Top dog is a Scottish terrier

Probably a favorite here in the mid-Hudson Valley (because of the FDR-Hyde Park connection), Sadie — the Scottish terrier — won the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show last night.

Here's how media covered it.

The Washington Post.

The New York Times (in its Sports section).

The Australian (from Sydney).

Bloomberg News, who said:

Sadie, a champion Scottish terrier, won the Westminster Kennel Club dog show in Manhattan last night after impressing judges with her poise and movement before a cheering crowd.

“A dog of this quality comes along once in a decade,” said Elliott Weiss, the Westminster judge who picked Sadie from seven finalists. “She’s pleasing to the eye from every angle, moving and standing.”

Congratulations to Sadie. Fala would have been proud.

It's all about the dog

A new champion will be crowned tonight at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

The finals will air on the USA Network from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET.

Here are the results from Monday's judging of hound, toy, nonsporting and herding. A Puli won in the herding group. Check this out.

Today the sporting, working and terrier groups will be judged, followed by the best in show.

Here's a USA Today article by Janice Lloyd about the annual show.

She will be tweeting the event, and you can follow her @jlloydusat.

Lloyd wrote that true champions — and not necessarily their breeders or handlers — know how to work a crowd.

That Grace Kelly-type seductiveness is not as easy to teach as sit or stay. In fact, some say it is not teachable.

"A famous handler, George Ward, used to always say about a dog that the more independent and unpredictable it is, the better a show dog it is," says Matthew Stander, co-founder of Dog News, a weekly magazine "I think that that's true. It shows the dog has a mind. You don't want it to look like a robot."

We all remember 2008's Uno, the first beagle to win best in show.

It's all about the cute.

Westminster photos

Here's a photo gallery by the Washington Post on the Westminster dog show that concluded last night.

Be warned, when I first opened the link there was an extremely loud commercial by Cisco that precedes the slideshow. You might want to turn your sound down.

Uno, we hardly knew ye

The Associated Press has reported that Uno, the top dog of the 2008 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, has retired.

That doesn't mean the soon to be 3-year-old beagle will be sitting on his haunches. The White House wants him to visit, Oprah's people called and he's set to be in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

Photo credit: Mary Bloom

No. 1 in Peoria

And elsewhere.

Uno, the soon-to-be 3-year-old beagle who won best in show at the 2008 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, paid a visit to a 13-year-old (in dog years) Peoria woman.

Rosemary Kramm's home health nurse arranged the visit for the senior citizen because she thought the pooch, shown above after winning the title, would cheer her up.

It worked.

"Oh, I can't believe it!" Kramm said repeatedly, as she patted and stroked the dog. "I can die now. I can leave this planet."

Maybe it worked a little too well.

Read the story from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Photo credit: Mary Bloom

Look before you leap, beagle-wise

Take a look at this picture from the 2008 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. (Click it to embiggen for closer inspection.)

With the winner of best in show being a beagle, here come the cautionary — and for good reason — stories about why you should think before rushing out and getting one.

The Boston Globe has an article, as does the Arizona Republic.

From the Globe:

They're nose-to-the-ground howlers. They dig in yards and chew through furniture. And when it comes to cachet at the dog park, well, let's just say you don't usually see them in the trendier precincts. Bred to track rabbits, they're not always the easiest pets.

I've mentioned my neighborhood encounter with the cute as a button, but surprisingly loud, pooch.

When we were living in Manhattan, we used to visit the dog run by the Natural History Museum. There was a woman who came to the run with her beagle. She obviously loved the dog, but freely admitted it wasn't the dog for her or her family.

Forewarned ...

Photo credit: Westminster Kennel Club

More dog show pictures

The Washington Post has a slideshow from the 132nd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

There are a couple of repeats (the Chihuahua is cute, but not that cute) but well worth it.

More pix from Westminster

The New York Times has a photo slideshow from the 132nd annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show that is certainly worth a look.

Poor Ike!

I was going to say 'Numero Uno' but ...

Here's more on the history-making beagle who won the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show last night.

Uno is the first beagle to take the top award.

The stats:

Name: Ch K-Run's Park Me In First
Breed: Beagle, 15 In.
Sex: Dog
AKC: HP 16966001
Date of Birth: May 05, 2005
Breeder: Kathy Weichert & Leah Bertagnolli
Sire: Ch Windkist A Walk In The Park
Dam: Ch Legacy's Lil Secret At K-Run
Owner: Caroline Dowell & Eddie Dziuk & Jon Woodring & Kathy Weichert

The link will also take you more pictures from the show.

And the winner is ...

2,500 dogs and it came down to seven.

It's Uno, the 15-inch beagle, making history tonight at Madison Square Garden.

Westminster group winners

They are the beagle, the sealyham terrier, the poodle, the Australian shepherd, the wiemaraner, the toy poodle and the akita.

The beagle, Australian shepherd, weimaraner and the akita have never won best in show.

Does Macy tell Gimbels?

The working dogs group had some really great looking dogs, but the winner is Macy, the Akita.

Wow, they were something. The Tibetan mastiff was stunning and so were the bull mastiff and the great dane. How the judge made a decision, I'll never know.

Second was the doberman pinshcer, the great dane was third and the bull mastiff was fourth.

Next in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show for 2008 is the best in show.

Kate watching working group at Westminster

Toy poodle's a winner

Ch Smash JP Win A Victory, a 3 year old female toy poodle, was named the best in group for toys in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

The Brussels Griffon was second, the Havanese was third and the pug was fourth.

The poodle was just a bunch of balls of fluff, but pretty.

Next is the working dogs.

The show is being telecast on the USA Network.

It's the grey ghost

Marge, a 4 year old, Weimaraner just won the sporting dogs group at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog show.

I had my money on the Vizsla, but the Marge was close second.

Still to come are the working dogs and toy groups. And then the Best in Show.

The show is being televised on the USA Network (8 p.m. to 11 p.m.)

Who's the best dog? Why you are!

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show wraps up tonight with the best in show competition.

You can watch the proceedings live on the USA Network from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.

For background and complete lists of best in breed winners, check out the Westminster Kennel Club's Web site here.