Person of the Week: Burt Yamada

Feb. 6 -- You know what they say about television — you can never get too much of kids and dogs.

Perhaps that's what accounted for the brief distraction from the more troubling news in the world by the 128th annual Westminster Dog Show held this week at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

There were 2,500 dogs at the show, whose owners live and breathe the possibility of being best in show. With 162 breeds on display, it was like the Olympics. For dog lovers, the show is the top of the heap.

This year, best in show was judged by Burton J. Yamada of Blue Jay, Calif.

"When I first came out there and looked at the crowd and everything, I was nervous," he said. "You kind of get awestruck. I understand that this was the largest crowd that they have ever had at the show."

It is a very big deal to be asked to judge the best in show. Yamada remembers getting the call from the show's director.

"He said, there will be one sporting dog and there will be a hound, and I'm thinking, 'I don't judge each one of those.' And he said, 'Come on Burt, one sporting, one hound, one working, one terrier.' And I said, 'Oh my God, I'm being asked to do best in show.' "

Yamada was asked to choose the best from the last remaining seven dogs, the best in their breed. He wasn't even allowed to know which dogs they were until he walked into the ring.

There were reputations at stake — the dogs', the trainers', the handlers', and Yamada's.

Yamada recalls the selection process well.

"It was the longest 21 minutes," he said. "The crowd was getting into it at the end, so maybe I delayed a little long. I had pretty much made up my mind about three quarters of the way through."