As each of the seven competitors for best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog show on Tuesday approached Richard Meen, the judge, he told them, “Relax.” You wonder if any one of them, let alone the handlers, could heed such advice, even if they were aware of his non-canine work as a Toronto psychiatrist. Relaxation would seem to be the last thing on the mind of the last 14 dogs and humans standing after two days of competition.
Whatever anxiety existed dissipated quickly. Meen is not one of those judges who drags out his decision. He eyed each of the dogs, held out both his hands as if to calm or hypnotize them, had them take a last lap around the green-carpeted ring at Madison Square Garden and headed straight to the judge’s table, where he wrote down his decision:
He chose C.