Here at Westminster, people often ask how old a dog is, but they rarely ask how many miles a dog has run. It’s an appropriate question for Twila Baker, owner of Kinky, a 6-year-old Alaskan Malamute that has logged more than 18,000 miles pulling a dog sled, Baker says. The mileage is the equivalent of running the United States -- coast-to-coast -- more than six times.

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Ron Dysart, left, and John Dewing, groom Kinky, a six-year-old Alaskan Malamute whose owner says has run 18,000 miles on her dog team. Westminster Dog Show, Tuesday, Feb. 15.

Quinault.net

Kinky's sister, Tyra, in harness with a sled dog team, greets a puppy.

Quinault.net

Kinky, the lead dog on the left, runs with other sled dogs during training in Mt. Hood in 2006.

Eighteen thousand miles might seem a bit hard to swallow, but consider that Baker and her husband live way, way out in the boonies.

“We live about 11 miles from the nearest neighbor surrounded by hundreds of thousands of acres of national forest,” Baker says. They share their off-the-grid home outside Garrison, Mont., with 30 dogs, all Alaskan Malamutes.

“We can run (dog sleds) 200 miles right out of our home,” Baker says.
 
Baker says Kinky showed early on that she had leadership potential.

“I start running my dogs when they’re about 4 to 6 months old -- they run along with the team, loose, to get kind of used to it,” Baker says. “and (Kinky) was always running in front of the team instead of running with the dogs … so when she was 6 months old, we were out on a run and I just hooked her into lead with another leader and she stayed up there for five years.“

Kinky, whose full name is Grand Champion Quinault’s Twisted Sister, has pulled sleds in Minnesota, Montana, Canada, on Mount Hood in Oregon and Mount Rainier in Washington.
 
“Kinky is the ultimate bitch,” says John Dewing, Kinky’s handler, from Gig Harbor, Wash. (That means she's a great female dog)  “She went from being a champion to being one of the number one bitches in the country in one year, so she’s done a lot in a very short period of time. Not only that but she runs lead.  It takes a lot for a dog to run lead. Mentally they’ve got to be tough and they’ve got to be able to keep up the pace with the other dogs and they have to be smart enough to do it.  This girl truly does it all.”

For the most part, Kink’s miles weren’t spent racing.  “Malamutes are not racing dogs,” Dewing says, “They are a freighting dog, they were the work horses of the Arctic. Most of her miles are pretty much recreational miles where her owner has worked her on their property.”

But don’t think Kinky’s life as all work and no play. “She thinks she’s the queen of everything. As far as she’s concerned, all of the world rotates around her,” Dewing says.  Baker adds, “She really is…she’s such a hard worker that you’d never think that she’d come in and be such a princess.  She goes to (John’s) house and just claims it. She goes into a hotel room and just walks in and jumps on the bed. She’s home wherever she is.”

“Lead dog? Definitely,” John’s partner Ron Dysart says. “She gets along great in strange cities, but when she comes home she’s the biggest baby. She gets up on our leather couch, she gets up on our bed, she wants to get up and give you a hug, she’s just a wonderful overall quality dog.  She gets out into the ring (and she’s) aggressive; she comes home and she’s our little Golden Retriever, with teeth.”

See the rest of our behind-the-scenes coverage of the Westminster Dog Show.

Westminster fans describe why they enjoy watching the dog show at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

(The dog fans shown in the video are, in order of appearance: Janie Owen, Boston; P.B. & Carole White, Gloucester, Va.; Mady & Allison Hoffman, West Lawrence, N.J., and New York City; Bob Kreider, Vermontville, N.Y.; Elaine Gold, Columbus, Ohio; Joseph Ungoto, New York City; Blake, New Jersey; Dot and Ed Kennedy, Durham, N.C.)

Check back as we continue to sniff out Westminster’s secrets.

Send us your questions about the dog show by clicking the comments link below. Is there a breed you like or a part of the show you don't understand? Let us know.

Anita Riley isn't shy about sharing combs, brushes and more with her dogs, she says while primping alongside Siberian Husky "Patriot" in the benching area at the Westminster Dog Show, going on now at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Riley, from Louisville, Ky., is showing her Siberian Husky "Chuck," who had been a sled dog in Michigan before she brought him to Westminster.

Send us your questions about the dog show by clicking the comments link below. Is there a breed you like or a part of the show you don't understand? Let us know.

Check back for our ongoing coverage of the furry underbelly of Westminster Dog Show.

Having beaten her only competitor for Best in Breed, Rassa, the Icelandic Sheepdog from Vashon Island, Wash., took to the ring again Monday night to compete against the other winners of their respective breeds in the Herding Group.

Her handler, Tammie Wilcox, jogged Rassa onto the emerald green carpet in Madison Square Garden in front of thousands of dog enthusiasts. Twenty four other dogs of various breeds all competed to make it to the next and final step at Westminster, Best in Show.

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Rassa, and Icelandic Sheepdog from Vashon Island, Wash., trots in the ring with her handler Tammie Wilcox during the Herding Group competition at the Westminster Dog Show on Monday night, Feb. 14.

After each dog stood, trotted, and did everything they could for the judge scrutinizing them, first place went to a Bearded Collie named Mr. Baggins from Washington, D.C. Rassa didn’t place. Her Westminster ride was over.

"I think she fell in love with the judge," Wilcox said after the show, "I think Rassa might have thought the judge was Donna and she wouldn’t taker her eyes off her." Wilcox was referring to Donna McDermott, Rassa’s owner.

"Did you see her out there?" McDermott asked after the show, "She looked great, and Tammie did such a great job showing her!" McDermott had been watching from the stands. "I wasn’t nervous until I looked up and saw the big screen and it read, ‘135th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show,’ and I heard the announcer’s voice booming over the sound system. That’s when it hit me. That’s when I realized just where we were."

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Rassa, and Icelandic Sheepdog from Vashon Island, Wash., shows for the judge in the ring with her handler Tammie Wilcox during the Herding Group competition at the Westminster Dog Show on Monday night, Feb. 14.

Wilcox said even though Rassa showed well, she wasn’t surprised at the outcome. "We don’t expect a dog to place in group on their first time out,” she said. “There’s all the lights and the people, we’re so proud that she made it this far."

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

Donna McDermott hugs Rossa, her Icelandic Sheepdog, after the Herding Group competion at The Westminster Dog Show on Monday.

After the show, McDermott was backstage in the benching area with Rassa, hugging her and telling her what a good dog she was. She then gathered up the crates, hairbrushes, leashes and other dog show apparatus and wheeled them toward the elevator. "It’s time to go home," she said.

See Rassa at home on the farm outside of Seattle, Wash., and experience her entire trip to Westminster.

Check back for our ongoing coverage of the furry underbelly of Westminster Dog Show.

Send us your questions about the dog show by clicking the comments link below. Is there a breed you like or a part of the show you don't understand? Let us know.

Four Icelandic Sheepdogs were expected to compete at Westminster today, the first time ever for the breed. But one got sick and another Kol, who we first met last week on Vashon Island, Wash., ran into trouble with the airline. So it came down to only two, and one of them was Rassa, Kols housemate. Rassas owner, Donna McDermott, watched from the stands while her handler and good friend Tammie Wilcox handled Rassa in the ring.  Watch the viceo below to see what happened and be sure to check back for our ongoing coverage of the furry underbelly of Westminster Dog Show.

While walking through the backstage area at Westminster, called the benching area, I came across a Poodle whose hair was tied in little bundles on his head. His name was Grand Champion Deseret Turquoise Elijah, or Elijah for short.

His handler, Julie Pantages from Gloucester, Mass., told me that it, keeps it out of his face and eyes, and it keeps it out of his feed bowl. I asked Pantages why poodles hair was groomed so differently than the other dogs in the dog show. 

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Handler and groomer Julie Pantages from Gloucester, Mass., holds Grand Champion Deseret Turquoise Elijah at The Westminster Dog Show on Monday, Feb. 14.

"Poodle actually comes from the German word, pudlen, which means puddle. They were originally used as water dogs," Pantages explained. "They were bred in Germany before the French ever bred them. They were used as a water retriever just as a Golden or a Labrador Retriever would be used; they retrieved ducks from the water for the hunters. But they would get bogged down with all their hair while trying to swim in the water. So their legs were shaved to free them up in the water so they could swim more freely. But they would leave hair on their joints to protect their joints from the icy water so they wouldnt get arthritic too young." 

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

Pantages says the grooming of Poodles today goes back hundreds of years to when they retrieved birds for hunters in icy waters in Germany.

The hair left on the joints of the hind legs are called bracelets, and the hair on the fore legs are called puffs. The poodles also have balls of hair on their hip bones called pompoms or rosettes. The hair left on the poodles tail was essentially used as a flag so the hunter could see the dog as it swam through the water. The main body of the poodle is covered with a layer of hair called the jacket, and its purpose is to protect the dogs organs from the cold water. 

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

The hair on a poodle's front legs are called puffs, and it was originally used to keep the dog's joints warm while swimming in cold water even though much of the dog had been shaved to reduce drag in the water.

"The Germans actually bred them as party colors, which means they were multiple colors, they were black and white and browns," Pantages said. "It was the French who took them and made them solid colors, and thats how they got the reputation of being a French Poodle, when in actuality theyre a German Poodle.

"They fetch, they go swimming, and they're rough and tumble. They're not froofy at all. They're Dobermans with hair. They're real dogs."

Pantages told me this was Elijahs last show, that he's retiring at only two years old. I wondered if he's looking forward to the normal haircut hed be getting in only a few days.

Check back for our ongoing coverage of the furry underbelly of Westminster Dog Show.

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

Handler and groomer Julie Pantages from Gloucester, Mass., gets a kiss from Grand Champion Deseret Turquoise Elijah at The Westminster Dog Show on Monday, Feb. 14.

Handlers and dogs wait on the distinctive green carpet for their turn to show at the famous Westminster Dog Show.

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Pharoah Hounds wait their turn to compete Westminster Dog Show, Monday, Feb. 14.

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

A Puli and a pair paisley stockings make their way through the crowd at the Westminster Dog Show, Monday, Feb. 14.

From blow dryers to hair dryers to silk wraps once the 'do is done, styling show dogs is serious work at the dog show going at Madison Square Garden Monday and Tuesday.

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

After a thorough blow drying, Penny, an Affenpinscher from Warrenton, Va., stands by to be brushed at the Westminster Dog Show, Monday, Feb. 14. Penny will have brick pigment added to her fur to emphasize her color.

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

My Ways Pied Piper, a five-year-old Afghan from Pennsylvania, accepts a treat from her owner, Mary Anne Ciordano of Pennsylvania. "She's very smart," Ciordano says of her dog, "She does agility and obedience in addition to showing, and that takes a lot of brains."
e Westminster Dog Show.

On Friday, we introduced you to Donna McDermott and her partner Terry Warnock who were headed from rural Washington state to New York City to show in Westminster for the first time. But they ran into problems with their travel plans. In the hours before her first appearance at the big show, McDermott describes what happened and her first reactions to hitting the big time with her Icelandic sheepdog Rassa.

 See more of our ongoing coverage the furry underbelly of the Westminster Dog Show.

Dog owners and handlers are busy making furry pieces of art out of their pooches, at the Westminster Dog show taking place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Some owners claim that even a single stray hair can upset the look. They are prepping for the ring where dogs are judged from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday and Tuesday.

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

Tummy, a Bichons Frises, get a final trim at the Westminster Dog Show on Monday, Feb. 14.

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

Rod Connors, left, and Delana Severs put the finishing touches on Micah, a Standard Poodle from Niantic, Conn.

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

The back of a Bearded Collie becomes art during grooming.

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

A Poodle's back takes shape.

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

Two-year-old Brigo-Doon, a Long Coat Chihuahua, weighed only 0.9oz at birth. His owner, Ken Stowell, fed her with a small plastic tube for the first two weeks.

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

"Isn't he gorgeouse?" Dwight Eubanks of Atlanta, Georgia, asks about Coal, his Chinese Crested. "When he shows, he looks just like a pony."

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

A handler shows a Borzois in the ring at the Westminster Dog Show, Monday, Feb. 14.

Westminster Dog Show judge Doug Johnson explains how judges evaluate dogs against the American Kennel Club standards. Johnson, from Bloomington, Ind., has bred two best-in-show winners, in 1996 and 2009. Heathers a Little Night Music, a bloodhound, poses for Johnson's explanation. Click below to play the video.