WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB DOG SHOW Denver man doggone good at judging dogs
When Allen Odom looks at a whippet, he sees a sweet, pretty dog whose short hair means less grooming. But when in a dog ring judging a whippet for excellence, Odom is looking for more than personality. He wants to see its head size, posture, gait and colors.
“I judge over 100 breeds, and let me tell you, I have to study them every time I judge them. Because with judging over 100 breeds, that’s a lot to remember, especially at 70,” said Odom, a Denver resident.
When the 2020 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is in full swing Monday at Madison Square Garden in New York, Odom will be in the thick of the competition as he judges the non-sporting group.
The non-sporting group includes breeds such as bulldogs, poodles and chow chows, and they will step into the ring for judging Monday night. The group judging will be televised from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Monday on FS1; it also can be streamed on the WKC or Fox Sports apps.
More group judging and the “best in show” competition is from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday.
Being chosen to judge the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is a big honor because only champion breeders are selected to judge, Odom said. For more than 25 years, he bred and showed champion whippets. His most famous whippet was Sir, who rose to the country’s top whippet in the hound group during the mid-1950s when it was only 10 months old.
As a breeder, Odom said he would sometimes have as many as 25 dogs at once.
He gave up breeding because he doesn’t have the facilities at his Denver home and because he often travels to judge competitions.
Now retired from breeding, Odom hasn’t cut whippets out of his life. He pets whippets at shows that he judges, and his friend Claudia Miller brings her two whippets, Dot and Gianna, to visit.
While a whippet looks to be nothing more than skin and bones, Odom warned against underestimating the breed’s strength and character.
“People look at them and say, ‘Oh, my God, do they break their bones?’ No,” Odom said. “This is a tough dog.”
Odom judged breeds at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show three years ago, but this will be his first time judging a group. The non-sporting dogs are one of seven groups of dogs; each group sends a finalist to the “best in show” round.
“It’s a very diverse group, because the breeds in that group no longer do what they were originally bred to do,” Odom said of the sporting group.
Bulldogs, for instance, were originally bred to fight bulls. Their large, strong jaws were made for gripping the bull’s snout and hanging on for as long as possible, like a rodeo bull rider.
When he isn’t judging at Westminster, Odom will walk around and watch the rest of the show.
“You gotta stay for that. I mean, that’s like going to the Super Bowl. At halftime, you’d leave? No, you don’t leave at halftime,” Odom said. “I like all breeds. I don’t have any particular breed that I don’t like, so I could stay around and watch them all.”
“I judge over 100 breeds, and let me tell you, I have to study them every time I judge them, because with judging over 100 breeds, that’s a lot to remember. Especially at 70.” Allen Odom, Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show judge