Tag: Best in Show

Mop Wins Best in Show at Westminster Dog Show

Wait, what? That’s a dog, not a mop? Mmmkay. Congrats, I guess, to Wasabi, a Pekinese who won the top honor last night as Best in Show at the 145th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

Like my blog title says, I love dogs, and that includes Pekes. Yet I feel the winner of a dog show should be something that actually looks like a dog, not a cleaning accessory. My feelings haven’t changed since 2012, when I wrote an i Love Dogs story about Malachy, another Pekinese/mop lookalike who somehow won the Best in Show honor that year. (That story has sadly disappeared from the internet.)

Malachy happens to be Wasabi’s grandfather. They both have the same breeder, David Fitzpatrick. Wasabi “is just a wonderful dog and he’s made correctly. He has showmanship,” Fitzpatrick told CNN. “He fits the breed standard. He has that little extra something, that little sparkle that sets a dog apart.”

Fitzgerald’s remark about Wasabi being “made correctly” is exactly what irks me about breeding dogs to achieve certain appearance standards. This practice has lead to serious health issues, especially for short-nosed breeds like Bulldogs, Pugs and, yep, Pekes.

“What’s not to like about this dog?” asked Best in Show judge Patricia Craige Trotter regarding her dubious choice. “He stood there as though he was a lion.” I can’t quite figure out how she was able to discern this, and on behalf of all lions, my apologies.

At least Trotter’s pick for the runner-up, a Whippet named Bourbon, could easily be identified as a dog.

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is usually held in February at Madison Square Garden, but because of the COVID pandemic, it was postponed to June this year and held in Tarrytown, N.Y.

I admit I do watch the show each year because…dogs! But my favorite canine competition is the American Rescue Dog Show, which debuted in 2018. It celebrates all dogs, not just those bred to meet a certain appearance standard. This year’s show was canceled due to the pandemic, but hopefully it will return in 2022.

Photo: FOX Sports/YouTube

Arftung! German Shorthaired Pointer Wins Westminster Best in Show Title

Congratulations to CJ, this year’s recipient of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show’s Best in Show title. CJ is the third German Shorthaired Pointer (GSP) to win the title in the show’s 140-year history.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” his happy handler, Valerie Nunes-Atkinson, told the New York Times. “For us in the sport, this is the pinnacle. This is what we strive for, what we shed tears over. The best dogs come here. This is the show to win.”

Nunes-Atkinson acknowledged that CJ wasn’t considered a front-runner for the title. She said that while you couldn’t go wrong with any of the other group winners, “I believe in my dog 100 percent.”

One of the crowd favorites was Annabelle, an almost 4-year-old Bulldog who won the Non-sporting Group.

“I couldn’t take my eyes off her,” her handler, Jean Hetherington, told the New York Times last night, referring to the first time she saw Annabelle years ago, when she judged the Bulldog at another dog show.

The crowd also roared for Rumor, a 4-year-old German Shepherd who won the Herding Group. When asked by USA TODAY what she liked best about Rumor, co-owner Pamela Buckles replied, “Her heart. The love and affection she shows me. I just think she’s beautiful.”

Other group winners were Lucy, a Borzoi (Hound), who was named the reserve (runner-up) winner; Panda, a Shih Tzu (Toy); Bogey, a Samoyed (Working); and Charlie, a Skye Terrier (Terrier).

As for CJ, he’ll be appearing on “Good Morning America” Wednesday, then visiting the Empire State Building, and then having lunch at Sardi’s.

“He was born an old soul,” his owner, Valerie Atkinson, told reporters after the show. “He’s never done anything wrong.”

By the way, if you were wondering why 10-year-old Uno the Beagle, who took the 2008 Best in Show title and is one of the most popular winners ever, did not appear on last night’s telecast as advertised, he was barred from the event by Westminster officials because he hadn’t been registered to attend. Uno, who’d been driven from his home in Texas to attend the show, “was requested to leave the premises,” Westminster spokeswoman Gail Miller Bisher told the Times. The Associated Press compared this diss to Derek Jeter being tossed out of Yankee Stadium. Boo!

If CJ has you thinking about getting a GSP, please consider adopting one — there are plenty of what the American Kennel Club describes as “friendly, smart and willing to please” dogs available in shelters and through rescue organizations such as National German Shorthaired Pointer Rescue and New Beginnings German Shorthaired Pointer Rescue.

Photo via Twitter

Meet the Beagle: ‘Miss P’ Wins Westminster Best in Show Title

If you ask me, this year’s recipient of the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show’s Best in Show title is the cutest winner since Uno, who in 2008 was the first Beagle to ever take the title.

Maybe that’s because 4-year-old Tashtins Lookin for Trouble — aka Peyton — aka Miss P — just happens to be Uno’s grandniece.

Miss P was much more subdued than her vocal great uncle, who had barked and howled at judges seven years ago. Yet Miss P’s handler, Will Alexander, seemed to be exhausted at a news conference after the show, the New York Times reports.

“She’s hungry and I’m overwhelmed,” Alexander told reporters. “She just never let me down. She didn’t make any mistakes,”

Best in Show judge David Merriam appeared to be having a good time with his duties. According to the New York Times, Merriam said he chose Miss P because she “had wonderful type” and a “wonderful head,” and, as she trotted around the show ring at Madison Square Garden, he could imagine “the Beagle in the ring and the Beagle in the field.”

The win was considered a huge upset since Matisse, a Portuguese Water Dog who’s a cousin of the Obama family’s Sunny, was expected by many to take the title. Swagger, an Old English Sheepdog, got the biggest cheers and seemed to be the crowd favorite.

The competitor who got the most media attention was Toy Group winner Rocket, who is co-owned by former headline-maker Patricia Hearst-Shaw.

Miss P was born in Canada and lives in both Milton and Enderby, British Columbia. She has won 19 previous best in dog show titles in the U.S., but this will be her final one. She’s retiring to motherhood.

Uno, who lives in Austin, Texas, and is now almost 10, has never met his grandniece. His dog mom, Caroline Dowell, told the Associated Press that Uno has his own television set, “so I assume he was watching.” Uno is still in great shape, she added. “You can put him in the ring and he’d win tonight.”

To celebrate her victory, Miss P is spending Wednesday appearing on TV shows, having lunch at Manhattan’s famous Sardi’s restaurant and making a cameo appearance tonight in the Broadway musical “Kinky Boots.”

If Miss P has you thinking about getting a Beagle, please consider adopting one — there are plenty of what the American Kennel Club describes as “curious, friendly and merry” dogs available in shelters and through rescue organizations. The Beagle Dog Rescue Shelter Directory lists rescues across the country.

Photos via Facebook

Exit mobile version