Couples at the Westminster show bond over dogs, and each other

NEW YORK (AP) — Must love dogs. Really, really love dogs.

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show spotlights the bond between people and dogs. But reaching the United States' premier canine event also can be about another kind of love.

“For me, it would be very hard to do this without somebody who was as vested in it as I am,” said two-time Westminster-winning handler Bill McFadden, who's half of a dogdom power couple. His wife, Taffe McFadden, handled the second-place winner in 2019, and she and Bono the Havanese are among past finalists set to appear Monday evening in a special tribute to Westminster's 150th annual show.

Yes, the McFaddens — who met at a dog show in the late 1970s and married in 1985 — have faced and sometimes beaten each other at various shows. And no, there are no hard feelings.

“I think some of my best memories are watching Taffe win best in show,” Bill said Saturday while the couple readied for Westminster. “If one of us takes the big ribbon home, it’s awesome. Doesn’t matter which one.”

After starting with agility and other sports on Saturday, the storied show got down to its traditional business Monday. Dogs ranging from teeny Chihuahuas to towering Irish wolfhounds started competing in the multi-round, breed-by-breed competition that leads to the best in show award Tuesday night.

Among first-round winners advancing to semifinals later Monday were a Lhasa apso named JJ, who won the massive AKC National Championship show in December, and George, an American foxhound who was runner-up at the National Dog Show televised last Thanksgiving.

JJ is “a show dog all the time,” said breeder, handler and co-owner Susan Giles of Manakin Sabot, Virginia, who has had Lhasas for 53 years. JJ is everything the breed is supposed to be, though he departs from one norm for a breed that's generally reserved with strangers: “He'll talk to everybody,” she said.

George is a strapping, playful representative of one of the United States' oldest but now rarest breeds.

“They're such cool dogs — more people should know about them and have them,” said handler Tristen Miller of Mechanicsville, Maryland.

Like a number of professional handlers, she's married to another dogdom devotee. Husband John Miller's family business helps manage dog shows.

Such pairings make sense for people who might, like the McFaddens, travel the country to 150 to 200 dog shows a year and share their home with a varying cast of canines that need feeding, exercise, grooming and training.

“I can’t even imagine trying to date and explain to somebody, ‘Now, I’m going to be gone five days a week, and I’m going to have like 20 dogs with me,’” said Bill McFadden, who largely credits his wife “for any semblance of order that we have” at their home on five acres (two hectares) in Acampo, California.

The key is “being with someone you can actually coexist with — constantly,” said Bill McFadden (who's aware of the 2005 romcom “Must Love Dogs” but doesn't recall seeing it). Like many top handlers, they also have assistants, he notes.

Then there are couples such as Randy and Andrea Huelsemann, who juggle breeding and showing their own French bulldogs with their full-time jobs. He’s a 911 dispatcher, and she’s a dental hygienist.

“We do it for just the love of it, for something to do together,” Randy said while waiting to bring their dog Ollie into the ring Monday. (The Huelsemanns, of Prairie Du Sac, Wisconsin, alternate handling their various dogs.)

“It's a great hobby for the two of us,” allowing for travel together, Andrea added.

Not handling but no less enthusiastic were Lydia Hearst and Chris Hardwick, who cheered and whooped for their otterhound, Zoltar. He didn't win his breed, but he probably got the most decibels.

“I die a lot in horror movies, so I can scream for a long time,” Hearst said with a laugh. She and her husband, who hosted AMC's “Talking Dead,” are both actors and grew up with dogs — pets in his case, and show dogs in hers. Her mother, newspaper heir and longtime Frenchie owner Patricia Hearst Shaw, was on hand to see both Zoltar and her dog Sassy in Monday's competition.

Wilbur the beagle had his own Hollywood connections. The dog, who appears in the new Netflix police drama “The Rip,” starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, was squired Monday by Charlotte Jones, 13, in a competition for junior handlers.

It was difficult to bring one of the family's dogs to New York from Charlotte's home near Honolulu, so her family connected through beagle circles with Wilbur's owner, Mary Cummings, who has long trained dogs for both the show ring and show business.

Which does Wilbur prefer?

“Everything,” said Cummings, of Binghamton, New York. “He likes anything that involves food and getting attention.”

This story corrects the accomplishments of George, an American foxhound. He won last year's National Dog Show, not the AKC National Championship.

A handler brushes his tiny Maltese at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Contestants stand with their borzois in the demo ring at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Bill McFadden, center, a seasoned handler, socializes at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Wilbur the beagle, a blue triangle beagle canine actor known for his role in "The Rip," jumps onto his handler's legs at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

A black toy poodle walks in the demo ring at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Dogs prepare to walk through the demo ring during the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

A pug named Petunia Pugdashian rests at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Bill McFadden, a seasoned dog handler, socializes at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

FILE — Handler Willy Santiago competes with Afghan Hound Zaida during breed group judging at the 148th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, in this May 13, 2024 file image, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File)

A show dog named Valli gets groomed at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

BOSTON (AP) — The seven victims of a marine disaster that devastated a storied Massachusetts fishing town included a fifth-generation fisherman, a young federal fisheries observer and a father-and-son crew duo. All died when their fishing boat, the Lily Jean, sank in waters off America’s oldest seaport.

The sinking underscored the risks long embedded in Gloucester’s fishing industry, which spans more than 400 years and was famously chronicled in “The Perfect Storm.”The names of the crew will be added to a city memorial honoring thousands of fishermen lost at sea over generations.

The 72-foot (22-meter) vessel was returning to port early Friday to repair fishing gear when it sank in frigid Atlantic waters that are typical in New England for this time of year. The U.S. Coast Guard announced Monday that it was launching a formal investigation into the sinking after suspending a search for survivors Saturday. It has not said what might have caused the sinking, though it said Friday that ice buildup from freezing ocean spray can cause a boat to capsize.

“You fish in federal waters, you fish in a Gloucester boat, and you lose your life, you’re forever a Gloucester fisherman,” Gloucester fisherman Al Cottone said.

“This is the worst nightmare come true," he said, adding, “this community will need a long time to heal.”

Coast Guard officials on Monday identified the victims as boat captain Accursio “Gus” Sanfilippo and crewmembers Paul Beal Sr., Paul Beal Jr., John Rousanidis, Freeman Short and Sean Therrien. Also aboard was Jada Samitt, a fisheries observer for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

On Monday, the community was quick to push back against speculation about a possible cause, arguing that Sanfilippo was someone who cared about his crew and didn't take risks.

Vito Giacalone, head of the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund, said such sinkings are unfortunately not out of the ordinary.

“We’ve had multiple sinkings. All hands lost. No radio communication at the very last minute. Nobody alive to say, oh, no, it wasn’t that," he said. "So, it’s just unfair to everyone involved with the folks that were lost feeling like someone did something wrong.”

Former Lily Jean crew member Gryphon Orfanos said the crew understood the risks.

“All those guys on that boat were seasoned fishermen,” said Orfanos, on break from boat repair work at the same dock where the Lily Jean used to berth. “They knew how dangerous it was.”

On Monday, Orfanos and friend Nate Dennen fastened a stainless steel memorial cross with the name “Lily Jean” to a wooden beam at the dock.

Dennen, a longtime friend of the boat’s captain Gus, had known him for years. Orfanos said Gus was a mentor who looked out for his crew.

“It taught me everything I know,” he said of his working a year on the boat early in his career. “Out on the ocean, it teaches you everything. But as far as I want the word to spread, Gus was the best guy ever.”

Cottone said any vessel leaving port needs a Coast Guard inspection decal, which among other things requires up-to-date safety equipment — and the fishery observer conducts a safety check before each trip.

“If the observer deems the boat not to be safe or have any piece of safety equipment that’s not up to date, If something is expired by one day, that observer will shut the trip down,” he said.

Sanfilippo was well known in Gloucester. The Lily Jean, Sanfilippo, and his crew were featured in a 2012 episode of the History Channel show “Nor’Easter Men.” The captain is described as a fifth-generation commercial fisherman, out of Gloucester, in the Georges Bank. The crew is shown working in dangerous weather conditions for hours on end, spending as many as 10 days offshore catching haddock, lobster and flounder.

“We loved each other,” Giacalone said. “He treated me like a big brother and I treated him like my younger brother. To know the tragedy of this and to know the kind of character that Gus had, he’d be mortified to know that these lives were all lost.”

Giacalone said the Sanfillipo and Beal names were synonymous with local fishing going back decades. He said Sanfillipo “followed in the footsteps of his dad" while the Beal family has built boats and a brother is also a fisherman.

“Those two families are absolutely etched in centuries of these multiple generations of fishermen,” Giacalone said.

Just as Sanfillipo had years of experience, Samitt was undertaking her first job at sea as an observer. The 22-year-old was tasked with collecting data from the catch, used for crafting government regulations and other purposes.

Samitt’s family added she was originally from Virginia and had a deep love of Gloucester’s fishing community. Their statement said she “conveyed to us how critical it was to protect the seas and fisheries.”

NOAA, meanwhile, offered its condolences.

“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with Jada’s family, the families of the six fishermen, the NOAA observer community, and everyone affected,” its statement said.

Therrien, 44, was working his first season on a commercial fishing vessel, joining the Lily Jean after his close friend Rousanidis said the boat needed another crew member, his partner Becky Carp said. He had been on about a half-dozen trips so far, she said, and appeared to be settling into the job despite complaints about the cold.

Therrien, she said, was "always up for an adventure” but that he took this job mostly so he could provide for his family. The lifelong Massachusetts resident was the family's breadwinner and sought to supplement his construction work, which was scarce in the winter.

“He wanted to make sure his family was safe and taken care which is why he was busting his butt so he could make as much money as he could so we would be comfortable and wouldn’t struggle,” Carp said.

Carp last talked to Therrien on Tuesday before he headed out. She had wanted him to take the week off to spend time with him but he felt he needed to make money. She only learned about the sinking when alerts began popping up Friday.

“You always want to hold out hope that they are found. Come Saturday morning, I kind of knew at that point that they wouldn’t find any survivors,” Carp said. “I feel like it’s a nightmare that I am going to wake up from. It's just a bad dream and everything will be OK. But unfortunately, it's not.

Whittle reported from Scarborough, Maine.

Al Cattone, friend of the late Capt. Gus Sanfilippo, reacts while listening to friends and officials remember the victims of the fishing boat that went missing, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Gloucester, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Christine Porper of Gloucester, Mass. pauses at the fisherman's memorial near the homeport of a fishing boat that went missing with seven onboard, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Gloucester, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A crucifix, made by a friend of the captain of the fishing boat "Lily Jean", is displayed on the pier of the homeport of the fishing boat that went missing with seven onboard, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Gloucester, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Gryphon Orfanos, who in the past worked on the fishing vessel "Lily Jean", stands on the pier of the homeport of the fishing boat that went missing with seven onboard, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Gloucester, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Flowers are left at fisherman's memorial near the homeport of a fishing boat that went missing with seven onboard, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Gloucester, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Christine Porper of Gloucester, Mass. pauses at the fisherman's memorial near the homeport of a fishing boat that went missing with seven onboard, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Gloucester, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A group of women gather at the fisherman's memorial near the homeport of a fishing boat that went missing with seven onboard, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Gloucester, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)