‘Best in Show’ Movie 25 Years Later with Michael Canalizo

Originally published here at AKC.org on October 6, 2025 by Melanie Haid

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In 2000, the movie ‘Best in Show‘ was released, a comedy/drama surrounding the events of the fictitious Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show. This star-studded cast, including beautiful dogs everywhere you look, made their mark — 25 years later, the film is still a classic. But how much of it is accurate in the conformation dog show world?

We sat down with Michael Canalizo, who may or may not have inspired one of the characters in the film, to talk all things ‘Best in Show‘ legacy, conformation, and the owners and handlers who make dog sports as fantastic as they are.

The Poster Child for Dog Shows

In the early 1960s, Canalizo remembers that his parents bought a purebred dog for under $150. Since then, Canalizo has gone to show dogs in every state, as well as 53 countries. “Buy a show dog, you’ll see the world,” his father always said to him.

“Some might say I’m the poster child for everything revolving around AKC dog sports,” he chuckles. After his parents entered, Canalizo also became greatly involved. Now, in his over-60-year dog sport career, he says he’s “done it all.”

He was a Junior Handler, an exhibitor, a breeder, a judge, an AKC Field Representative, and then the director of events for a few years. Canalizo has also taught conformation handling classes, and finished champion titles on over 300 top dogs in his career.

Fact or Fiction: Dog Shows

Like many others in the dog show world, Canalizo has seen the movie ‘Best in Show’ many times in the 25 years since its release. Some things in the movie ring true — but some are a bit exaggerated.

One often-quoted scene is with the commentators at the Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show, Buck Laughlin (Fred Willard) and Trevor Beckwith (Jim Piddock). Canalizo says that commentators are actually sometimes like this — well, maybe not as extreme.

“It takes a team: someone to be the expert, and someone to get a natural reaction from somebody that’s novice or entry-level. We have to do it through their eyes as well,” he says. This combination is good to help make sure seasoned dog-lovers and those tuning in for the first time are both able to understand and take interest in the shows. “You never know what could spark the interest of someone watching.”

What Canalizo says is important to understand about dog shows is that it’s not about looks. “The AKC purebred dogs follow a standard, and that predictability is what is so attractive to different people,” he says. “It’s just amazing, instinctively, what the dogs possess, and intrinsically what the people desire. It’s a beautiful combination.”

Emotions Travel Down the Leash

One of the things that the movie pokes fun at is the high levels of emotion felt by the handlers in different ways. Whether it’s Gary and Cookie Fleck (Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy) having to change the handler at the last minute, Sherri Ann Cabot (Jennifer Coolidge) and Christy Cummings (Jane Lynch) worrying about their presentation, or Meg and Hamilton Swan (Parker Posey and Michael Hitchcock) losing their Weimaraner‘s toy, “Busy Bee,” Canalizo says that what the handlers feel translates down to the dog.

“There’s a little dramatic license in play here,” he says of the Busy Bee scene. “It’s funny, but I think it’s a little over-the-top, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

He does note that dogs can sense when their handler is stressed or worried. “If you don’t approach them with a certain level of confidence, they know it,” Canalizo says. “How you feel goes right down the lead — if you’re worried about something, these dogs can tell that you’re worried about it.”

At one point in the film, the Weimaraner jumps on the judge and is disqualified. “Dogs should have animation,” he says. “I’ve had some dogs that will jump on me when I’m judging. Dogs will be dogs, and we certainly encourage it.” But he also says, of course, there is a line. “Most breeds have to be steady. Whether it’s your fault or their fault, they may be asked out of the competition and asked to go to obedience training.” But he’s rarely seen it happen this way.

Sequins, Silk, and Panache

The reason that Canalizo recalls the film so fondly, in addition to its cult-classic status, hits closer to home.

“One of these characters was inspired by me,” he says. He had been telling a friend that he was doing an interview to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Best in Show. “Without hesitation, she says, ‘I knew the minute that movie came out that that was you that they were portraying.'”

And that character? None other than the eccentrically-clad Shih Tzu handler, Scott Donlan (John Michael Higgins). Though Canalizo himself handled Afghan Hounds, the fashionable resemblance is striking.

“Over the years came out with, I guess notable, dramatic outfits,” he admits, “from hand-painted silk imagery on my tuxedo to sequin tuxedos, but it matched the event. It matched the panache of a show of that level.”

His most famed look is perhaps a sequined tuxedo coat — but the look didn’t go on to best in show that day. “But I guarantee you to this day, just like the ‘Best in Show’ movie, they can tell you the person who wore that jacket before they can tell you who won the show.”

He says what the handler wears is actually about practicality, such as wearing sensible shoes, making sure they can move with their dogs across the ring and hold things like treats and grooming brushes in their pockets. “We’re really watching the dog, but the performance of the handler can’t hurt. You don’t want to overpower them or stand our over them, but there’s no reason not to match your dog in style.”

Some Things Never Change

In 2000, it wasn’t so much of a surprise that the movie was coming, but more how it would represent the sport. “When the movie came out, the purebred sport was portrayed in somewhat of a less-positive light, so for this movie, we waited with bated breath,” Canalizo remembers. “The producers of the film took the time to source quality dogs, and they had a good script that depicted the sport properly.”

Not everyone was happy with the film’s portrayal of the dog show world. “When people ask me, ‘What’d you think of ‘Best in Show?’ my first reaction, still to this day, is: sometimes the truth hurts a bit.”

But he says there’s a reason it’s stood the test of time. “The movie’s really ageless,” he says. “It still holds true today, and it held true 50 years before they even made the movie.”

Real-Life Best in Show Wins

Spoiler: “Winkie,” Cookie and Gary’s Norwich Terrier, takes home the grand prize. Canalizo himself has competed in an estimated over 1000 best in show competitions, and won at least 300 of them. “That moment, winning best in show, is always special,” he says. “There is respect to whoever wins, and they sincerely mean that.”

“It’s the tensest three minute of your life,” he laughs as he watches the judge in the movie walk over to the book. “This is exactly how it’s done to this day. We look at them, we log the book, and everyone gets quiet, waiting for the reveal.”

The magic of a dog show like this, and being involved in shows on so many different levels like Canalizo has, is captured in the movie.

“When you get to do best in show at AKC events, it’s always a wonderful selection. They say it’s the easiest thing to judge, because you can’t go wrong.”

Winning big might change the owners and handlers, prompting them perhaps to pursue their dream of recording a terrier-themed album, but it doesn’t change the dogs. “My dog comes home with me, win or lose, and their still the same dog. The love is the same, whether they win the puppy class, or go best in show at something as big as the AKC National Championship. It doesn’t change the dog.”