If you couldn’t catch the TV action last night at Madison Square Garden, the first night of the prestigious Westminster Dog Show honored four winners from the Hound, Terrier, Non-Sporting and Herding groups. These four magnificent dogs will join tonight’s winners in competing for Best in Show. The winning dogs were:
The Hound Group: First place went to a handsome but rambunctious Beagle (call-name = Uno) who bayed frequently at the audience, his handler and the judge! Sounding that unique hound bay is exactly what Beagles do best! No Beagle has ever won Best in Show at Westminster, but tonight it’s likely that his wonderful conformation and cheerful personality will be hard to beat. A gorgeous long-haired Dachshund took second place, another rarity at Westminster since Dachsies are often overshadowed by their larger fellow hounds.
The Terrier Group: First place went to an exquisite pearly-white Sealyham Terrier, a fiesty little dog with tons of crowd-pleasing personality. He easily caught the eye of the judge with his “Look at me!” charm. Second place went to a coal-black, briskly-moving Scottish Terrier full of “little dog” attitude. Must have been a tough call for the judge, but the Sealyham’s “I’m all that!” confidence won the night for him.
The Non-Sporting Group: First place went to a perfect standard-size Poodle. Judges are not really impressed by the traditional “French cut” uber-grooming Poodles undergo for the show ring. Minus the fancy hair-do, it was easy to see that this splended dog is very intelligent, well-trained, and conforms wonderfully to breed standards. Second place went to the Bichon Frise, a winning-dog so popular at Westminster that they are disliked and dismissed by owners/handlers of more rugged dogs; they refer to the Non-Sporting Group as the Silly Dog Group. However, the excellence of this Poodle’s commanding presence will cause the judge to take him very seriously!
The Herding Group: To watchers, it may have seemed that this was the toughest call of the evening. This group consisted of some truly superior herders; you could almost see the judge scratching his head in doubt! An upset occured when first place went to a gold and white piebald Australian Sheep Dog that turned heads throughout Madison Square Garden. The Aussie beat out a handsome German Shepherd, Bearded Collie, and two AKC newcomers, the Beuceron and the Swedish Vallund. Still more surprising, second place went to the Bouvier des Flanders while the German Shepherd took third place. The winning “Wonder from Down Under” won’t have a problem showing his stuff in the Best in Show competition!
Tonight brings us the Sporting, Working, and Toy Groups; then it all comes down to the dog crowned Best in Show. See MSNBC Online for a great article on Uno’s endearing Beagle antics in the ring; will he be the first Beagle Westminster Best in Show in more than 100 years?
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