John O’Hurley, David Frei & Mary Carillo – The National Dog Show

By starrymag | November 21, 2018

By: Kelly Kearney

 

 

Q) You know, every year the ratings climb for the national dog show. What is it that makes the show so popular with dog lovers?

 

John O’Hurley:     I’ll be the first one to answer. Sure. I think there’s something in it for everybody here. And there isn’t much programming anymore that really hits all of – it hits all of our mass audience from 4 to 94. This is something that everybody can watch. It’s a friend to everybody. It’s wonderful family entertainment on the best family day of the year.

 

Q) And anything about this year’s favorite breed to win this year? I know last year Brussels Griffon won. What’s the favorite this year to win?

 

David Frei:           Well it’s hard to say. We need to say – see who shows up, you know, for one thing. A lot of times dogs can enter and then they may enter several shows on the same day and decide to go different places. But I think this year we’re going to see the two top Terriers in the country. I know I’m told this is their coming. So that’s always a great battle, because the Terriers are such great little show dogs and these are two dogs that have been very successful and they’re both in the top 10 on the all breeds. So Terriers are always dogs to watch. But — you know what — it’s a dog show and you got to show and we’ll see who is going to have their day and their moment of inspiration when the judge is looking at them.

 

Q) Mary, one more question. Which breed of dog do you look forward to seeing each year?

 

Mary Carillo:        Oh I’m a sucker for Terriers. I’m a – I love the whole Terrier group and as David said it looks like we’re going to have King, the guy – the dog who won best in show at the Beverly Hills Dog show. Gabriel Rangel is a tremendous trainer. And it sounds like King is going to try to win another big title this year.

 

Q)  Two majors in one year, right?

 

John O’Hurley:     That’s it. I mean he’s trying to become the first dog to win national – nationally televised dog shows back to back.

 

Mary Carillo:        Is that right? All right.

 

John O’Hurley:     Yes.

 

Mary Carillo:        …yes, I love Terriers. And they’re all gorgeous dogs, but I’m a sucker for the Terriers.

 

John O’Hurley:     And as you may remember we televise the kennel club of Beverly Hills back on Easter Sunday for the second year, so that’s why it’s exciting to us.

 

Q) I look forward to watching it as well as the rest of America. I know the ratings keep climbing every year. And my personal favorite is the Pembroke Welsh Corgi. I love the Corgis, but I look forward to the new breeds this year.

 

Mary Carillo:        I think one of the reasons the ratings continue to climb is that so many dogs now know how to operate their remotes and I’ll tell you what, for animals that lack an opposable thumb they really – they’ve really helped our ratings.

 

John O’Hurley:     They’ve jumped. You know, I will say — as a side note to that — one of the things that we enjoy the most about the show is when people send us videos of their dogs watching the show on television. It is remarkably funny to watch them go up and actually assault or try to sniff the screen. We had one video of one dog walking around to the back of the screen looking for the dogs that are there.

 

Q) What is the funniest moment you’ve seen in the past shows you guys hosted? Anyone, John, Mary, David.

 

David Frei:           Well they do funny things all the time. They want to interact with their people. And I always say if dogs could talk they would say, “Me too. Me too.” So they’re always looking for something to do that may not be right in front of them and they may not care who’s holding the other end of the leash. They’re kind of seeing what’s going on with the dogs – with the other dogs in the ring and the people outside the ring too. So it’s always kind of…

 

Mary Carillo:        But, David, we lost Uno the Beagle this year. And remember when he won the Westminster and there were – his reaction made the whole of Madison Square Garden collapse in laughter in applause.

 

Q) Are there any new breeds for us to see this year?Operator:              And our next question comes from the line of Krista Chain with TV Megasite’s. Please proceed.

 

Krista Chain:        Hi. How are you today?

 

John O’Hurley:     We’re great. Thank you.

 

David Frei:           Good.

 

Krista Chain:        My question is are there any new breeds for us to see this year?

 

John O’Hurley:     We have two new breeds this year. And every year they – we introduce new breeds. And the reason they put new breeds in is to just have me mess up the pronunciation of them.  I have been working for tirelessly for the last year on the name of the two new breeds. And so I’m going to take the first crack at it. We have the Nederlandse Kooikerhondje. The Nederlandse Kooikerhondje. It’s a breed – it’s a – kind of a medium size Dutch hunting dog.  And then we have the Grand Besset Griffon Vendeen. That is a herding dog. That’s – it is the larger version of the petite version of that.   What do you think of me, David?

 

David Frei:           That’s pretty good. You’re threatening my job security though. You’re too good of pronouncing these names. Yes. You’re right on it.  And I have to tell you that one year at (unintelligible) I talked – I said, “This is the PBGV, better known or known formally as the petite Basset Griffon Vendeen. And (Mary), my partner, said, “My God, you’re French is impeccable.” And I said, “You know, it’s amazing, but my high school French teacher would be very proud of me.” And that was like post high school 35 or 40 years.  I want to say one thing about new breeds too just to make it official. We call them new breeds, but some of these breeds have been around for years. Just that they’ve never had the following in this country. They’ve never had enough of them. And when the AKC finally recognizes them and makes them eligible for competition, they’re new to the competition, but they’re not really new breeds per say. They didn’t just show up out of nowhere.

 

Q) Your show brings so much joy to so many people especially during a time where the country is so divided. Why do you think that so many people love watching the show and do you think that this is the show that people need now more than ever given the current political climate?

 

John O’Hurley:     Well politics aside I think it’s a – the dogs do – dogs do something for us that nothing else can do, is that they round off the sharp edges of the human experience. Any time you’re with a dog you’re the better version of yourself. So that when we are doing this show and we have 2000 of the best dogs in the country, we have 30,000 people perhaps at one point at any time in the arena. Everybody is just being a better version of themselves and you can feel the joy and the likeness of being throughout the entire arena. And of course having Mary Carillo back there helps as well.

 

Mary Carillo:        I have to tell you, I understand the question. Whether it’s about politics or religion of the country, but I read somewhere — it stuck with me forever — I read somewhere that when you die and you get to heaven every dog you’ve ever had runs to greet you. And that — I don’t know — for some reason that’s  always made me smile and I happen to believe that.

 

Q) What pets do you have in your lives and which breed or group are each of you most like?

 

Mary Carillo:        I’m answering quickly. I’m the owner of two Terriers.  And they – well I think our personalities get along very, very well.   Yes. We’re busy. We’re busy and animated, you know, pretty happy to be on the planet. So that’s what I’ve got going right now.

 

David Frei:           I have a Cavalier, the first little dog I’ve ever had, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel from the toy group. And I have a Brittany, following the Brittany’s of (Epson)’s past, but of course they’re sporting dogs. A bird dog that (Grace) grew up in a high rise in Manhattan, so her idea of a sporting – of a game bird is a pigeon. But they’re a great part of my life. I had (Appian) hounds when I started. I loved the athletic dogs, the hounds, the sporting dogs and all dogs to a certain extent, but especially them. And I think, you know, I always say that my – I always thought if I was getting involved in dogs and growing up and going through school that my career path was aligned with astro turf and that I was going to be a football coach or something. But since I got involved with dogs I’ve find that my career path is aligned with wee-wee pads and my dogs have made my life something special.

 

John O’Hurley: Well I have three at home actually. And the first is the cousin of the Cavalier King Charles that David has. We came from the same breeder.  It’s a beautiful little dog named Sadie May. And then we have a – I have a Havanese, which is a breed that we liked very much. And — again — it was through David’s influence that we found to have a Havanese and it’s a wonderful family dog. I love them the breed, especially for that reason.  And then on top of that I did have an opportunity to open the humane society structure out in the – the state of the art one they have in St. Louis and I — low and behold — came home with a rescue from there.  And it was quite a nice story. The dog burrowed itself into my jacket as I was making my remarks to the press and by the end I just lifted my lapel and said, “Would anybody like to go to Beverly Hills?” And so she followed me home. And she’s changed the energy in our home ever since. Her name is Charlotte and she’s – she is a mixed breed and then I don’t mean just a mixed breed, I mean a really mixed breed. We had the DNA done for her and I got to tell you I think somebody swam out to meet this – somebody swam out to meet the navy ship, because I have never seen more cross breeds in one dogs.

 

Q) Mary, I know your work with tennis and the Olympics and everything else. Everyone knows you for that. But lots of people around the world also know you were being on this dog show. So you think that has something, a little bit of extra help to get into that Hall of Fame honor?

 

Mary Carillo:        I — again — I think dogs are allowed to vote now or something. I think my fan base has expanded over the years.  I will tell you a story and I know I’ve told it to David. I was at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and I was running late to get to a studio and a producer friend of mine said, “Hey, you have any interest in doing the Westminster Dog Show?” I stopped and I went and I said, “If you are serious absolutly – I would love it.” And I got to – the first time I ever did a dog show I was lucky enough to do it with David Frei. And the whole NBC crew who has done it for a long while and they’re – were very, very devoted to the shows we’ve put on. And I have absolutely – I – I’m astounded now. I worked for a bunch of different networks and I — as to your point — I covered an awful lot of sports. I’ve done – Tokyo 2020 Games will be my 15th Olympics, but I can’t tell you how often somebody stops and tells me how much they love the dog shows.  And nothing makes me smile more. I’ve just had a great, great experience every time I’ve gotten to do one.

 

Q) Dave, I’m not really sure I understand all of this about the dogs and so two things that I’m seeing. I know you were just talking about how you love when people send in their videos and that and this is something about sending a meme.

 

David Frei:           Let’s do it. The memes are posters that are created to help promote the dog show. I mean it’s also a chance for people to be humorous and be funny and share their dogs doing funny things and give us a little caption above and below, you know, something like “quarterbacks are not the only ones that are barking out signals on Thanksgiving Day.” And things like that. I got a picture of my dog standing up at the tellers window in our local bank and I captioned it, “I’d like to make a withdrawal please, because I want to get my IRA to roll over.” So, you know, it’s things like that…

 

John O’Hurley:     Oh you are shameless.

 

David Frei:           I am. Thank you very much. I’ve been waiting to use that one for now a while.

 

David Frei:           But it’s our way of telling people hold onto your remote at home. If there’s football people in your home, hold onto the remote until 2:00. Stay with us until two. You can enter the meme contest with – I’ve gone blank on the name of the…it’s called That Dogs Until 2. Dogs Until 2.

 

Mary Carillo:        And there’s a $500…

 

David Frei:           Sorry, pet radio. And here’s a way to win $500 and a trip to the dog show next year. We’ll bring you to the dog show if you’re chosen to be the best one. So you have a great time with it. It’s fun. We want to get people involved and think about keep that remote away from those football guys, because they’re going to end up watching the show and having as much fun with the dog show that they will with any of these football games going on on Thanksgiving Day.

 

Q) How quickly you’ve turned on your first love, David.

 

David Frei:           Well my dog – I like my dogs. I like dogs, because I like the spontaneous celebrations they have in the ring. It’s not some tribe dance they’ve been working on for months.

 

Mary Carillo:        Well I – you know, I do let my dogs dress up in this football jersey and you have (unintelligible) football. But he definitely does that on other days. Not on the national dog show day, because he’s watching all of those dogs and trying to figure out where they are and not – why they’re not walking around the house. So…

 

David Frei:           Well John and I both talk to our dogs during the telecast and we know they’re home watching us and so we – I said, “Angel, I hope you’re watching that.”, or, “I hope you heard that story, Grace.” And we have some great time with it.

 

 

Q) John, I think it’s been about 10 years ago now and that you always said that this is your favorite Saturday of the year when you come in to do this show. So is this still your favorite Saturday of the year?

 

John O’Hurley:     It sure is.

 

Q) John, you just look so happy along with David and Mary. It’s kind of like the smiles are never-ending. Why do you love this so much?

 

John O’Hurley:     Well this is, you know — again — it’s the great family day and I always have my family there. My wife and my son, they have, you know, we have grown up with the dog show and every year we spent our Thanksgiving with it. And  my son is grown up over this, 12 years now, kind of living back stage at the dog show and it’s been wonderful to watch him grow in appreciation for what we do and grow in his love for dogs. And also help out a little bit with some of the broadcasting. Every now and then we – we’d pitch to him for a little bit of a little side bar, a little bit of an interstitial. So it’s been fun to watch him participate and grow in this wonderful day that we have together.

 

David Frei:           I think John – I think you you had brought Lisa to the dog show the year Will may have been born…

 

John O’Hurley:     At the dog show.

 

David Frei:           It’s pretty close to his birthday. It’s pretty close to that.

 

John O’Hurley:     Actually it truly is. He was – it was only one week later that he was born.

 

David Frei:           Yes. I want to do one thing to  – to just get the name straight. It’s PetLife Radio, (petliferadio.com/dogsuntil2). If you want to get in on the meme contest. Our friends at Pet Life Radio, dear friends of mine. I just went blank for the moment. It’s after thirty-some years of dog shows on T.V. I guess it’s – I can’t keep them all straight, but great friends of ours.

 

Q) My question is what is the atmosphere like backstage and behind the scenes of the show?

 

Mary Carillo:     The benched show is not every dog show features the benching area where, you know, spectators can go back there and watch the dogs getting groomed, getting ready. It’s remarkable. It’s like a couple of thousand dogs. I mean that – they are so beautiful and so well mannered, you know, there’s not a lot of crazy barking and, you know, there’s – they’re all beautifully trained.   And just to watch how calm they are. A lot of them are, you know, they’re in their boxes sleeping, you know, taking it easy even when they’re getting groomed and fussed over. The – they’re always willing to give you a lick if you wander over there and ask about them. It’s a beautiful atmosphere. It really is. And it’s nice, because, you know, they’re – they tend to be clustered, like, all the, you know, all the (Pommies) are in one group or the Bichons are in another. They’re all – they are kind of all clustered together.  So you get to really study them. And, you know, get a chance to see, you know, how they are grouped. How they are trained. It’s – I – for somebody – if you’re all interested in dog shows I would recommend going back into the benching 100%, because it’s really – it’s educational and it’s beautiful and the trainers or the owners who handle this — whoever’s back there — they – they’re very patient with your questions. They want you to know about their dog, about that breed, you know? They want to answer your questions, you know. They’re proud of their pooches and they show it. It’s lovely.

 

Q) All of you have hosted dog shows before. John and David together for a while and, Mary, you’ve done the Westminster dog show also with David. So I’m wondering how would you describe the dynamic between all of you as your hosting together?

 

David Frei:           Well I think it’s great, because we all share this great affection for these dogs in our lives and it’s also fun, because we understand what it’s like to be a dog owner. Where somebody comes – when you’re walking down the street with your dog and somebody comes over to you and says, “Oh, Angel, Angel, Angel, how you doing?” And they look up at me and say, “How you doing?”, like as – I’m an afterthought. So we all understand the – it – the shows about the dogs. The dogs are the stars and we’re just there to carry the treats.

 

 

Q) David, you just got a big honor this year with the Dog Writer’s Association of America didn’t you? Can you tell us about that?

 

David Frei:           Well I was honored. I was honored to be inducted into the Dog Writers of America Hall of Fame. And it’s kind of cool to see that Mary got inducted into the Sports Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame as well. I think now that, you know, once we got her doing the dog show they got her into the Hall of Fame. So I think that – she had a great – she – she’s still in the midst of – I don’t want to make it sound like she’s going down. But she’s…I think she’s going in with Bob Costas for God sake. So you know, the people that she’s rubbing shoulders there is very cool. So we’re very proud of Mary. We’re really proud of the whole team. John, you know, has won every award there is to win in the world of – in the showbiz world with his Tony Awards and the Emmys and the awards that they get for Seinfeld and all the other shows that he does. So we are a star studded group. But this one day of the year we’re not the stars. Again, the dogs are. So we’re just there to do what we can.

 

Fans can post on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram why you’re thankful for your dog and you use the hashtag #DogThanking and tag @Purina. And for every one of those posts between November 9th and 25^th, Purina will donate one dollar to Tony LaRussa’s animal rescue foundation. And the other contest is the Pet Life radio contest. And that’s the Dogs until 2 meme contest. So you can submit your meme showing why you should watch dogs until two with your dog, and you could win $500 or a trip to the dog show.

 

 

*CONFERENCE CALL*