Massages, Coffee, Curlers: Secrets of the Dog Show

New York, Feb. 13, 2008 — -- The Prestigious Westminster Dog Show is the center of the dog universe and has been for most of it's 132 year history.

And one trip backstage and you will see — and hear — what all the buzz is about. It's like no other backstage in the world.

At Madison Square Garden, home to the show, backstage passes are not required, affording visitors a unique glimpse of the behind-the-scene preparations.

It's a chaotic maze of dog crates, stacked three high; swarms of people; and of course dogs, hundreds of the most beautiful dogs in the world, who are being cleaned, groomed, massaged and generally pampered.

As the handlers prepared to show their dogs, primping took top priority.

Some dogs sat still as their handlers painstakingly wove curlers into their fluffy fur while other hungrily eyed treats, like chicken and potato wedges purchased from vendors at Madison Square Garden.

Flash, a Shetland sheepdog, gets a plethora of treatments.

"I use a gazillion different beauty products," said his owner, Morgan MacDonald. She applies volumizer, mousse and hair spray to make the fur on Flash's neck stand up straight, something that the judges look for.

MacDonald said it is a challenge keeping Flash clean while he is out and about. Some handlers give last-minute sponge baths to their dogs just before show time.

MacDonald prefers privacy. "I sat in the hotel room with a cup and washed the white spots [of his fur]" because "they got gray walking around the city," the 17-year-old said.

For other dogs, bathing is not necessary. Brian, a cairn terrier from Vancouver, Wash., doesn't get bathed before a show. Instead, Stephanie Salas, 14, one of his handlers, uses a different technique.

Brian's fur, like other cairn terriers, is supposed to stand out and stay spiky.

"Before a show, you'll brush Listerine into their coat. It will brush out all the dirt, but it will keep it harsh," Salas said. Brian is used to getting a little dirty, living on a farm with several different animals, including an 800-pound pig.