Beagle Is Top Hound at Westminster Dog Show
By RICHARD SANDOMIR
Of the many breeds that have never won best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show is the beagle. Through 131 previous editions, no beagle has celebrated what terriers have more than 40 times.
Have all of Snoopy’s efforts at beagle hegemony gone for naught?
On Monday, at Madison Square Garden, a nearly 3-year-old, 15-inch-tall beagle named Uno took one small step toward the coveted title for his breed by winning the hound group, the first beagle to do so since 1939.
Eddie Dziuk, one Uno’s owners, could not explain why a beagle, whether 13 or 15 inches high, has never reached the summit. “Others this special,†he said, looking at Uno after his victory, “are few and far between.â€
Uno, or Ch. K-Run’s Park Me In First, was the sixth-ranked dog in the country last year, according to Dog News, after a toy poodle, an Akita, a standard poodle, a Sealyham terrier and an English springer spaniel.
On Monday night, he defeated 25 other dogs, including a long-haired dachshund, a harrier and a whippet.
“He was his usual self,†said Aaron Wilkerson, his handler, as Uno relaxed contentedly in his arms. “Perfect, as always.â€
At some point when he shows, Uno bays, for no reason other than to say his piece. It was more of a croon than a bark that he emitted from the green carpeted floor of the Garden. And he did it several times.
“He bayed at the judge,†Wilkerson said. “He does it on his own. He’s saying to the judge, ‘Look at me.’ So he just plants his feet and bays away.â€
The judge, Ralph Lemcke, said he had no memory of being bayed at. But he said he will remember Uno, whom he had never seen before.
“This is one of the best hounds I’ve ever seen,†he said. He, too, had no explanation for Westminster’s best-in-show beagle shutout.
A Sealyham terrier has won it all at Westminster four times, the last time in 1977. Charmin, or Ch. Efbe’s Hidalgo At Goodspice, with a beard, mustache and a fall of tousled hair between his eyes (a coiffure adapted for tussling in the dark with badgers), defeated 27 terrier colleagues to reach Tuesday’s finals.
“Charmin is so close to the standard of Sealyhams,†said Margery Good, his nearly breathless handler and co-owner. “He has strength without coarseness. He’s forward-moving and he’s consistent. He’s just so elegant.â€
She added, “Everything I asked her to do, she did — in spades.â€
Charmin is dubbed after the toilet paper, unusual even in the wacky world of doggie nicknaming. “The first co-owner had coarse-coated dogs, and she said he was so fluffy and squeezably, wonderfully soft,†Good said. “When she passed away, I didn’t have the heart to change it.â€
Remy, the standard poodle officially named Ch. Brighton Minimoto, won the nonsporting group, as expected, given that she was the third-ranked dog in the country. A standard poodle last won in 1991.
She glided around carpet, her mouth agape, and if you wanted to believe she was expressing her joy at impending victory, so be it.
“Her grandfather always had a smile,†said Chris Manelopoulos, her handler who grew up among toy poodles in Melbourne, Australia, and now lives in Greensboro, N.C.
Remy, as in Remy Martin, wears a cream-colored coat that is clipped into canine topiary. She won her breed competition Monday morning after four hours of primping.
Remy’s face, throat and long muzzle are shaved but she has a well-sprayed Rick Springfield-like helmet of fluffy hair and thick, feathered ears. Soft fur covers her chest and back, but elegant clipping yields a half-pompon on either side of her shaved hips. Her tail is a cotton candy pompon.
Thick bracelets (more pompons) of carved fluff expand like small tennis balls from the lower portions of her legs, which are otherwise shaved.
Her stylized, Victorian appearance to the contrary, Manelopoulos said, “She’s a real tomboy. She’s not a prissy dog.â€
If a Las Vegas oddsmaker is correct, she could win it all.
In his second year of Westminster odds making, Johnny Avello, director of race and sports operations at the Wynn Las Vegas, sets odds on breeds’ chances of winning, not on particular dogs. He gave the standard poodle the best odds at 25-1. The toy poodle came in at 28-1, the German shepherd at 30-1, the Welsh corgi at 35-1, and the Sealyham at 40-1. Do not look for a pooch betting window; Avello’s odds are just for fun.
Deuce, a rambunctious Australian shepherd, won the herding group, an upset over the German shepherd ranked seventh in the country. The 4-year-old winner, Ch. Vinelake Collinswood Yablon, returned to work last month after a year’s sabbatical to give birth to a litter of nine. “It’s a dream come true,†Collins said. “She never ceases to amaze me.â€
Source
