ALTON – Next week a dog raised in Alton will complete in the Super Bowl of dog programs.
Alton couple Wil and Sheree Diaz are taking their dog, Calypso, to New York to complete in the 147th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show Monday and Tuesday, May 8-9, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Calypso is a 20-month-old American Staffordshire Terrier. According to Wil Diaz, she has actually been contending considering that she was 6 months old. For Wil Diaz, this will not be his very first Westminster program, having actually contended in case in the early ’90s.
“I’ve been associated with revealing dogs considering that 1989,” he said. “This will be the very first time with one (dog) of my own.”
He said his love of dog programs started as a kid when he was a viewer for a Chicago display in 1976.
“I would go two times when the program existed,” he said. “When I matured to be able to have a dog of my own, that’s what I began doing.”
While going dogs reveals is a pastime, he likewise takes his love of dogs to his occupation of 16 years. Diaz is presently the head veterinary specialist at the Formea Animal Hospital in Alton.
Calypso’s complete title in the dog reveal world is Champion Odylic’s Siren Song at Obsession. According to Diaz, to accomplish this title a dog need to beat a particular variety of dogs in program competitors. He said that he accomplished this title “rather rapidly” at just 9 months.
Most just recently, Calypso received Best in Breed/Variety at the Champaign Kennel Club Dog Show in Springfield on April 29.
At the Westminster program Calypso will be contending for Best of Breed. If she wins that class, she will carry on to Best in Group and Best in Show.
