Westminster Dog Show

Westminster Dog Show Starts Today! - Read Below

Today is the Start of the Westminster Dog Show at New York City, America’s number 1 dog show. People are wondering if a beagle will finally win today, although the contest has been held 100 times before a beagle has never won it.

Uno is becoming this year’s sensation and the favorite of the show:

Since 1915, beagles have been the only breed consistently ranked in the Top 10 among the American Kennel Club’s list of the most popular dogs. So why is the breed so admired by the general dog-loving public? “Because of good ol’ Snoopy,” says Uno’s handler Aaron Wilkerson. “You think of a beagle and you think of Snoopy, and how can you pass that up?”

The cuteness factor will also endear Uno to fans in an arena which has been home to a whole lot of ugly (see New York Knicks). “Uno has that soft, pleading look and when you see him you have to say. ‘Awww,’ because he’s so pretty,” says Wilkerson who lives with Uno in Columbia, S.C. “He’s just a great dog. He’s a fun, happy dog who makes you smile all the time.” […]

Like any great champion, Uno has an ego. “He loves having his picture taken, he eats it up,” says Wilkerson. The more applause he receives in the ring, the more he woofs it up. “He loves to sit and bay at you and bark to let you know if you’re not paying attention to me, you need to be,” Wilkerson says. “He bays in the ring and has a good ol’ time and carries on.”

Terriers have Best in Show at Westminster 44 times, while Hounds have won only three times. So what are the chances of a humble hound finishing No. 1? “As good as any,” says Weichert. The Best in Show judge, J. Donald Jones, a former dean at Emory University, has awarded Uno top honor in another show and has named him No. 1 the group.

However, Uno faces formidable competition, including the nation’s No. 1 dog, a toy poodle named Vikki who was born in Japan and has a trash-talking (woofing?) music video of her own on YouTube, set to a U2 song. “More than 130,000 dogs defeated,” it declares at one point.

1 of Uno’s co-owners says seeing “an average dog” win “would send a signal that everyone can do it.” And Westminster TV host David Frei says a beagle best in show “would bring down the house.”

These year has approximately 2500 contestants wanting to win the prize.

If you don’t want to miss out the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, you can see it on CNBC the first night and on USA Network the second night.

Nes From: http://toppayingideas.com/blog/2008/02/11/westminster-dog-show-starts-today/