Chicopee dog wins 'Best of Breed" at Westminster Kennel Club

Date: 3/9/2011

March 9, 2011

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

CHICOPEE — What could top a trip to the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club and bringing back a "Best in Breed" award? For one Chicopee couple, perhaps taking care of two new litters of 21 St. Bernard puppies.

Things have been busy for Cathy Figueroa and her husband, Mike. Cathy just returned from Madison Square Garden in New York City with her 180-pound champion St. Bernard Mickey his complete name is Grand Champion Mickey III — who received the "Best in Breed" award for the second time. Cathy believes he might be the only St. Bernard to have reached that level twice.

Cathy has been a lifelong dog lover and bought her first St. Bernard puppy in 1989. Although she and her husband have 15 show dogs and are breeders who sell the puppies, their life with dogs is not a business, but a hobby.

"It's our love," she said to Reminder Publications.

She noted her husband had never had a dog until they married.

Reaching the level of competition represented by the Westminster show is "not easy," she explained. Either dogs are invited to compete or they reach the event by acquiring points through winning local and regional trials, she added. By winning events, a dog can reach the champion status and the more points a dog has, the higher in the national ranking he or she goes.

The top five dogs in each breed are invited to Westminster. Mickey was ranked third in the nation in his breed, she said.

Although Cathy has been bringing dogs to the Westminster show for eight years, she still finds the experience "very, very stressful [and] very nerve-wracking" for both the owners and the dogs.

There are 2,500 dogs at the Westminster show and thousands of people go through the areas where the dogs and their owners wait to compete. The dogs are kept in crates, but are brought out so people can see them and pet them.

After the two-day show, "we're all exhausted," she said.

Cathy grooms, trains and handles her dogs. She teaches dog training at Dave's Sod and Pet Food City.

She loves the St. Bernard breed because "if they are properly bred, they are gentle dogs, especially around children."

Noting that her grandchildren climb all over Mickey, she added, "They adore children."

The breed can be very protective and are "natural babysitters," she said.

Cathy explained she only breeds a dog when she wants a puppy or when a waiting list of prospective buyers develops. She doesn't advertise and is very careful to whom she sells a dog.

She has had two puppies go to Russian owners. Initially they wanted Cathy to ship the puppies to them and she refused. She insisted they fly to the United States and pick up the dogs themselves. They did.

One of the current group of pups will go to a person in Texas who will fly in to get the dog, she said. That buyer watched Cathy and Mickey at the Westminster show in 2009 on television and sought her out.

She said a litter of pups requires around-the-clock care and someone in her family is with the puppies constantly. There is a high rate of mortality, as the mother dogs have been known to accidentally roll over on the puppies.

"There's a lot involved," she said, in being a breeder.

Naturally, one has to ask how much money the couple spends each week feeding a group of St. Bernards. The bill comes out to about $200.

That doesn't concern Cathy much.

"It's our family," she said.

To watch Mickey win his competition, go to http://video.westminsterkennelclub.org/breed_judging/working/2011_7/st-bernard/v1294258.