Some traditions hold. The writers’ strike may take the luster off the Golden Globes and quell Oscar fever. Game shows and reality nonsense may inherit the network schedules. But nothing can stop the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show (7 p.m., USA), now in its 132nd year. As sure as February follows January and Conan follows Leno, the Westminster show arrives midway between Super Bowl overkill and the faint stirrings of baseball’s spring training.

After the Kentucky Derby, Westminster is America’s second-oldest sporting tradition. The first show was held in 1877, when Rutherford B. Hayes was president, back when the telephone had just been invented and before electric light and power had come to be.

Over the next two nights, thousands of dogs representing 169 breeds divided into seven categories will parade around an oval in New York’s Madison Square Garden. Call me old-fashioned, but the sight of a dog on a leash tugging on a matronly woman dressed in dowdy clothes and sensible shoes is strangely reassuring.

At a time when the network TV schedule has gone to seed, when a once great (or at least competitive) network like NBC dedicates its entire Monday night to a dimwitted spectacle and a skill-free game show, you have to grab reassurance where you can find it. And who or what is more reassuring than a stadium filled with would-be canine champions? May the best pug win.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ Not everyone benefits from Michael’s big break on “Prison Break” (7 p.m., Fox).

¢ For those who still care, “Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann” (7 p.m., ABC) continues.

¢ Adam returns on “Kyle XY” (7 p.m., Family).

¢ A chess match becomes more than a game on “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (8 p.m., Fox).

¢ Paul is not certain that therapy is helping Laura on “In Treatment” (8:30 p.m., HBO).

¢ Horatio’s son goes missing on “CSI: Miami” (9 p.m., CBS).