Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show 2012
The crowd at Madison Square Garden grew louder with every tiny step Malachy took, and he sure took a lot of them just to get halfway around the dog show ring. No other dog moved like that. Malachy chilled out after his win, resting his silver and white coat on a cool pack.
Vancouver Island dog has been named Best of Breed at the prestigious 136th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City. Judges at Madison Square Garden awarded Best of Breed to Mistytrails Double Stuf'd Oreo, or Reo for short, a nearly six-year-old Havanese toy dog from Cobble Hill, owned by Bev Dorma and her 15-year-old daughter Emily.
Other group winners include the German shepherd Captain Crunch in the Herding group; Cinders, a Wire-Haired Dachshund, in the Hound group; and Spotlights Ruffian, a lovely Dalmatian, in Non-Sporting. For those who like rooting underdogs, no Dachshund or Dalmatian has ever been named best in Show at Westminster.
The history of the show is that some breeds and groups are highly favored over others, measured by their winning percentages. Terriers may not often be considered tall dogs, but they tower over the competition with some 45 victories over the years. Judging by the show's long history, it looks as if dogs from the non-sporting group (with a 10-win track record) and the hound group (with just 4 wins) have low odds. But the more recent history is more mixed.
In the past 20 years, fully half the shows have been won by breeds notching their first title. At the same time, historic patterns at the group level have largely held sway, with terriers and sporting dogs like the English Setter accounting for 13 titles in the past two decades.
The non-sporting, hound, and working groups have each won just two titles during that period. The toy group has one title during that time, and the herding group zero.
Another factor, even with no bias or flaws in the judging, is simple math. Dozens of breeds have never won, and the show gradually expands the number of breeds participating. Only one dog can win each year. Inevitably it will sometimes be a dog from a breed that has won before.