Thanksgiving goes to the dogs with annual show

 

After the floats, before the football, and right around the time the scent from the festive feast wafts out of the kitchen, Thanksgiving television viewing goes to the dogs. Real breeds, like a Treeing Walker Coon Hound, not helium-loaded cartoon mascots paraded around on sticks.

 

Actor John O'Hurley turns into the Al Michaels of the dog show circuit when he calls the paw-by-paw for the National Dog Show on NBC, now in its 11th year.

 

The show -- sponsored by the Kennel Club of Philadelphia -- is actually taped ahead of time. Mary Carillo is the sideline reporter and the show airs at noon following the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. O'Hurley is joined on the broadcast by David Frei, one of the most authoritative voices in the dog show world.