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Kent woman to judge Westminster Dog Show

The "Super Bowl" of dog shows is coming up next week, and a woman from Kent has the honor of helping choose the winners. Faye Strauss will be one of the judges at the Westminster Dog Show in New York.
A trainer from Kent will be a judge at the Westminster Dog Show next week.

The "Super Bowl" of dog shows is coming up next week, and a woman from Kent has the honor of helping choose the winners. Faye Strauss will be one of the judges at the Westminster Dog Show in New York.

“It is always a tremendous honor to be invited to the ‘Super Bowl’ of the dog sport, and it's been my honor to judge it two times now,” Strauss said.

Her task is to carefully scrutinize dogs in the herding, working, and sporting groups, comparing them to breed standards. The closer they get to that ideal image, the more likely they are to win.

“Occasionally you will see a dog, and you will go, ‘oh my god, that is just what the standard was written about,’ and those are the great ones, the ones you go, ‘oh wow,’” she said.

Strauss and her husband have bred more than one hundred American Kennel Club champion Dobermans over the years, and her resume includes decades of judging around the world. Yet the Westminster stage still energizes her in a way no other show does.

“I’ve judged in a lot of places, but I have to say, this is one of the most exciting assignments that I could have,” Strauss said.

Last year, Rumor, a German Shepard, won best-in-show. This year, 3,200 dogs will compete, their owners primping their fur and fussing over their every move.

If you can’t make it to New York for the show, wait until next month, when the Seattle Kennel Club will host its show at CenturyLink Field Event Center.

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