Ziggy was the second to the last born in a litter of Borzoi puppies in December 2020 — the last puppy was stillborn. Little Ziggy had her own troubles. The silver and white puppy weighed in at 16 ounces, about half what an average Borzoi puppy should weigh. She was the runt of the litter and so small that her siblings wouldn’t let her latch onto their mother to breastfeed.
Ziggy was expected to die.
“She had a tough time growing at first, and there were moments we weren’t sure she would make it,” said Randi Chylinski, Ziggy’s owner. “But she persevered and grew into the beautiful lady she is today.”
Chylinski, 32, and Ziggy, 4, are both survivors. Ziggy overcame her early struggles to blossom into a grand champion show dog who is preparing to compete in the Super Bowl of dog shows, the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, which starts on Feb. 8 in New York City. Chylinski, who splits her time living between her hometown of Grosse Pointe Woods and Los Angeles, where her job is based, made it unscathed through last month’s California wildfires, watching from afar as the Sunset fire came within 3 miles of her apartment.
It’s for that reason, when Chylinski and Ziggy finish at Westminster, they will drive to Los Angeles. You see, Ziggy isn’t just a pretty face. This persevering pooch is also a certified therapy dog. In Detroit, she has helped mental patients, sick children and women in shelters heal, Chylinski said. Ziggy brings them comfort when they are in their darkest moments.
“So many people in Los Angeles are helping with donations and resources on the front lines, we’ll take tier two,” Chylinski said of Ziggy’s intended therapy work there. “She can help by bringing relief and joy to people who’ve been so devastated and been through so much with these fires.”
‘Something special about her’
The first time Chylinski saw Ziggy, she was struck by a “sparkle in her eye.” Ziggy, who was 4 months old at that time, was much smaller than her littermates. But Chylinski saw past her stature.
“She spoke to me,” Chylinski said. “I just knew there was something special about her. This was her world and you’re just living in it.”
Ziggy’s attitude befit her regal birth name: Zenobia, a name derived from a Syrian queen. It was April 2021 and Chylinski had driven from Michigan to the breeder’s kennel in Maine to get a puppy. Her dog Cody, whom she adopted from the Humane Society in Ann Arbor as a puppy, had recently died at age 18. After he passed, she started researching Borzois.
According to the American Kennel Club, a Borzoi is one of the most beautiful of dogs, with a luxuriously silky coat and a calm and agreeable temperment. They are tall, standing at least 26 inches or taller at the shoulder and weighing 60 to 105 pounds. The dogs are strong athletes who can run 35 to 40 mph in full stride.
“I could see myself aligning with their lifestyle. I love to exercise and she’s more of a sprinter,” Chylinski said. “I did not pick her as a show dog.”
Chylinski’s initial aspirations for Ziggy were simple: That she grow to normal size and be healthy. She is both, standing 31 inches tall at the shoulder.
Bombing out at the first dog show
Chylinski returned to Grosse Pointe Woods with little Ziggy in April 2021, but soon the two were on the road driving to her apartment in Los Angeles, where she lives half of the year.
Chylinski works in show business as a post-production coordinator. Her job is to type a show’s credits, so “no spelling errors ever!” she said. She also makes sure the visual effects go in the show correctly, and if the director needs an actor to return to production to redo a line, it’s Chylinski who tracks down the actor and gets them back in.
She mostly works on hourlong dramas such as “American Horror Story” Season 10 and “The Blacklist.” The job allows her to work remotely, which is why she lives in Michigan from October to February, when the weather here is cooler for Ziggy and Chylinski can help her mom run her restaurant, Dox Grillhouse in St. Clair Shores.
Chylinski started obedience training with Ziggy in Los Angeles. As a way for the two of them to bond and learn the commands together, the trainer suggested they do a dog show. So at 7 months old, Chylinski entered Ziggy in the Cabrillo Kennel Club Show at Bates Nut Farm in Southern California.
“She totally bombed. I was so nervous. I didn’t know what I was doing,” Chylinski said. “You’re supposed to keep them on your left, so I am glad I at least did that right. But I had my armband on the wrong arm and I was so nervous.”
A star is born
Despite the dismal experience, Chylinski was instantly hooked on showing Ziggy because the dog seemed to enjoy being around the other dogs, she said.
“It was a side of her I’d never seen before. It was like she knew, ‘This is what I am meant to do,’ ” Chylinski said. “Not every dog has the ‘it’ factor, and if you can control the room with ‘look at me,’ you’ve got the ‘it’ factor.”
Ziggy proved she had “it.” Since that first awkward show, Ziggy has participated in more than 200 dog shows, Chylinski said. The pup has had many wins, some notable. Ziggy — who competes with her registered name of Karanoff Zenobia — won Best in Show in the owner handler competition at the Malibu Kennel Club dog show in March 2024, as confirmed by the American Kennel Club.
For the 2023-24 season, Ziggy was ranked ninth in the American Kennel Club National Owner Handler Series Finals. That means out of about 150 owner-handler Borzoi dogs, Chylinski said, Ziggy earned enough points from various shows in which she has competed to put her in the top 10 of those dogs.
From there, Ziggy was invited to Orlando, Florida, to compete in the American Kennel Club National Championship, which Chylinski described as “a big deal.” It is one of the few dog shows that rewards a cash prize — $50,000, she said. Again, Ziggy competed in the owner handler series and won Best of Opposite for the breed, the show’s website confirmed. When a dog wins Best of Breed, the judge also selects the best of the opposite gender of the Best of Breed winner.
“I had to learn a lot,” Chylinski said of dog showing. “A lot of these people have been doing this for 40 or 50 years. I am new to this. We struggled at first. But finding those people in the community who help you learn, help you grow and teach you what you can do better next time makes all the difference.”
Still, to get to Westminster is not easy. Dogs get into Westminster one of two ways: They can either be entered and drawn from a lottery. If drawn, the dog must be a Champion of Record with the American Kennel Club to compete at Westminster. Or, a dog can be invited by being one of the top five dogs in a breed. Dogs accumulate points for winning various shows throughout the year and the five with the top points are automatically invited to Westminster. Ziggy got in last year and this year by lottery.
Learning on Westminster’s turf
Last year, Ziggy did not win anything in the Borzoi breed competition at Westminster, “but that’s OK,” Chylinski said, adding, “That was my chance to get familiar with the grounds.”
For one thing, the dogs compete on turf at Westminster. At many other shows, Chylinski said the dogs are on mats, grass or gravel.
“The turf is a different texture and material for their paws to land on, and if they’re not used to it and well trained enough for it, they can get the zoomies. I’ve seen that,” Chylinski said.
Zoomies are when dogs go into a burst of wild excitement and will run in circles or chase their tails. Fortunately, Ziggy was fine with the turf and handled the larger-than-usual crowds, too, Chylinski said. It prepared them for the big show again this year, she said.
“I’m so excited. I know this year I will be more prepared and ready for any challenges that arise,” Chylinski said. “To go to Westminster twice is a really big deal. So much of this is planning and preparation and making sure you stay calm.”
Ziggy makes a difference
Aside from fancy dog shows, Ziggy has a knack for expanding her world beyond a dog park and a fire hydrant.
In August 2022, Chylinski had just returned to Grosse Pointe Woods from Los Angeles. She and Ziggy, who was about 2½ years old then, were out for a walk and as they passed a Starbucks on Mack Avenue, Ziggy pulled Chylinski toward a man in a wheelchair and then rested her head on his lap, Chylinski said.
“She looked up at me like, ‘I’m bringing this man comfort and peace,’ ” Chylinski said.
So the two started training so that Ziggy could pass the Therapy Dog International test by showing that she can follow a series of rigorous commands that prove she has a calm and obedient demeanor. Chylinski also had to pass two written exams, but later that year Ziggy was certified as a therapy dog.
Since then, Ziggy has done a lot of therapy work in metro Detroit at some schools and hospitals, Chylinski said. Last year, Ziggy went to the children’s unit at a local Detroit hospital once or twice a week for 45 minutes at a time, Chylinski said.
“There’s also a women’s shelter area and that was very emotional for me,” Chylinski said. “Some of these women would see her and start crying. They really needed an animal to love on. They would repeatedly thank me and thank her for coming. It was just amazing. But when you see her making a difference like that, I find the time to do it.”
Watching wildfires destroy friends’ homes
Ziggy and Chylinski were in Michigan when the wildfires erupted in California on Jan. 7. Chylinski said she received a text from a friend that the fire was in the Palisades, which is about an hour west of her apartment near Runyon Canyon, and she worried.
“You have the winds, and it’s extremely dry. That’s not good,” Chylinski said. “Then, when I saw Pasadena was on fire, which is about 20 minutes east from my apartment … I have so many friends that live there.”
Chylinski said she knows many people who lost their homes. But Chylinski really panicked when the Sunset fire started on Jan. 8. It burned a mere 3 miles west of her place. The blaze led to massive traffic jams as people tried to flee the densely populated area below Runyon Canyon, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“Fortunately, my apartment is OK. I dodged a bullet for sure,” Chylinski said. “But it’s just devastating.”
She said she and Ziggy ordinarily are in Michigan during wildfire or extreme heat seasons in California. But she has learned to take precautions regardless.
“I keep two air purifiers at my apartment, Ziggy has her own K9 mask, and I always have a go-bag packed with essentials — ready for fires or even ‘the big one,’ ” Chylinski said. “I feel like we are all waiting for ‘the big one,’ the big earthquake. But you never expect a wildfire.”
Chylinski said she has reached out to her therapy dog organization for a list of places for her and Ziggy to go in Los Angeles to help wildfire victims.
“I look forward to working as a team, with her as a therapy dog, to help those grieving and coping with the devastating losses caused by these terrible times,” Chylinski said. “It’s our way of giving back and providing comfort where it’s needed most.”
But first, on to Westminster where this former runt of the litter will get to take the stage at noon Feb. 10 to compete for the best of her breed in the biggest dog show on Earth. The Westminster Dog Show will stream on www.westminsterkennelclub.org and air on Fox Sports.
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Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
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