By Lyonel Doherty
Polly won best in breed and second overall at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York. (Photo contributed)
A Scottish deerhound named Polly has put Oliver on the world map.
The distinguished canine recently came home winning the best in breed and second overall at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Polly is one of several pampered deerhounds owned by Lynne Bruce of Hounds of Hollyrood.
Bruce, who is partnered with handler Heidi Gervais, has been showing deerhounds all over the world for 47 years, with “18 generations on the ground.”
Bruce explained that the Scottish deerhound is an endangered dog bred to hunt the red deer. Historically, they were owned by people of royal descent. In fact, only nobles were allowed to own them. Typically, you would see them lying around in a castle.
While Bruce doesn’t live in a castle, her darlings laze about like rock stars who just finished a tour. But you won’t find these purebreds on the floor; that’s for regular dogs. Nope, they have to have cushions, chairs or couches to rest their lanky bodies on.
“They are a very ancient breed, and endangered because they are so large and nobody hunts deer with them anymore,” Bruce said while stroking Reggie, a 105-pound deerhound sprawled on the couch.
Reggie is a multi-best-in-show champion that was number one in Canada two years in a row and undefeated in the United States.
Yes, Reggie has a high opinion of himself. But he loves everyone.
“It’s all about me; that’s what happens when you become a show dog,” Bruce said with a chuckle.
They are definitely high maintenance but certainly know how to show their good side.
That’s what Polly does best.
Bruce said they actually weren’t sure if they were going to enter Polly at Westminster (the Superbowl of dog shows), but they decided to go at the last minute.
It was their first time in New York dealing with all of the crazy traffic and hearing emergency sirens going off like clockwork.
“All these guys are country dogs, right, so here we are in Manhattan. There’s no grass anywhere; the only grass is in Central Park which was way the hell gone on the other side (of the city).”
Polly started strutting her stuff at the breed level competition on Pier 94, where she won best of breed.
Now it was time for the big show.
“I just wanted to have a chance. Polly had to beat all of the other deerhounds in order to get onto the big green carpet in Madison Square Garden.”
Bruce said you never know how your dog is going to react to all of the lights, cameras, music and huge crowds. But she handled it like a pro.
“She had a look in her eyes, like ‘I’m going to do this.’”
Bruce said Polly was not the favourite to win that day, noting it was a whippet that took top honours.
“The commentators were talking about the other dogs in the US that were ranked, such as the Afghan, Beagle and Borzoi. But nobody said anything about her (Polly).”
But the judge shortlisted the group to six, including Polly.
“They sent them all around one more time and a commentator said, ‘look at that deerhound, it’s floating.’”
When Polly was picked second, Bruce screamed from the benches.
Following the show, she received comments from all over the world including England, New Zealand, Australia and Sweden.
“It was unbelievable.”
Bruce said Polly impressed the judge for her beautiful confirmation and build, which represents the standard exactly.
“She knows she wonderful; she’s a princess, right? So, she just puts on a show.”
Bruce said the deerhound is the largest of the sight hounds but smaller than the Irish wolfhound. They are built for speed (clocked at approximately 39 km/h), and although not as fast as the greyhound, they have more stamina to continue the race.
She noted they are a sedate breed known for being independent thinkers with the dark, brooding nature of a Scotsman that you don’t want to mess with.
Bruce acknowledged the deerhound will chase anything that moves. If a squirrel sits absolutely still, they won’t see him until he twitches. Then they’ll go after it.
“The marmot population is not happy around here,” she said with a smile.
Despite their size, a lot of people want these deerhounds, judging by Bruce’s wait list.
She said it’s really fun to show the dogs, but she does it primarily to ensure they still conform to the standard.
And so what if they act like rock stars; they try not to let it go to their heads.
Lynne Bruce plays with her darlings in the backyard. (Photo by Lyonel Doherty)
