Prize-winning Columbia beagle breeder to judge this year's Westminster dog show – Columbia Missourian

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Edmund Dziuk, left, poses with the Best of Variety winner in 2020, judging his favorite breed.
A young Edmund Dziuk, left, is pictured at his first Westminster Kennel Club in 1980 with his Best of Breed winner, “Laurie.”

Edmund Dziuk, left, poses with the Best of Variety winner in 2020, judging his favorite breed.
A young Edmund Dziuk, left, is pictured at his first Westminster Kennel Club in 1980 with his Best of Breed winner, “Laurie.”
Edmund Dziuk’s love for dogs started with a bike ride to his local grocery store in Hagerstown, Maryland.
As a teen, Dziuk was biking and listening to promotions for the annual dog show at the county fairgrounds, just a short bike ride away from his childhood home.
His family began to attend the shows each year, and what began as a curiosity for Dziuk became a fascination with dogs that has lasted 40 years.
He has since become the owner and breeder of champions, and this week will return for the third time as a judge at the 146th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City.
America’s oldest and perhaps most prestigious dog show was originally scheduled for January but had to be postponed because of the pandemic. It has been rescheduled for June 20 to 22.
A breeder of prize-winning beagles himself, he will be judging 15 breeds in the hound group, nearly 100 dogs in total. He is approved as a judge not only for hounds but also several sporting, non-sporting and toy breeds, as well as best in show and junior showmanship.
Throughout his childhood, Dziuk was always surrounded by an assortment of purebred and mixed breeds. He attributes his love for dogs to growing up in a family that shared that love.
“I grew up in a family where everyone was animal crazy, dog crazy, dog lovers, and we had a variety of different pets,” he said.
The family became members of the local kennel club, and Dziuk ended up learning enough to show dogs himself.
The first beagle joined the family in 1977, and Dziuk would take the dog to the top at the American Kennel Club Junior Showmanship competition.
“I finished her championship, and for two years I was the Number One AKC Westminster Junior Handler in the country showing the beagle,” he said.
To complete a championship or a champion of record, the dog must finish a specified number of shows where judges analyze how closely the dog fits its breed and standard qualities.
In 1981, Dziuk returned to place fourth in the Westminster Junior Showmanship Finals competition, his last year competing as a junior.
Since then, he has not spent a single day without a beagle by his side.
“I’ve gone through different phases of my life where I’ve had quite a few or just a handful,” he said. “They weren’t my pets; they were my companions.”
Dziuk has bred more than 75 beagle champions, including five National Beagle Club of America National Speciality best of breed winners and 11 best-in-show winners.
One of his dogs, a nationally recognized beagle named Uno, placed best in show at Westminster in 2008. Uno would go on to visit the White House, meet George W. and Laura Bush, make several television appearances and become a certified therapy dog.
He spent his last years on a 200-acre farm in Texas, dying of cancer at 13.
The dog’s grandniece, called Miss P, would also compete and win Westminster, another triumph for Dziuk and the dog’s co-owners.
But before Uno and Miss P, there was Judy, a dog who still holds the record for the top 13-inch beagle of all time, Dziuk said.
Judy won four best of breeds at Westminster, three group placements and won best in show at the National Beagle Club twice in 1991 and again in 1993.
Westminster Director of Communications David Frei told ABC News in 2015 that after winning best in show, there is nothing more to achieve. Typically then, the dog will retire.
While Dziuk still shows dogs, he began to focus more on judging in 2009. Two years ago, he was invited to be a judge at Westminster, not only for beagles but also of other breeds, including dachshunds and Bassett hounds.
“It was very much a full-circle moment exhibiting and winning in 1980 and then 40 years later, coming back and being able to judge beagles,” he said.
The Westminster Dog Show has three levels of competition where judges must compare the competitor to the standard or ideal specimen of the breed.
These standards are maintained and owned by the national club of each breed, with approval by the American Kennel Club.
Judges like Dziuk analyze the standards of each breed — general appearance, movement, temperament and physical traits such as height, weight, eye color, coat type, color and more. The judge then decides which dog is the best in the breed that day.
After a judge selects the best of breed, the dogs move on to a group competition. The American Kennel Club now recognizes 209 breeds of dog that are then divided into seven groups — hounds, working dogs, terriers, toy dogs, and sporting, non-sporting and herding dogs.
The group winners advance to the Best in Show competition where one dog shines above the rest.
When he’s not showing or judging dogs, Dziuk is the chief operating officer of The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals, a nonprofit foundation focused on canine health.
“It ties full circle, and I am very lucky that, wow, dog breeding and showing is my hobby thing but it has evolved into having this position,” he said.
The foundation works directly with breeders to ensure that each litter is as healthy as possible by encouraging health testing before they breed. The goal is to improve the health and welfare of dogs by reducing the incidence of inherited disease.
“We have upwards of 15,000 different test results coming here each month, so even though it’s a nonprofit, it’s a hefty business operation,” Dziuk said.
The foundation recently pledged $1.5 million to MU School of Veterinary Medicine to help fund the Small Animal Molecular Genetics Laboratory to continue laboratory work and research over the next decade.
The Westminster Dog Show airs live June 20 to 22 on westminsterkennelclub.org, the WKC App and FOX Sports, including the FOX Sports App.
NEW YORK — “Let me have the …”
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