Pat and Carol McGarry's Dog Clooney Named Best in Show
Pat and Carol McGarry’s dog Clooney takes Best in Show honors at the National Dog Show (photo courtesy dogtime.com).
An AGC contractor earned national honors on Thanksgiving Day – but it wasn’t for construction.
Clooney a beautiful three-year old Irish setter won Best in Show at the National Dog Show in Philadelphia besting more than 2000 dogs representing 179 different breeds. In addition to being a national champ Clooney is also the loving family pet of Pat McGarry of Manson Construction and his wife Carol.
The McGarry’s have been raising and showing Irish setters for more than 40 years. They have raised a number of award-winning dogs including Clooney’s mother but none have reached the heights that Clooney has. “It’s very exciting to be Best in Show” says Pat. “It means that he’s the best of all the dogs participating at the event and it puts him in good stead in the national rankings.”
Clooney has been racing up the rankings. At only three he’s unusually young to be taking top honors at the National Dog Show one of the oldest dog shows in the country and held annually since 1933. Clooney had done well in previous shows and was ranked in the top 20 of all breeds; his Best in Show award will certainly place him in the top ten. “It’s been a very rapid rise in the dog show world” says Pat.
Clooney and his handler at the National Dog Show have been working together only since August. Clooney was handled by Peter Kubacz a family friend of the McGarrys who is very experienced with show dogs particularly Irish setters. The McGarry’s have handled their dogs at shows over the years (Carol more so than Pat who claims to be just “the driver and kennel help”) but the extensive time and travel commitments have made it more feasible to have help with the east coast shows. Kubacz lives in New Jersey
Kubacz and Clooney are good companions. Hes what an Irish setter is Kubacz says. Hes totally attentive loves to show loves the crowd loves people. Hes what the breed calls for.
Pat says that yes Clooney is a national champion. But more than that he’s a really good dog. “Irish setters had a reputation of being overbred with crazy temperaments” says Pat. “That’s no longer the case. Clooney is a loving dog with a perfect personality. He’s a show dog but for six-and-a-half days of the week he’s just a great family pet.”
Next up for Clooney is the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship in Long Beach CA this weekend. That event will be broadcast on ABC on Sunday Jan. 23 2011.
Also coming up is perhaps the most well-known show The Westminster Kennel Club Annual Dog Show in New York City. While Carol will be in attendance Pat will be unable to attend due to AGC commitments – Pat will become President of AGC of Washington at the chapter’s Annual Convention on Jan. 28.