Sisters to vie for ‘top dog’
BROOKSVILLE –
Judges and spectators at next year’s Westminster Dog Show might find themselves doing a double-take.
For the first time, area identical twins Kasey and Kristen O’Brien, 14, will compete in February’s 136th annual dog show, held in New York City’s Madison Square Garden, in the junior showmanship division for contestants ages 9 to 18.
Kristin competed in the show once before, but this will be the first time both sisters will enter the premier event.
Kasey will be showing a 120-pound bull mastiff named Scarlett, while Kristin will show Skeeter the golden retriever.
“I’m just happy to have made it to the point where we can show on the blue carpet,” Kasey said. “You have to qualify to do it by winning 10 firsts in licensed shows. This year we went to a whole lot of shows and our schedules were packed just about every weekend.
“We made it through and did really good. It was a good year.”
Kasey added that she and Kristen traveled not only throughout Florida, but also to Georgia, the Carolinas, New York and California, among other states.
The Westminster won’t be their first opportunity to be featured on television. Earlier this month, both sisters competed in the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship Dog Show, which will be featured on the Animal Planet channel.
Although neither teen placed, both were pleased to have qualified to go — which required them to have won at least five first-place awards and hold a minimum 3.0 grade-point average.
Both girls are homeschooled and Kristin holds a 4.0 and Kasey a 3.5.
Their mother, Dawn, said her daughters’ ability to take it upon themselves to keep up with their schooling while traveling and competing says a lot about their character.
“When they decided they wanted to be home schooled, the agreement was for them to keep up on their work,” Dawn said. “And last year they had a heavy schedule and still maintained their grades.
“Not bad for a couple of kids.”
Along with showing their dogs — and others from breeders — Kasey and Kristen are also entrepreneurs after having started their own photography business called “Twin Photos.”
Both teens take pictures during competitions of the dogs and handlers in the ring, along with taking pictures during scheduled sessions.
Kristen said she and her sister got their start in the dog show circuit four years ago after they were given the mastiff as a gift — with the promise they would show the large canine in competitions.
It didn’t take long before the girls were hooked. After showing the same dog for awhile, Kristen was given another dog to show before primarily staying with her retriever.
