Tallahassee talent was on display during Westminster dog show events. Meet the 3 local competitors

Three capital city canines showed off their skills competing in the Westminster dog show weekend.

Spiffy, Frankie and Abbey traveled to from Tallahassee to New York last weekend with their owners for their appearance in the 10th annual Westminster Masters Agility Championship held on May 6, 2023. The competition helped kick off the 147th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show hosted at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Queens, NY.

The brother-sister Boston Terrier siblings Spiffy and Frankie, owned by Stacy Price and Kathy McClung, joined their playmate Abbey, a Poodle and Labrador mix All-American dog owned by Sri Kothur, for the big stage after earning their ribbons in local competitions to build their repertoires to compete on a national level.

“It’s such a bucket list item,” Kathy McClung said in an interview this week with the Tallahassee Democrat. “It was something I never dreamed we’d ever be able to do.”

After months of planning their flight, hotel, and other traveling expenses, McClung, Price and a friend from South Florida flew from Orlando to the Big Apple last Friday where they met with Kothur Saturday morning.

This is nothing new for the friends who run into one another at several competitions, which is what initially brought them together.

The purple carpet event inside the King Center kicked off last Saturday’s opening day.

The canine stars were photographed as they wagged their tails down the carpet while their owners were interviewed. The three competitors were selected on a first come, first serve basis, with a limit of 350 applications for the nation’s top competitors.

Price recalls a woman she met who traveled from Ukraine to watch what some have dubbed the “holy grail” of competitions.

“The next thing I know, she posted on Facebook, ‘here’s one of the most wonderful dogs,’” Price said in surprise about the Facebook post featuring Spiffy.

The trio has been able to curate their own fan base as they for competitions, including to Colorado and Georgia. Their local fan base would recognize their wins through their time at the Ochlockonee River Kennel Club, a local dog club known for helping host the North Florida Classic Cluster which gives dogs from North Florida a chance to compete with up to 800 other dogs.

Frankie and Spiffy, who are 7 years old, have been competing since they were 1 year old. Eight-year-old Abbey began competing at the age of 4. Through the years the dogs have earned ribbons and accolades.

But this competition took their training to a whole new level.

The agility championship consisted of 350 dogs split into five different height classes. The dogs competed in two qualifying rounds consisting of a standard agility course and a jumpers with weaves course.

The standard agility course included contact obstacles like an A-frame or seesaw and one paw must be in the designated contact zone to not receive a fault.

The jumpers with weaves course is a fast-paced course that goes between jumps and weave poles.

According to Price, “to qualify on a run, no mistakes may be made and the course must be completed under the standard course time.”

Frankie and her owner McClung qualified in one of their two preliminary runs.

“I was very proud of my puppy,” McClung said on the excitement surrounding Frankie’s new accomplishment.

Abbey and her owner, Kothur, qualified on their masters standard run.

“Playing in such a large and storied stadium was a dream,” Kothur told the Tallahassee Democrat. “All of that hype slips away (when) you start the game. I have the best teammate in the world, and I hope she thinks the same about me.”

Spiffy and her owner, Price, double qualified on their masters standard and jumpers with weaves runs. Spiffy also qualified to compete in Westminster’s Inaugural Dock Diving competition, where he placed 5th in his division.

The canines competed for a chance to have $5,000 donated from The Westminster Kennel Club to the AKC training club of their choice or the AKC Humane Fund.

Another prized donation of $1,000 would be made in the name of the highest scoring All-American dog, as well as the four remaining first-place dogs in their height classes.

Between the exposure and publicity of the sport, the trio is happy to see the “power” television has had on showing what an “enjoyable time this (competing) can be” as Kother described.

The qualifiers showcased their green, purple and gold ribbons after the one-day competition in hopes this wouldn’t be their last time competing on this level with their furry friends.

Democrat writer Kyla Sanford can be reached at ksanford@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Westminster Masters Agility Championship featured 3 Tallahassee dogs