TOP DOGS Pet tales
Local collies, cocker spaniel will compete at Westminster
Collies named Legacy and Cotton run and frolic for eight to 10 hours every day on a farm in Zelienople. Their playmates are four other collies, three horses and six sheep that the collies regularly herd, which is what their breed was bred to do.
Cotton and Legacy are brother and sister, bred 2½ years ago by Ron and Heather Luster and their son, Ronnie. The collies are beloved pets who live in the house, lounge on the couches and sleep in beds with the Lusters.
Cotton and Legacy are also champions in the show ring at American Kennel Club shows. They will compete in the Westminster Kennel Club show in New York City on Monday and Tuesday.
If you watch only one horse race on television each year, it’s usually the Kentucky Derby. If you watch only one dog show, it’s probably the Westminister show in Manhattan. Westminster isn’t the biggest AKC show, but it is the most prestigious. The very best show dogs in the United States will be there, as well as top dogs from other countries.
Dogs from the Pittsburgh area will be among the roughly 3,000 dogs entered. Winning the coveted Best in Show title is a long shot, but this show is like the Academy Awards — It’s an honor to be there.
One local dog is not a long shot. Called Grant by his four owners, he was ranked the No. 1 show dog in the country in 2018, according to Dog News magazine, and No. 2 in The Canine Chronicle.
Regina Beinhauer of Peters is one of the co-owners of Grant, aka Grand Champion Clerwood Silhouette Speed of Light. Last year, the 4-year-old black cocker spaniel won 38 Best in Show awards and 29 Reserve Best in Show, which means he came in second. He won the sporting group 127 times.
Grant was bred by Laurie Ferland and Linda Pitts of Knoxville, Tenn., who is also
one of his owners. She and her husband, Mike Pitts, are professional handlers for many dogs, including Grant. His other owners are Stephanie Kaul of California, Ellen Charles of Washington, D.C., and Motoei Furukawa of the Philippines.
Legacy was the fifthranked collie last year, but the No. 1 collie is entered in the Westminster show. Her full name is Champion Heatherfield Legacy of Love, and she will be handled in the show ring by Ronnie Luster. Last year, he handled her to one Best in Show win and two Reserve Best in Show wins.
Ronnie’s mother will handle Cotton, whose full name is Champion Heatherfield Wait a Cottonpickin Minute.
The Luster family has had success at past Westminster shows, including last year when Grand Champion Heatherfield Purple Hearts Blumatra won an Award of Merit. Legacy’s mother, Grand Champion Heatherfield Marilyn Monroe, won a Select Bitch award in 2013.
Many top show dogs are taken into the ring by professional handlers. The Lusters are part of a much-admired minority — owners/breeders/handlers. Ron Luster will not go to the show; he’s staying home to take care of the other four collies, horses and sheep.
In addition to the Heatherfield Collies show dogs, the family operates L&L Kennels, a boarding kennel and grooming business. Mrs. Luster is the chief groomer. Her son bathes dogs “and does everything except the cutting,” he said.
The family has been breeding and showing collies since 2006. Before that they bred and showed hunting dogs and hounds. She’s also a judge for United Kennel Club dog shows. The UKC, like the better-known AKC, registers purebred dogs and sanctions dog shows.
All six of the Heatherfield Collies are champions and also compete in competitions where they herd sheep “because our dogs are more than just a pretty face,” Mrs. Luster said. Collies hail from Scotland, where they’ve been bred for centuries as herders.
The Heatherfield Collies are bathed every two weeks, even if they’re not headed for a dog show. They are “rough” collies (there are also smooth-coated collies), and it takes two hours to bathe and dry their long, double coats. It takes another 90 minutes of brushing and grooming at a show before they enter the ring.
Go to www.westminsterkennelclub.org to see how you can watch all the daytime judging, streaming live on the internet. The groups are judged on Monday and Tuesday night, and that will be televised live on FS1 from 7:30 to 11 p.m. both nights. On Monday, the groups judged will be hound, toy, nonsporting and herding, which includes collies. Tuesday will be sporting, including cocker spaniels, and working, terrier and Best in Show.