Just a dog? Well, this one is the reigning queen of the canine world as she just walked off with Best in Show, the top prize at the 2020 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Her highly stylized coat - which her handler says takes six hours of grooming - has been compared to a topiary, but at three years old this Standard Poodle reigns supreme!
************************
Those who watched the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show earlier this week, saw the cream of the crop in the canine world. Who would win the top prize – Best in Show?
It begins with breed judging. With more than 200 breeds, each breed is assigned to one of seven groups. The winner for each breed then competes against other breed winners in their group. The seven group winners compete with each other for Best In Show.
Bono, the Havanese, won in the Toy Group, and Wilma, the Boxer, won the Working Group. Both dogs also won their groups last year, so competing for Best in Show was nothing new for them. The Herding Group winner this year was Conrad, a Shetland Sheepdog, and Bourbon, a Whippet, won the Hounds Group.
Vinny won the Terrier Group, but was not much of a crowd favorite, due to something they call “terrier fatigue”. Terriers have won, on average, about two of every five competitions for Best in Show at Westminster, and Vinny’s breed, Wire Fox Terrier, has won fifteen times, more than any other breed.
A clear crowd favorite was Daniel, a glorious Golden Retriever, who against all odds won the Sporting Group. Despite being one of America’s the most popular breeds, a Golden has rarely won its group and never won Westminster’s Best in Show.
Finally, there’s Siba, the beautiful black Standard Poodle, and winner of the Non-Sporting Group. Perfectly groomed and gracefully elegant, Siba walked like a winner on Tuesday night – and that’s just what she was as the judge tuned out Daniel’s cheering section to name Siba as Best in Show. She’s only the fifth Standard Poodle ever to win the top prize at Westminster, and the first in twenty-nine years.
She may be a beautiful show animal but Siba’s handler says at home, she’s just a family dog, sleeping on the couch, or tracking in mud – not so different from your own family pet. So if you have a dog give it a hug today, and know inside is the heart of a champion, when you’re speaking of pets.
__>^..^<__
