Jana Eremko is proud of her favourite pooch as Frank, a six-year-old Boston Terrier, just competed in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, the second longest, continuously held sporting event in the United States.
Jana, the daughter of Bill and Betty, and her friend Tricia Knowler took Frank on a 4,000-kilometre road trip to compete. The Westminster Dog Show was held last week in Tarrytown, New York, at the Lyndhurst, a property of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
“He didn’t win his heat, but he competed, and he did really good,” said Jana. “It’s my friend’s dog, and it has to be an American Champion, and he (Frank) is an American and Canadian Champion, so he has been to a lot of dog shows.”
“Westminster is the Superbowl of Dog shows, so they take the top dogs, and invite them. And they have spots where you could just enter, so it is kind of luck of the draw, and he was accepted, so we kind of made it a fun cross-country trip.”
Jana said they travelled across Canada on the way to the show and were returning through the United States. Along with Frank, they also brought their 10-year-old labrador for the trip, who got to swim in the Great Lakes.
For the show, Frank was put through the paces by his handler Courtney Penner.
While Frank didn’t make the final Best in Show competition, they managed to get tickets to watch the final competition, which was thrilling to see.
“There were only tickets for about 200 average folks to get in there, it was really an exciting experience. It was fun, and everyone was happy,” said Jana.
Jana’s father, Bill, says she always goes to the shows and helps with grooming Frank for the events.
“They have quite a time there,” said Bill. “The winner is declared the Best in Show, which is a huge honour,” said Bill. “They treat those dogs royally."
