More than walking the dog
Being a Westminster handler is full-time job
NEW YORK – Jeffrey Hanlin needed a minute to catch his breath and towel off.
The Pittsburgh native had just finished showing Noah, a black Cocker Spaniel with an elaborate, beautiful coat, and between the heated pier where the 2018 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show took place and the intense grooming, the handler looked like he had just run a 5K.
Handling, he says, “is not for the faint of heart.” What’s more, walking in the ring is only a minuscule percentage of what goes into life as a dog handler.
There’s training and working with the dogs day to day before taking them to competitions, making sure their coats stay beautiful in the process, and the grueling schedule that could mean a different show every weekend. It’s quite a workout.
“There’s all this equipment,” says Angela Lloyd, who handled Hickory the Scottish Deerhound all the way to a Best in Show win in 2011. “Dogs need a lot of exercise, we’re lugging tack and tables, washing and drying … there’s a lot of daily care involved, it’s a physical activity, constantly.”
At shows such as Westminster, handlers can be responsible for grooming, which can be an hours-long process. If they’re handling multiple canine contenders, they might dash from one area to another in a matter of minutes. Occasionally, as one handler noted, there are “ringside pickups” — dogs who need a last-minute handler to show them in the ring.
“Some handlers show upwards of 20 or 30 dogs on one day,” handler Paul Clas says. “You’ve got to be able to run from ring to ring. You’re charging across the show site. You’re an athlete too.”
Then there’s the long-term work: They act as the dog’s agent, figuring out which shows would give the dogs the best chance of winning based on who the judges are, which means handlers are also scouts.
“Maybe you think the judges are better in North Carolina over Massachusetts,” explains Clas, whose Lakeside Pet Resort is located in Hanover, Pa. “Even the judges will interpret standard differently.”
It can be mentally taxing too. Take the gaiting pattern — that familiar half-trot you see handlers do in the ring — that will show the canine at its best. It’s different for every dog and changes from breed to breed.
“You have to be able to feel the rhythm of the dog,” Lloyd says. “You look at the foot timing and see what’s best. It depends on the dog; they’re all individuals, they all do something a little different.”
And how about all those suits? That’s an investment. Hanlin reports he buys five to 10 of them every eight months, partially because he’ll ruin a few at outdoor shows in the rain. Colorado-based handler Kathryn Wallis says she has hundreds of business-appropriate suits and shops on eBay to expand her show wardrobe.
The rewards can be lucrative. Clas says it’s possible to make six figures, and Wallis (who traveled to Westminster with just one dog) notes that there’s some flexibility.
“That’s the great thing about this business,” she says. “We have that free- dom to choose if we want to make more. We can take on more dogs and come to more shows.”
But none of that is the focus when it comes to handling.
“Good handlers have to care and condition the animals,” says Adam Bernardin, who learned the craft from his sister in Connecticut. “That’s the most important thing. Just know how to react with them, know what they do and don’t like, all that stuff is important.”
The secret? It’s actually pretty simple.
“Be patient and love the dogs, let them love you,” Lloyd says, “and everything works.”