So, without further ado, here are the winners of the 2012 Purina Thanksgiving Day National Dog Show!!

BEST IN SHOW
Wire Fox Terrier

Winners by Group:
Toy Group:
1. Affenpinscher (named Joe from Seekonk, MA)
2. Shih Tzu
3. Havanese
4. Papillon

Sporting Group:
1. Field Spaniel (named Ginger from Greenville, NC)
2. English Cocker Spaniel
3. English Setter
4. Pointer

Working Group:
1. Great Dane (named James from Bensalem, PA)
2. Siberian Husky
3. Great Pyrenees
4. Rottweiler

Hound Group:
1. American Foxhound (named Jewel from Washington, DC)
2. Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen
3. Pharaoh Hound
4. Dachshund (Wirehaired)

Non-Sporting Group:
1. Tibetan Spaniel (named Tenzin from New York City, NY)
2. Schipperke
3. Bulldog
4. Dalmation

Herding Group:
1. Bearded Collie (named Ms. Olivia from Nashville, TN)
2. Malinois
3. Briard
4. Collie (Rough)

2010 Thanksgiving Day Dog Show Winners

Cynocephaly is often depicted in ancient religious works and renderings. The most likely place you may have seen this is in the artwork and sculptures of ancient Egypt. In fact, two Egyptian gods – Hapi and Anubis are often depicted in this form. In addition, a Christian Saint – Saint Christopher is also depicted as dog-headed!

Werewolves are closely related to Cynocephaly, and sometimes the two are interchanged for each other.  The key difference however is that for the most part, with the werewolf, the entire body is transformed, not just the head.  In Cynocephaly, it’s specifically the head that takes on the animal appearance.  Perhaps a closer cousin to the dog-heads would be the Scottish wulver which also has an animal head – specifically the head of a wolf, and body of a human.

How To Identify a Black Dog

The Black Dog of folklore is easily identifiable, and anyone that crosses its path will know it in an instant.  While it’s not too very different from normal dogs,  there are some key characteristics that are unmistakable.  The first, is its size – it is said that the Black Dog is a gigantic animal – larger than any normal dog would ever be. The second way to identify the dog is by when it makes its appearance – Black Dogs will often appear during the nighttime, and though it’s described as having a coat that as thick and lush, it is said that the moonlight does not reflect off of it at all. The third and perhaps easiest way to identify the black dog is through its eyes – in almost all stories, the eyes of the Black Dog glow a fire-red color.  It’s also said that Black Dogs simply vanish, fade away, or disappear when they leave, like an apparition.

You’ve probably noticed that I’ve left out one key characteristic that you might think that you could use to identify the dog – it’s color. While most “black” dogs are reported as black, other colors have been reported as well, including brown, grey, yellow, and white – so color is not necessarily an instant identifier.

Where to find a  Black Dog

What’s interesting is that while black dogs have been reported in many different countries (Italy, Canada, the United States), most of them have been reported in Great Britain.  Also each individual creature seems to have its own territory and will appear time and time again on that particular ground. In other words, the individual black dogs have specific “homes” that they have inhabited for generations, including areas around water, bridges, wells, and crossroads (to name only a few). One theory to this is that Black Dogs patrol Ley Lines. Ley lines are alignments of ancient or holy areas such as monuments, churches, or cairns and are considered to have special spiritual energy or power.

What do Black Dogs do?

What black dogs do and what they mean is up for debate. The most widely accepted theory is that the black dog is an omen of death. There are however occasional legends that cite that the black dog acted as a protector or guardian to lost travelers and children.

Did you know?

Many people have a subconscious fear and superstitious belief in the black dog – so much so that animal groups describe any black dog as one of the hardest of the dogs to adopt – very similar to how black cats are considered especially hard to adopt due to superstitions about the history and meaning of black cats.

Read about another mythological dog – the HellHound.

The Results:  2010 Best in Show!

The overall winner or Best In show for 2010 was a three year old Irish Setter named Clooney from Washington.

The winners in each dog group were:

• Sporting Group: Irish Setter named Clooney.  Clooney was also named Best In Show!
• Hound Group: a Scottish Deerhound named Hickory.  Hickory is a 4 year old female from Virginia.
• Herding Group: an Australian Shepherd named Beyonce.  Beyonce is 3 years old and is from South Carolina.
• Toy Group: An affenpincher named Joe.  Joe is a 3 year old from Massachusetts (but born in Belgium).
• Working Group:  A Boxer named Scarlett.  Scarlett is a 3 year old female from New York.
• Terrier Group:  An American Staffordshire Terrier named Maddy.  Maddy is only 2 years old (another female), and is from California.
• Non-Sporting Group: A schipperke named Johnny.  Johnny is a 6 year old male from Connecticut.

New Dog Breeds Presented

There were six new dog breeds at the 2010 Thanksgiving Day Dog show, including the Boykin Spaniel, the Leonberger, the Can Corso, the Icelandic Sheepdog, the Bluetick Coonhound, and the Redbone Coonhound.

A wolf – dog hybrid is essentially a wolf that has been bred with a domestic dog.  At first, it may not seem that unusual…these are both four legged animals – and the wolf even seems fairly dog-like, so what’s so unusual about this?  Well, yes, you are right, they are both canids, however wolves and dogs differ incredibly in terms of temperament, trainability, aggressive tendencies, and social behaviors.  While wolves and dogs do have genes which allow them to hybridize, it is not something that is common – or – according to many – should even be encouraged.  In fact, there are only approximately 300,000 of the hybrids in captivity in North America…if you compare this to the number of pet dogs – which in the United States alone exceeds 61,000,000 dogs, you will see how few of these creatures there truly are.

It is not recommended that wolf- dog hybrids are kept as pets because of the huge differences that exist between them and dogs.  Although they may resemble dogs, they are not, and cannot be trusted with small animals or children.  Their behavior is unpredictable, and you must remember that their genes make them undomesticated.  Their needs are very different from those of a domesticated dog, and thus their behaviors – like aggression towards you or others will be hard to understand, although it may be completely normal for them, and just a result of their normal wild animal instincts.

We’ve talked about werewolves and animals before, and the answer is yes, werewolves can have pets.  The dynamics between the werewolf and the animal will however be different than they would be between the pet and a human.  Most animals that are pets will show extreme obedience to a werewolf.  They will typically have ears or tails lowered while in the werewolf’s presence. Typically they will avoid eye contact as well, in an attempt to avoid a confrontation with the werewolf.  Animals are very empathetic and can sense the power of the werewolf, their instincts will therefore steer them to protect themselves in these simple ways that give a visual cue to the werewolf that the animal does not pose a threat.  As werewolf967 has pointed out in the past however, I’d also like to agree with him in that this does not mean that an animal – even a pet – won’t defend himself if it feels threatened.  A good example is the dog, which is not so afraid of the werewolf that it wouldn’t defend it’s pack, owner, or life.

Werewolves can therefore have pets.  The pet relationship is most successful if it is a pet that the werewolf had before he/she started transforming.  This is because the relationship between the two has already formed and there is already a bond.  At first the pet will be leery of the new smells and emotions coming from its owner, but over time, the relationship between the two can heal and blossom as the pet realizes you are still you.  Getting a pet after you have already become a werewolf is a little more difficult.  You will have to earn that animal’s trust, which can be done, but is difficult.  The most difficult part of the process is forming that deep bond of love which is often formed between pet and owner.  The pet will easily give you his respect, but getting his love will be more difficult.  Difficult, but not impossible.

It should be noted however that there are some pets that are very unlikely to get along with the werewolf at all no matter how hard you try, including many species of birds – especially parrots.

The Thanksgiving National Dog Show is an all-breed dog show that has been going on for over 125 years, hosted by the Kennel Club of Philadelphia, and shows over 150 breeds of dogs.

The National Thanksgiving Dog Show breed categories include:

• Working breeds (like the schnauzer, great dane, mastiff, and great pyrenees)
• Sporting breeds (like the Irish Setter, Pointer, Golden Retriever, and Sussex Spaniel)
• Hounds (like the Afghan Hound, Greyhound, Whippet, and Beagle)
• Terriers (like the Irish Terrer, Border Terrier, Cairn Terrier, and Scottish Terrier)
• Toy Breeds (like the Italian Greyhound, Toy Poodle, Shih Tzu, and Chinese Crested)
• Nonsporting breeds (like the Poodle, Dalmation, Chow Chow, and Lhasa Apo)
• Herding Breeds (like the Border Collie, Canaan Dog, Australian Cattle Dog, and Shetland Sheepdog)

2008 Thanksgiving & Eukanuba National Dog Show Championship

Sussex spaniels are calm dogs that grow to be about 40 pounds, and have an average life span of 12 – 15 years. They are traditionally small game hunters, and generally have long golden-brown coats that must be combed regularly.

Anyway, if you’re thinking about seeing this new movie with Will Smith, the movie is very good! You have to go see it! I had a couple of problems with the movie’s ending, but other than that it was great! I cant really go on, or I’ll give away spoilers. You can learn more about what features are available on the I Am Legend website at the Best Movie Website blog here, or see pictures of Will Smith and the German Shepherd at the Official I Am Legend website here. Have fun and try not to be too convinced to get a German Shepherd puppy…I’m searching petfinder right now!

• Labrador Retriever (137,867)
• Golden Retriever (48,509)
• Yorkshire Terrier (47,238)
• German Shepherd Dog (45,014)
• Beagle (42,592)
• Dachshund (38,566)
• Boxer (37,268)
• Poodle (31,638)
• Shih Tzu (28,087)
• Miniature Schnauzer (24,144)

OK….i WAS going to give a rundown of dog winners, and just spent about 30 minutes searching the web for who won, but even on the Purina National Dog Show website, there is no information on winners or results! It is horrible. I have however found a list of eligible dogs for the AKC / Eukanuba National Championship Dog Show. Visit the American Kennel Club for a complete list of dogs for the Eukanuba which is in December 2007.

I’m tuning out now to finish watching the parade, then tune in to see the fantastic dogs. So Happy Thanksgiving! For the results of the dog show come back!