Lisa Durand already knows her dog Ziva is special, but the wirehaired pointing griffon will be on the world stage next week when she competes at the Westminster dog show in New York City.

“She’s entering as the dark horse at Westminster,” said Durand. “There are a lot of griffons that are much older and they have advertising behind them. She is unknown.”

Lisa and her husband Allan have owned Three Dog Ranch boarding kennel in Whitefish for more than 10 years. They also own Glacier Kennels, where they breed and show griffons.

Heading into competition, Ziva is ranked sixth for her breed based on previous competition as an American Kennel Club registered dog. The top five champions in each breed are automatically invited to Westminster, but other dogs can qualify to compete, as well.

There are more than 3,000 dogs competiting in the annual Westminster Kennel Club All Breed Dog show.

Ziva’s breed ranking rocketed from 26th to sixth when she began competing with her handler in November. It’s a pretty big deal for a dog, that at 2 years old, is relatively young in competition and because griffons are a lesser known breed of sporting dogs, Durand said.

The wirehaired pointing griffon is known as versatile hunting dog with a coarse coat that protects them in brush. They are known as intelligent and friendly dogs.

A friend’s description of the dog is perfect, Durand says, calling them “muppets.”

“They are typically out-going and gregarious,” she said. “They have a cute, little fuzzy face.”

The cost for Durand to attend Westminster is prohibitive, so Ziva’s handler will show her at the competition.

Instead she’ll head to Denver this week, where she’ll get to watch Ziva compete for one day before the dog heads to Westminster. Ziva seems to enjoy competition, which isn’t always the case for every dog, notes Durand. Ziva eagerly runs to the grooming table and plays with toys while out on the road.

“It’s hard because she’s not here [at home],” Durand said. “But I’ve seen how happy she is all the time showing and that makes it better.”

Durand will watch the first rounds of competition that are broadcast over the Internet. The evening finals are televised for breed groups and best in show. The finals at Madison Square Garden are televised on CNBC on Monday, Feb. 16 and USA Network on Tuesday, Feb. 17.

The Durands have been raising griffons since 2002 when Allan got their first dog for hunting. Lisa quickly knew she wanted one of her own.

“We fell in love with her,” Durand said. “We entered her in her first test without any training. She went right on point and caught the bird. We didn’t have any desire to breed. We wanted to have a couple dogs to take out in the field and hunt.”

That first dog, Koko, began their commitment to the breed. They were soon importing another dog, Aron, from Sweden. They have 10 dogs today and every fall Allan still heads out with the dogs to hunt.

That first litter, which included Ziva’s mother, did well in competition. Durand has traveled all over showing her dogs and continues her interest because of her love of griffons.

“Preserving some of these unique qualities in these dogs is fun,” Durand said. “This is an opportunity to educate people on the breed.”