Dorchester trio takes third at Westminster

Dale and Dora Meyer along with their Old English Sheepdog, Sapphire, took best in show in the Old English Sheepdog category at the Westminster Dog Show on June 20.

The distinguished team has traveled all over the U.S. showing dogs over a span of 40 years but Dora said they enjoy the pursuit of perfection.

“We’ve been doing this for over 40 years,” Dora said. “We enjoy the showing part of it but our biggest enjoyment out of it is to see if we can produce a dog that fits a standard that has been written for every breed of dog that describes the confirmation of what that dog should be.”

Sapphire placed first out of 18 dogs in her breed where she was judged for obedience, appearance and many other characteristics. From there, Sapphire was entered into the herding group competition where she placed third out of 400 total herding dogs in her group.

Sapphire’s registered name “Grand Champion Silver Wynsilot Ain’T Misbehavin’” displays her titles she has won throughout her years.

The pursuit of perfection is what the Meyers use as motivation to spend time and money on showing their dogs. “We try to produce the best dog possible,” Dora said. “In every single breed of dog, there are faults that need to be corrected and that’s what we work on. There’s no such thing as a perfect dog.”

The Meyers bred Sapphire at Westminster Kennel Club years ago.

At the Westminster Dog Show, only the top dogs in the country are invited. Dogs that place first in their breed or if they won their national specialty. Sapphire happened to do both.

“We were first in Old English Sheep dogs last year and we also won our national specialty,” Dora said. “Sapphire won best of breed there and that’s a major honor.”

In the 2021 national specialty competition held in Wilmington, Ohio, Sapphire beat out over 120 sheep dogs from all over the country to win best in show.

The Westminster Dog Show is a collection of all the winners from breed and national specialty competitions throughout the year making it a prestigious competition. Dora said the competition presents a unique challenge for the Meyers and Sapphire.

“Westminster is a big deal because all of these big, winning dogs all go there and typically, they are handled by professional handlers,” Dora said. “In our case, we did it ourselves. We’re breeder, owner and handler. It’s very unusual for a breeder, owner and handler to get as far as we did in the show. These dogs are well known from all over the country.”

The group stages were telecast on Fox Sports 1 and Dora and Sapphire got their chance to appear on national television.

The dog show featured dogs from all over Canada and Europe as well. Over 3,000 dogs were separated into seven different groups and then divided by breed.

Dora said she didn’t have too high of expectations for herself and Sapphire being a breeder, owner and handler.

“That’s just unheard of,” Dora said about her third place finish in the herding group.

Sapphire was the Meyers’ first entry into the Westminster Dog Show and Dora said she has been contacted by many friends congratulating her about the achievement.

“This was our very first visit and we did very well,” Dora said. “I’ve had messages from all over the place from people who I haven’t heard from in decades. Some of them were saying, ‘Most people who go to Westminster don’t think they can achieve best of breed let along place in the herding group.’ It’s a big deal.”

Sapphire put on a performance for the ages as judges looked not only at her for traits that would be desired in an Old English Sheepdog, but also for the personality traits that would make the dogs desirable.

“I would not take just any dog to Westminster. We have 11 dogs in our kennel. I know that many of them would not get very far going there because the quality is so high,” Dora said.

She stated that finding that perfect dog took years of hard work and training as a breeder and then years of work with Sapphire as a show dog.

“We’re known for being very objective in evaluating our dogs,” Dora said. “I’ve traveled all over the place to breed my dogs to the perfect match. If you want to be successful, you have to objectively look at what you have, what you need to fix and find where you’re going to do that. I’ve gone to Seattle. I’ve gone to Montreal. I’ve gone all over the place to find the perfect dog. It pays off when you do it objectively.”

Dora said when she took a picture with a judge of the group competition, the judge told her that there were so many beautiful dogs that didn’t make the cut and that’s because they didn’t show themselves off that particular day. Dora said Sapphire took the stage and competition by storm as she paraded around and showed off for the judges.

“I knew that this little girl, little Sapphire had a lot going for her. She’s not only well put together confirmationwise but she’s a little show dog. She loves to show off. That’s very important when you get to that level of competition.”

Since meeting each other in the 1980s, the Meyer’s dedication to keeping the Old English Sheepdog a prominent breed in the herding category has gone far beyond Sapphire’s contributions. Dale is the president of the Old English Sheepdog Club of America and has judged competitions all over the world. You can head to the OESCA website at www.oldenglishsheepdogclubofamerica. org to get more information about the Meyers and the types of dogs they are showing.

Dora said all the work they’ve put into breeding, training and showing dogs is for one, specific reason.

“We are breeders of dog for a purpose,” Dora said. “We are trying to keep and maintain the Old English Sheepdog. It’s an amazing past time.”