Meredith Story of Palmer, Alaska, is taking a very different kind of leash to New York City this winter when she competes at the with her Border Collie, Crave.

The trip, scheduled for events on Jan. 31, Feb. 2, and Feb. 3, is both competition and honeymoon for Story and her wife, and it places them amid an event that will feature about 2,500 dogs and one of the show circuit’s final “benched” presentations, where dogs remain on display for roughly six hours for the public to meet them before they enter the ring.

Story said the move from sled racing to the show ring feels like a natural next step after a lifetime of dreaming. “I’d run the race that I dreamed about my entire life, from very young childhood, so what is my next dream?” she asked. Transitioning from competitive sled dog racing, which emphasizes endurance, speed, and teamwork, to dog shows presents a unique challenge, as the latter focuses on conformation, gait, and temperament.

Her entry, Crave, is a Border Collie with an uncommon temperament for the herding breed, described by Story as well suited to service work; facts supplied list Crave as a trained service dog specializing in anxiety alert and response, as well as migraine alert and response. Story framed the trip as personal as well as professional: “We were going to go even if one of our dogs didn’t get in because it’s our honeymoon, but, we still — I thought it would be more fun if we got to take a dog and actually show at the 150th Westminster Dog Show.” The American Kennel Club (AKC) has valuable resources for dog owners like Story interested in prepping for shows, including conformation handling classes that can help refine their skills.

Westminster’s benching tradition sets it apart from many other events. The requirement that dogs be available to the public for about six hours before competing means handlers must balance public interaction with last-minute grooming and warm-up routines in the busy show environment. In addition, judges at prestigious shows evaluate dogs based on the AKC breed standards rather than in direct comparison to other dogs in the ring.

Story noted the tension at the heart of conformation showing: the ideal for a Border Collie exists in writing, but judges bring their interpretation. “It’s written down what the ideal Border Collie looks like and it’s up to the judges’ interpretation of that standard,” she said, acknowledging the subjective element of judging at high-profile competitions. This subjectivity highlights the difference from her previous experience in sled racing, where performance is often more straightforwardly measurable.

The decision to enter Westminster marks a shift from endurance-focused sled dog sports toward an arena that evaluates individual conformation, gait, and temperament. Observers have documented both disciplines and their differences; additional context on how judges evaluate dogs at shows is available on HowStuffWorks and through the American Kennel Club’s resources.

For Story and Crave, the Westminster schedule offers several chances to be seen and judged across Jan. 31 and again on Feb. 2 and 3. The arrangement also places them in New York City during what Story and her wife expect to be both a competitive and personal milestone.

The story has been shared in multiple formats, including video coverage of Story’s decision to bring Crave to Westminster; that footage is available on YouTube.

Where this leads on the leaderboard is secondary to Story’s own framing of the trip as a next chapter: a union of marriage and a new kind of canine competition after years on the snow.

Source

Original reporting: view the original article.