Book by dog show insider should be required reading for annual Westminster event | Leggett

If you’re like the people at my house, you can’t watch a commercial or movie or an HBO documentary about dogs without getting a serious crush on the canine stars of those shows.

We are serious watchers of the annual broadcasts of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show competitions from New York. We all have our favorite breeds we root for or predict are going to win Best in Show. The Christopher Guest “mockumentary” by the same name is one of my all-time favorite movies.

Just before this year’s show, I found a new book that absolutely should be required reading for any fans of dogs or dog owners. “Dogland” is the product of a lifelong dog lover named Tommy Tomlinson, a decorated columnist who once wrote for The Charlotte Observer and The New York Times.

Tomlinson has written a heart-rending book about the Westminster show. He throws in his experiences following a renowned prize-winning Samoyed through all the trials associated with reaching the top spot at Westminster and about his own love affair with his rescue dog.

We have our own dogs here at our house and could identify with every high and low of the owners and trainers of all the dogs at the New York show. Tomlinson takes us through the history of the show and the lives of some of the dogs and the trainers who bring them to New York every year.

He wrote some about the winner of Westminster Best in Show from a couple of years back, Trumpet, a bloodhound who surprised everyone, except me, when he took the top spot. Trumpet has gone on to take his place in the history of the show and other canine competitions.

Tomlinson spent a couple of years compiling sources and information about dog shows in general and about the torture people endure to compete in the most famous dog show in the world and to learn what it takes to raise and groom a top breed dog for any show.

You can feel the love he had for his own rescue dog and the pain that came with the end of that animal’s life. I have an English springer spaniel who's 11 years old and quickly reaching the end of her time on earth, and it’s almost killing me to think about it.

If you are a dog owner and lover, take the time to find a copy of “Dogland” and spend a few days with it. It is a special book and will make you appreciate your own animals that much more.

And if you’re someone who struggles with your weight and body image (as I have for years), you might want to follow up with Tomlinson’s story of his own adventures in dieting and weight loss and gain, “The Elephant in the Room.” It’s inspiring and tortuous at the same time.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Westminster dog show the subject of 'Dogland' insider book