Working Like Dogs

David Frei, the expert analyst on NBC’s National Dog Show broadcast every year on Thanksgiving, stops in to chat with Marcie and Lovey about the 2020 show and the upcoming National Dog Show Therapy Dog Symposium at Rowan University. David has been an advocate for service dogs and therapy dogs for decades. His experiences and heartwarming stories are endless! The New York Times called him “…one of the most famous human beings in the dog universe...”

BIO:

New York Magazine once called David Frei "probably the most famous human in the world of canines.” Millions of television viewers know him as the longtime “Voice of the Westminster Kennel Club” and co-host of USA Network’s annual telecast for the past 27 years (since 1990), and as co-host on NBC of “The National Dog Show Presented By Purina” on Thanksgiving Day since its inception in 2002.

He has made many appearances on “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America,” “The View,” “Fox & Friends,” “Martha Stewart” and more. David’s dog show adventures have taken him to the White House, to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange and for a ride on a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

He now works as a consultant for NBC Sports, continuing his on-air roles for both “The National Dog Show” and soon for “The Beverly Hills Dog Show Presented By Purina,” which debuts on Easter night 2017. A breeder-owner-handler and judge in the world of purebred dogs for more than 40 years, he has enjoyed competitive success with his Afghan Hounds, Brittanys and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and has judged at dog shows all over the world.

David is most proud of the work that his dogs have been doing as therapy dogs at places like the Ronald McDonald House New York, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the VA Medical Center in New York. His second book, Angel On A Leash, about his world of therapy dogs and life in dogs, was the 2012 winner of the Dog Writers Association of America’s Award as best depiction of the human-animal bond.

With Westminster, David created a charity, Angel On A Leash (his book was named after the charity), in 2004, supporting a therapy dog program at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital.  Angel On A Leash later became an independent charity with David as founder and president and expanded across the country.

David’s contributions to the world of dogs have been recognized with awards from Purina (2015 Better With Pets Award), the Dog Writers Association of America, the World Dog Press Association, and the Association of Purebred Dog Writers. Petside.com named him as the Pet Person of the Year in 2011, and in 2015, Dog Fancy Magazine, in its final issue, included him in a retrospective, “45 People Who Changed the Dog World.”

David was also the co-author, with Mike Lingenfelter, of The Angel By My Side, in 2002. His third book, about his years at Westminster, is under way.

In 2004, he appeared in one of the final episodes of HBO’s “Sex And The City,” playing a smitten dog show judge awarding a big win to Charlotte and her Cavalier. Previously, he held public relations positions with the Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers and ABC-TV Sports in New York.

A native of Oregon, he owned two popular sports bars in the Seattle area, as well as his own public relations agency, before moving to New York City in 2002. David and his wife, Cherilyn, with Angel (a Cavalier) and Grace (a Brittany), relocated back to the West Coast in 2016, where Cherilyn, a certified Catholic chaplain, now serves as Director of Mission Integration and Spiritual Care at Providence Hospital in Seaside, Oregon.