on how close they come to the breed standard,” Brady said. “Never having had a show dog, we knew nothing about how close Ruger’s general appearance - head, neck, topline, body, etc. came to the breed standard.”
Ruger’s competition days started shortly after the Kentucky breeder that the Bradys got him from asked to make him a champion to “improve the gene pool,” he said. With a mother that lived to be 10 years old and a grandmother who was still alive, Ruger’s pedigree, which would attract other potential breeders, was already excellent.
At his first competition at the American Kennel Club’s National Championship presented by Royal Canin in December, Ruger earned enough points in four days to become a champion. Their work seemingly done, the Bradys went home to begin their new life with Ruger.
“There was definitely a different energy and vibe in the house, a good one,” James Brady said. “Suzanne and I loved having him around and being with him and taking care of him was something positive for us to do together.”
The two got to know Ruger as a playful pup who loves to swim and can be so focused when horsing around that he doesn’t give other dogs at the park a chance with the ball. Though he’s almost 5 years old, Ruger “still acts like a puppy,” Reynolds-Brady said.
All their friends and advisors in the dog show circuit were baffled by the speed of Ruger’s wins. Some even told them that they didn’t think “the Brady’s know what they’ve got here,” they said.
“He did four days in a row and won, that’s kind of unheard of,” Reynolds-Brady said.
Despite the days spent on long walks, and playing in the dog park, the two felt like Ruger could do more.
Back in the ring
When the Bradys took Ruger to compete for his Grand Championship, meaning he would be competing against other dogs who had become champions, in Clemson, South Carolina, the two were nervous. On the first day of the competition, Ruger took home a second-place ribbon. The next day, he won Best in Breed. From there, the wins continued piling in.
“It’s more than we could imagine,” James Brady said. “I doubted him before, but not anymore.”
Ruger went on to compete in Brooksville, Florida where he won Best in Breed the last three days. After that, he competed in Lakeland, Florida where he again won Best in Breed and, with points accumulated from both contests in Clemson and Brooksville, became a Grand Champion.
“He had no idea what he had accomplished and didn’t care,” he said. “He just wanted to play.”
Now, with those wins under his belt — or leash — Ruger’s next stop is the 146th Westminster Kennel Club dog show, a competition that brings thousands of pooches from all over the country to compete in categories such as Sporting, Hound, Working, Terrier, Toy, Non-Sporting and Herding. All dogs must first compete for Best in Breed, then those winners will move up to Best in Group before competing for the coveted Best in Show.
When asked about the upcoming Westminster competition in New York, James Brady said: “Win or lose, he’s our boy, he’s our pet.”
Where to watch
Following the Kentucky Derby , the Westminster Kennel Club dog show is America’s second-oldest continuous sporting event. It was established in 1877 and is the oldest organization dedicated to dogs and is also the longest televised dog show in the country.
Typically, the show is held at Madison Square Garden in New York. The 146th installment of the competition had been relocated to the Lyndhurst Estate in Tarrytown, New York because of the pandemic.
Saturday’s events concluded at 9 p.m. and will pick back up again Monday starting at 8 a.m. for the Masters Obedience Championship. Also being judged Monday morning is the Hound and Herding of Breeds contest. Both competitions will end at 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, viewers can watch kids get in the ring for the Junior Showmanship Preliminaries, which shows kids acting as the dogs’ handlers starting at 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. At 7:30 p.m., the Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting and Herding Groups judging will take place and end at 11 p.m.
Wednesday, the final day of contests, will begin at 8 a.m. with Sporting and Working breeds and the Junior Showmanship Preliminaries. Both contests will last until 4:30 p.m. The 30-minute final round for the Junior Showmanship competition will take place at 7 p.m. Judgment for the Sporting, Working and Terrier groups takes place from 7:30 p.m. until 11 p.m. Closing out the festivities Wednesday will be Best in Show, which sees the winners from each of the seven groups compete.
Viewers can tune in on the FOX Sports App, the WKC App or at westminsterkennelclub.org.
This story was originally published June 19, 2022 at 12:11 PM.
