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Don't miss Bo's photo gallery
All of the Westminster Coverage on VetMed at About.com

From your Guide:
I was very excited to meet Bo and Terri at Westminster. To the surprise of all of us, the first meeting occurred in a hotel lobby several blocks away from the show where we were both staying. (As expected, Bo is fairly recognizable! He was capturing the attention of hotel staff and visitors as well.)


We chatted a bit, then decided to meet up again the next day after Bo's time in the ring. There were several entrants in the Mastiff group ring, and the judge split the group in half to allow for more "room" to judge. Bo did very well, but did not advance to the next level, the Working Group judging. After the time in the ring, I met with Terri, her husband and Bo in the benching area.

The Westminster dog show is one of the few remaining bench shows in the country. A bench show is one where the dogs and their owners or handlers must remain in the benching area -- raised platforms where the dogs are essentially on display -- to meet and interact with the public. This also gives the owners, breeders and handlers a chance to visit with people who are interested in their breed or showing dogs. At Westminster, the dogs must have an owner or handler with the dog on the bench at all times, and they must remain on the bench until 8pm on the day(s) that they are showing.

Bo seemed to enjoy his time on the bench.

He was very relaxed and welcoming to the people who stopped by to visit and pet him. Terri and I visited about the "dog show world" and veterinary topics. Terri graciously allowed Bo to appear in some dog care videos that I worked on with a producer for About.com. The videos will appear on this site in the near future, and Bo fans will be able to check out his video appearances as well as the new photos in the Bo Photo Gallery.

Terri Marks DVM is the owner of South Paw Animal Hospital in New Jersey.

I would like to extend a big "thank you" to Terri and Bo for sharing your story and photos. Meeting up at the 2008 Westminster dog show was definitely a highlight!