Modesto whippet Anna aims her snout at National Dog Show top award; how you can watch

A Modesto dog hopes to whippet, whippet good, Thanksgiving Day, when she competes at one of the nation’s prestige dog shows. And local audiences can tune in to the televised event.

Lori Wilson-Paust of Modesto is the owner and handler of Anna, a 3-year-old pure-bred whippet hound that took best in breed and other honors on Saturday at the National Dog Show in Philadelphia. That means Anna will compete on Thursday as one of only seven dogs positioned to win best in show at the finals.

The National Dog Show Presented by Purina will air at noon on NBC stations, directly following the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and before the annual round of football games that day. The two-hour special annually attracts an audience of more than 20 million, according to a press release.

Anna was born and raised in Modesto, according to Wilson-Paust, who moved to the city with her husband, Robert Paust, four years ago from Missouri. The couple have two other whippet show dogs, Chanel and Hartley, also both veterans of the National Dog Show. Chanel is Anna’s aunt, Wilson Paust said.

Wilson-Paust said she was born into showing dogs, coming from a family that also took part in the sport. “I became interested in whippets when I was a teenager and have had them ever since.”

A small version of a greyhound, whippets, she said, were bred to chase live game such as rabbits. In the Victorian era in the cold and damp United Kingdom, the lean breed was used under blankets to warm the feet of sleeping owners.

Anna keeps that tradition alive at the Wilson-Paust home, preferring to sleep under the blankets while keeping her owners toasty, too. Like all her dogs, Anna is part of the family, Wilson-Paust said. “She loves to play ball and Frisbee and she likes to give hugs.”

“Most show dogs are truly just normal dogs,” she added. “(And for them) it’s a treat to go to dog shows.”

Show dogs tend to feed off the attention and crowds during events, she said. As a veteran of the National Dog Show finals, she expects all the dogs will be at their peak performance levels.

“It’s a big carpeted ring, and (the dogs) pull off the energy of the crowd. The applause and the amount of people there, it ups their game,” Wilson-Paust said, comparing the show dogs to football players competing in the Super Bowl. “(Anna) will put on an extremely good show.”

For those who tune in to see Anna compete on Thanksgiving day, the TV special will be hosted by John O’Hurley – best knows as J. Peterman on “Seinfeld” – with analyst David Frei and reporting by Mary Carillo.

But don’t worry if you miss it while tending to your family or your feast: the program will get an encore airing on Saturday at 8 p.m., also on NBC.

This story was originally published November 21, 2017 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Modesto whippet Anna aims her snout at National Dog Show top award; how you can watch."