Martha Stewart: 'One Cannot Be Content With Best In Breed'

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

You might say Martha Stewart is the Tim Tebow of competitive dog breeding: All she does is win. Or maybe she’s the Jeremy Lin. In any case, media/merchandising mogul and lifestyle guru has been a dog lover her whole life, but it wasn’t until this week that she has ever had a pet of her own in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. And she won it. More precisely, her Chow Chow, Genghis Khan, won Best In Breed.
I took the occasion to catch up with Stewart via email. (Confidential to Malachy the Pekingese: Watch your back, pal.)

Congratulations to you and Genghis Khan. Are you two content with Best in Breed, or is there a Best in Show in your future?
If one shows dogs, one cannot be content with just Best in Breed.
You’re the queen of do-it-yourself, but you left the actual showing of Genghis to a handler. Why’s that? Is the art of showing a dog all that hard to master?
Not many owners show their own dogs and, because I have other obligations, working with an experienced trainer was a better choice.
Any lessons from your experience as a dog show champ that you’ll apply to your life running Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia?
We already design a tremendous amount of product for pets:  It’s a $50 billion industry and growing every year.  We have a very popular line of products for dogs and cats with Petsmart.  Seeing all the different breeds and understanding all their needs and idiosyncrasies enables me to develop even more interesting product.
Is there a part of you that feels bad for your opponents? I mean, having to compete against Martha Stewart — that’s like an anxiety nightmare for most people. Perfection is what you do.
No one knew, including the judge, that Ghenghis was my dog.  The judge was totally surprised and happy after the fact.
Now that Genghis is a champion, will he get his own blog? Or at least his own Twitter account? Or does he have to continue to share with Francesca and Sharkey, your other dogs?
He will continue to share with Francesca and Sharkey on the Dailywag.com.
Do you let your dogs sleep in bed with you? I’m guessing the answer to this is no, seeing as you sell Martha Stewart dog beds, but I figured I’d ask.
GK doesn’t think of sleeping in a bed.

*Correction: Genghis Khan’s grandfather, Paw Paw, also competed at Westminster but didn’t win.



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