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CNN Sunday Morning
Interview With Glenn Lycan,Rebecca Lycan
Aired February 10, 2002 - 07:23 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The nation's top dogs are set to show off for the judges at the Westminster Kennel Club this week. It's kind of like the Super bowl for dogs. More than 2,500 dogs are expected to take part in this year's show, which kicks off tomorrow at Madison Square Garden in New York. It's a two-day show. And joining me from New York are Glenn and Rebecca Lycan, two professional dog handlers who will show at Westminster.
It's good to have with us this morning. Thanks for getting up early.
GLENN LYCAN, DOG HANDLER: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: And thanks for bringing Ben and Duncan. Ben is the Golden Retriever to screen left. Duncan is the Border Terrier screen right.
Good morning. Oh good, they're looking at us too. That's good. Tell us about the world of dog handling. We don't know much about this. We -- I think I've always presumed that the people handling the dogs, first of all, are the owners. Not necessarily so, right?
G. LYCAN: It's about 70 percent owners and 30 percent handlers.
O'BRIEN: And why -- handling is just kind of like being a jockey for a horse, that kind of thing in some cases?
G. LYCAN: Basically, it's the same thing. And a jockey -- a jockey just trains on riding and a handler trains the dog and the conditioning and does the workout with the dog not just the handling, but it's a lot of time outside the ring as well as inside.
O'BRIEN: So if you're going to be a good handler, does the dog come and, you know, live with the handler for quite some time before any show?
G. LYCAN: We feel that's the case. Yeah, we feel if a dog's with us two to three months before we ever show it we have a better chance of getting him into good condition. And then, the longer that he stays with us, the better it is.
O'BRIEN: Rebecca, what's the key to being a good dog handler, aside, clearly, a love of dogs? That's number one, I assume, but after that? REBECCA LYCAN, DOG HANDLER: Loving what you do, putting the time and effort into doing the work at home as well as when you're at the show and in the ring.
O'BRIEN: Yeah, I mean, how do you -- is it communication with the dog, do you call that or how do you get the message across, put it that way, to the dog on what you want done?
R. LYCAN: Communication.
O'BRIEN: It is communication.
R. LYCAN: Yeah, you spend time with them. You learn. You teach them what you expect of them and they learn what to expect from you. And they bond to you and want to perform for you.
O'BRIEN: All right, and on that note, as we pan down to Duncan, Duncan is your dog by the way, right?
R. LYCAN: We co-own him with Helen Vance and Lisa Connelly. And we -- he is also our dog.
O'BRIEN: And how old is Duncan?
R. LYCAN: He's four.
O'BRIEN: Oh, he is a fine looking animal there. Can you show a few of the things, just some of the moves that the judges will be looking at, for example? Is he nervous?
R. LYCAN: No, he's pretty good.
O'BRIEN: OK, good.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: He's chewing your fingers off, is what he's doing. All right.
G. LYCAN: She's got a little bit of food in her hand.
O'BRIEN: Ah, that's a good thing. That's a good thing.
R. LYCAN: You pose -- you pose the dogs like this.
O'BRIEN: All right, and the pose is -- what are the judges looking for in that pose there?
R. LYCAN: They're looking at his shoulders, how they lay into his back, his top line, tail set, angles, front and rear, proportion...
O'BRIEN: Right.
R. LYCAN: ... overall look of the dog. O'BRIEN: Right. So -- and just to get this straight, the competition is not so much an obedience competition, is it? It's more how -- you know, how well bred the dog is, right?
R. LYCAN: At this particular show, this is a confirmation show. So no, it's not obedience; it's on how they look.
O'BRIEN: All right. Glenn, can you do something with Ben there, one of the moves? Is Ben nervous? You said earlier that Ben might...
G. LYCAN: Yeah, Ben's a little nervous. He's not used to being up on a slick surface like this.
O'BRIEN: God! He's got a beautiful coat there. It's just gorgeous.
G. LYCAN: One thing that they'll do with the Golden Retrievers is the Golden Retrievers have -- supposed to have full dentation so you'll see the judge looking at the mouth, looking at all the way back into it to see the teeth. And that's very important on this particular breed. They won't do that on all the breeds.
O'BRIEN: Yeah, and what...
G. LYCAN: Ben just has a beautiful head, so they'll go over his headpiece. They'll look at his ears set. They'll look at his eyes and that type of stuff. And that's about all Ben will let me show you right now.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: Ben is, you know -- I think the teeth were probably a big stretch for Ben this morning.
G. LYCAN: Exactly.
O'BRIEN: He is -- he's such a beautiful animal. Now, how would you know, sitting at home, if you had a good that would be a competitive dog? I mean is this something that -- only certain animals are able to go this far, obviously. But there's -- is some of it also just, you know, hard work and the dog will make it?
G. LYCAN: A lot of it's hard work.
O'BRIEN: Yeah.
G. LYCAN: You know, but there's lots of resources you can check into to find out if a dog is a good dog. Certainly, you go back to your breeder
O'BRIEN: I mean, can you -- I guess the question is can you make a silk purse out of a dog's ear?
G. LYCAN: Very rarely.
O'BRIEN: Yeah? Really, you got to have good genes there, right? G. LYCAN: Only to a degree.
O'BRIEN: Yeah.
R. LYCAN: You have to have a genetically sound background on the breeding of the dog, yes.
O'BRIEN: All right, give us just -- I assume you have some good antidotes or vignettes about previous shows. Have there been any funny stories that you've been involved with showing animals in these environments? It's got to be stressful for the animal and the handler.
G. LYCAN: Right, well, we have a dog here at the Garden that was just crazed when he was left alone. So we took him to a restaurant here in Italy, in Little Italy in New York and it's the funniest thing because the -- all the patrons were just so excited to see this little dog in the restaurant. And it was -- it was a -- it was a hoot.
O'BRIEN: So he sat right there at the table and had a...
G. LYCAN: He sat right there at the table and...
O'BRIEN: ... a plate of spaghetti, right?
G. LYCAN: ... enjoyed the antipasto and just went on.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: That's great. That's great. Now, these two will be shown in the show coming up, with these two dogs?
G. LYCAN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And what do you -- what do you think of their prospects?
G. LYCAN: Well...
R. LYCAN: Both of the dogs though, potentially, they have a chance.
O'BRIEN: I mean, have you had a chance to, you know, sort of size up the competition?
G. LYCAN: Yeah, we do this almost every weekend. So we see most of the dogs that'll be there and we see most of the dogs that are out winning. We have a couple of judges that we're not familiar with. We know them, but we -- neither of these judges have these dogs before.
O'BRIEN: Yeah.
G. LYCAN: So we don't know what's going to happen until you get in there.
O'BRIEN: And one final note, this is going to be a sad one for you, I think. This is your last show, right?
G. LYCAN: This is our last show. We're -- it's a bittersweet.
O'BRIEN: Yeah, how long have you been doing it now?
R. LYCAN: Since 1986, so it's about 17, 18 years.
O'BRIEN: And you're leaving because you have other babies to contend with.
G. LYCAN: That's right. We have a 2-year-old that we want to spend a little more time with and the traveling permits.
O'BRIEN: Wow! All right, well, we wish you well in your last show. We hope you come back with some ribbons. And before we leave, we want you to use your professional eye to look at a couple of other animals to see if there's potential here. First of all, we're going to show Jonathan. What do you think of Jonathan?
G. LYCAN: Jonathan's a beautiful dog.
O'BRIEN: Yeah?
G. LYCAN: He needs a little grooming, but he's a beautiful dog.
O'BRIEN: All right, our director, Dedri (ph) is very happy about that. And finally, we have a pair of Goldens here. This is Bijoux and Bailey. I think what -- is Bailey left, Bijoux right? I don't know. Bijoux left, Bailey right.
What do you think of these two? The got potential?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Great potential!
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: Good answer, because that is out producer Kim Underwood's dogs. All right, we wanted to get that in there and you have made their morning, and certainly Bijoux, Bailey, and Jonathan's morning. We wish you well in the dog show. Thank you very much both of you for joining us, and good luck on your next career as parents. That's Glenn and Rebecca Lycan out of New York. We appreciate it.
G. LYCAN: Thank you.
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