Hotels pull out all the stops for Westminster show dogs

New York

IN THE basement of the Hotel Pennsylvania, a long-faced Borzoi stood calmly in a bathtub as he was scrubbed with whitening shampoo. Three dogs trotted on treadmills. An English springer spaniel named Timothy, his head covered by a gold sheath to keep his ears clean, eyed a standard poodle urinating near a red plastic hydrant planted amid pine and aspen shavings. "Isn't she pretty?" Heidi Hubert, the human on the other end of the leash, asked Timothy.

Each February, this dull conference room transforms into what the hotel calls a "dog s'paw" for competitors in the Westminster Kennel Club dog show, which started on Monday. The 24-hour pee area, whose sawdust is freshened hourly, costs a one-time fee of US$20 per dog. Grooming tables, which must be reserved, go for upward of US$150.