Interview: Westminster Kennel Club’s David Frei on the 2014 dog show

USA Network
Portuguese Podengo Pequeno

The Westminster Kennel Club’s 2014 Dog Show is being held this week, with TV coverage again being provided by CNBC (Opening Night, Feb. 10, live at 8pm ET) and USA Network (Closing Night, Feb. 11, live at 8pm ET).

david-frei-westminster
Jason DeCrow/USA Network

I was surprised to learn from Westminster Kennel Club Director of Communications, and longtime WKC Dog Show TV co-host, David Frei (pictured) during our phone interview last week that he did not get his first dog until he was in college. Given how passionately Frei has covered Westminster’s famed dog shows over the past 25 years (he’s been doing it since 1990), and how this passion for dogs has manifested itself in other areas of his life — most notably through his Angel on a Leash therapy dog organization, which Frei told me is his “heart and soul” — I would have thought he’d been around dogs all his life.

“I got my first dog,” he told me, “when I moved into my own house in college, and my girlfriend said, ‘Let’s get a dog.’ ‘Okay, what kind?’ She said, ‘How about an Afghan hound?’ And we got an Afghan hound. Three weeks later, the girl left and the dog stayed, which was the best thing for all of us.”

Frei turned that initial meeting into what has become a longtime dedication to canines, becoming a breeder, owner, handler, judge and, of course, co-host of the famed Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, a duty he will handle again in 2014, with Erica Hill.

When I asked Frei what has changed about co-hosting the dog show over the past two-and-a-half decades, he explained that he now has to “do a little more homework.” When he started, the number of officially recognized breeds at the show was 142. That number is now at 190, including the debuts of three newly recognized breeds this year. Those breeds are pictured, and Frei talks about them — and other things Westminster — below.

NEW OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED BREEDS DEBUTING AT 2014 WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB DOG SHOW

Rat Terrier
Rat Terrier USA Network
Portuguese Podengo Pequeno
Portuguese Podengo Pequeno USA Network
chinook
Chinook USA Network

Can you talk about the three newly recognized breeds making their debut at the 2014 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show? What can viewers expect, and what will judges be looking for?

David Frei: It’s not really that they’re new, it’s that they’re newly recognized by the American Kennel Club, which makes them eligible for our show. And they have to have a certain number and a certain following in this country before the AKC will recognize them. … People are still finding out about these dogs, whether they’re judges or audience members. They’re fun dogs, all of them. … I had known some of [the entrants] before.

The Chinook is a sled-pulling dog from New Hampshire — the state dog of New Hampshire. Beautiful-looking dog. It looks, obviously, like a working dog and looks like it’s strong enough to pull a sled. Fun dog to be around, nice personality. It’s in the Working Group.

Portuguese Podengo Pequeno is a hound. It’s small; they also come in Medio and a Grande, but those are not recognized yet. It’s only the Pequeno that’s recognized. It’s a little dog, close to the ground. It hunts by both sight and scent, but it’s a rabbit-hunting dog that is still very active doing that in Portugal. In this country, mostly, they’re just a cute little guy that’s got a wonderful, outgoing, terrier-like sort of personality.

The rat terrier — “rat terrier” refers to its job, not the way it looks. It’s a general farm dog, really a little larger terrier than most. Wonderful, athletic dog, great personality. We have 20 of them entered this year, which is the largest entry in the Terrier Group, tied with the Scottish terrier.

Are there any breeds close to being officially recognized that we may see at future WKC shows?

Frei: There’s two more new breeds next year that have already been identified. The Coton de Tulear, they are are already on schedule. And the wirehaired vizsla.

This is your 25th year co-hosting the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. What is it about the event that keeps you wanting to co-host?

Frei: I’m waiting to see what kind of watch they give me [laughs]. The same thing that maybe our spectators are tuning in for on television or coming to the dog show in person to see, and that’s the excitement of, first of all, the competition; and I think, then, secondly, for the great variety and entertainment, if you will, of 190 different breeds and varieties.

I think people also watch for what I call the “alma mater factor.” If they’re sitting at home with their Brittany — one of my breeds — they want to see the Brittany and they’re going to root for the Brittany. … I love seeing new dogs. Not necessarily new breeds, but the dogs that are having great years [in other dog shows]. Westminster’s the only time all year where all these great dogs are in the same place at the same time.

The number of competing breeds has increased over your time co-hosting the event. What other changes in the coverage have you noticed over your 25 years? How has the event grown?

Frei: Like a lot of other things, the Internet has changed a lot of things that we do. Whether it’s just being able to show streaming video on it, like we’re doing now — we started doing streaming video in 2005 and now, this year, we’re doing it live, every single breed on there. That’s probably the single biggest change. And we’re as much a part of social media as anybody else in the world, being able to share the little stories that are out there.

You remain impartial as a host of the event, but have you ever internally found yourself rooting for particular dogs?

Frei: Like anybody else, I do have my favorites, but I’m supposed to be impartial up there.  But there are dogs, and I think it’s evident in my comments during the telecast if I like a dog in particular that I think is a great specimen.

Has any dog from past dog shows really stayed in your mind?

Frei: It’s always great to see the great show dogs out there, but, yeah, I do have a favorite over the years. I love them all, but Uno, the beagle that was Best in Show in 2008 (pictured below), he really captured the public response. I thought people were going to come down out of the stands like they would if the Knicks had just hit the winning basket in the NBA championship game. They were just so into him. And then the general public, just the way they responded, and the new people that we heard from, and the media that we heard from that we had never heard from before. Then the things that he got to do afterwards because of that – he’s the only dog that we’ve ever had go to the White House! He threw out the first pitch at big-league baseball games, he rode on a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. And I’m doing all these things with him. … He’s visited as a therapy dog at, I think, five different Ronald McDonald Houses. It was fun that, because of the way it worked with his people, that I got to be the guy to do that [with him]. I really became kind of his foster father; he’d come and live with me from time to time. He’s an easy favorite for me, and that’s not meant to lessen any of the other dogs.

You mentioned earlier that you currently have a Brittany. Any other dogs in your personal life?

Frei: I have a Brittany and a Cavalier [King Charles Spaniel]. They’re both very involved in therapy dog work. The Brittany is a show champion, as well. They’re both wonderful therapy dogs.

Have you ever seen the movie “Best in Show,” a satire of dog shows? If so, any thoughts?

Frei: I have! I carry it around with me, the DVD [laughs]. When they first started talking about it, they wanted to shoot some footage here, but we just didn’t have the space to accommodate them. We were a little concerned, because we thought, “Oh, geez, they’re going to make fun of the dogs and they’re going to make fun of the sport.” But they didn’t make fun of the dogs, and they didn’t make fun of the sport, they only made fun of the people. And we knowingly admit to being a target-rich environment in that respect [laughs]. So, really, we’re flattered to be an object of satire by a group like that.

138TH WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB DOG SHOW TV COVERAGE

Feb. 10 live at 8pm ET on CNBC (Opening Night, featuring Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting and Herding Groups)

Feb. 11 live at 8pm ET on USA Network (Closing Night, featuring Sporting, Working and Terrier Groups, and Best in Show).