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The Dog Journal
Adventures:
The Dynamo Dogs
Welcome back to the travels and adventures of Gail Mirabella & The Dynamo Dogs! Let’s start off the New Year with one of our most recent trips and performances, The National Dog Show, presented by Purina. One of the most watched television specials that airs on NBC, Thanksgiving Day, with over twenty million viewers.
The Dog Journal Feb/March 2023
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In 2002, NBC Sports channel began airing the dog show and renamed it as “The National Dog Show”. I’ve been a part of this nationally televised event (off/on) since then. First, as part of the Incredible Dog Chow Performance Team and now as part of The Purina ProPlan Performance Team. The National Dog Show is an epic, annual event for my home state of Pennsylvania and its beautiful city of brotherly love, Philadelphia. The Kennel Club of Philadelphia started this huge and prestigious show back in 1879, with only minimal interruptions, such as, “The Great Depression” 1928-1932. That is 143 years, or around 753 “dog years”. It is one of the three largest dog shows in the United States that is still an all-breed, “benched” confirmation show, sanctioned by the American Kennel Club (AKC). A benched show means that all dogs showing are required to stay at their designated benches (crate area) for the entire time of the show. If it’s a two-day show, the owners/handlers are required to leave a deposit when they leave the building with their dogs and the deposit is returned to them when they return with the dog the next day. This is so exhibitors, breeders and even spectators can see the dogs up close and personal and even allows them to talk with the expert breeders and handlers about their specific breeds.
So, how did this city’s dog show get its start in television, nationally? Let me introduce you to the people who got this event televised, the Carson’s of Carson International Inc. Being professional athletes, they created a company, which builds innovative and world-class events to provide athletes along with their sponsors a stage to share their individual sport and brands around the globe. Besides producing sporting events, such as: Cuervo Ultimate Tour, Pro Skiing International Ski Racing Tour USA & Europe, the Carson’s also produce The Purina Incredible Dog Challenge (since 1998) and the Beverly Hills Dog Show. Their love of animals, especially dogs, helped them become experts in producing these elite dog events for television, including The National Dog Show.
Our schedule (me and my dogs), for the National dog Show start two to three days prior to the event. My job responsibilities include traveling to early morning television studios or radio stations in the Philadelphia area as a spokesperson for Purina to promote The National Dog Show. Some of my morning adventures in years past included Good Day Philadelphia on Fox 29, WMMR and Ben FM Radio. This past event in 2022, we were featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper and on channel 6 ABC, making me feel like somewhat of a hometown celebrity! Speaking of celebrities, often my TV appearances are accompanied by the hosts of The National Dog Show, the wellknown actor, John O’Hurley and David Frei, whose knowledge and dedication to the dog world spans more than 25 years.
Our media appearances do not end when the actual show begins on Saturday. Throughout the day we are on call and must be readily available to answer questions and do a little Frisbee or tricks for local TV crews who may arrive at the venue. Being part of the Performance Team, I also perform throughout the day at the Purina Performance Arena showcasing 5-7 of my dogs for the patrons to enjoy. However, there have been times when we were asked to turn down the music and microphones so that a more sensitive dog being shown in the breed ring will not have any problems due to our loud sound system. I am well aware and respect their requests and comply. I understand some dogs are uneasy with the loud music. I always have their best interest at heart and tailor my performances, so as not to disrupt them.
The Friday afternoon before the actual show on Saturday is when we assist the NBC crew in the large, blue carpeted show ring to help them adjust camera angles and lighting. This is where we have a ton of fun! NBC requests a small, medium and large dog, each a specific color such as black, brown and white. Since I have twentythree dogs, I usually have what they are looking for. Although, many of my dogs are not pure-bred, I get to parade them around this prestigious ring, as if we were in the actual show. After running around the ring under the hot lights, I now have a new level of respect for the dog handlers. As they try not to sweat, trip, or appear out of breath while showcasing their dogs and being filmed in front of a large audience.
Our accommodations for the week while we are in town are not in a five-star hotel but camped out in the parking lot of the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in our 24-foot cargo trailer and yes it does have a full bathroom. We usually get a great parking spot since we arrive there many days in advance. Then by Thursday night the parking lot is filled with some of the finest RV and Motorhomes you’ll ever see, many of them dwarfing my tiny trailer. The lot looks like an RV convention except that you will find all of them with small pens/yards set up for the dogs just outside their doors.
The parking lot starts barking around 5:00am Friday and continues through Sunday. Even while it’s still dark outside these dedicated handlers getting their dogs ready for the big days event. Many times, the temperatures in Philadelphia during No ve m b e r are below freezing which makes it a sight to see everyone running from their RVs to the building all bundled up and trying to get the dogs to poop. This actually includes myself, out there begging my dogs to go potty. Of course this task becomes even more intense when it is raining or snowing. Wet dogs are not fun for anyone in any way.
Our first performance on Saturday is at 9am followed by a 10am and 11am performance in the ProPlan Performance Arena. We then have a lunch break at the Carson employee curtained area just outside of the blue carpet show ring. The rest of the day is spent watching the actual show while being on stand-by with my best Frisbee dogs. Much like the clowns in the circus, when there is a problem, such as a technical or timing issue, we go out on the carpet and perform some big air tricks to keep the audience entertained and in their seats. My best big air Frisbee dog is, “Teaser the Crowd Pleaser”, he’s one of the world’s smallest Frisbee catching dogs at this level of entertainment, weighing only 18 pounds. This little Rat Terrier mixed with a Border Collie sure can fly and gets the audience cheering loudly!
The entire show on Saturday runs about seven hours and the editing of the footage starts on that day as well. Outside in the large mobile studios, parked next to the building, the media personnel are reviewing the footage coming in from the show. In addition, the hosts of the show David Frei and John O’Hurley are doing their commentating of each dog breed into an audio device being fed to the mobile media studios. This is where the magic happens, and I have had the pleasure of witnessing this firsthand. The filming of the show is the Saturday before Thanksgiving, giving these media folks only two to three days to cut it down and have it fit into a two-hour time slot airing on Thanksgiving Day.
By Saturday The National Dog Show is finished,
but that doesn’t mean it’s over. Sunday is another benched show put on by the Kennel Club of Philadelphia and the fun begins over again. I perform five shows with my dogs between 9:30am and 3:00pm. The dog show life is not all lights, camera, action! I mentioned before the weather that time of year in Philadelphia is usually unfavorable. This makes RV life on the lot not-so glamorous. Most of us run off of our own generators for power while staying there. I have a small generator that only runs for about six hours on a full tank of gas. Making a restful night sleep next to impossible. If I fill my tank at 10:00pm, I have to exit my warm trailer around 4:00am to refill the generator. Then at 5:00am, the lot starts barking with dogs and handlers. In addition, to maintaining a comfortable living environment in the RV, we all have the task of emptying our “holding tanks” before we arrive back home.
It is an exhausting week, but we LOVE it!
Hold on tight, there’s more to come…
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