What the Westminster Dog Show Winner Can Teach Us

The USA Network recently televised the 133rd Annual Westminster Dog Show. A beautiful brown Sussex Spaniel named Stump won best in show beating out many of his younger rambunctious rivals. Although the economy kept many contestants out of the dog show competition, there were many delighted dog lovers watching from the wings who were pleased when the 10-year-old Sussex Spaniel Stump won overall Best in Show. What makes Stump's win so unusual is that he is the oldest dog in the history of Westminster to win. He is ten years old which is approximately 70 in dog-years and came back from a five-year hiatus from the dog show circuit due to a serious canine illness.

It was easy to see why Stump was favored by the judges. Stump always kept his cool and never stopped wagging his tail. When they announced him as winner, he calmly sat down next to his handlers and judges, actually giving a toothy grin and then sitting up graciously to accept his award. The full video of the finalists 21-minute competition can be found at www.westminsterkennelclub.org

Stump, whose real name Champion Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee, stole the hearts of many with his long floppy ears and rolling gait, but it was his happy tail wagging through the pressure that got the attention of the audience. He always kept his composure despite one of the other contestants actually peeing on the carpet immediately before his grand entrance for the walk-around. Another small dog was scratching his ear just before the winner's announcement, but Stump stood posed and composed. Dogs are always unpredictable no matter how well trained, but it is always the unexpected this that makes for great entertainment when we watch them perform before the crowds of adoring dog lovers.

Although show dogs always have fancy registered names, this year's finalists had some unusually unique ones. There was the giant black pom-pom poodle whose name contained "tristar affirmation," and the giant black schnauzer who sported "Galilee's pure of spirit." The black dread-lock looking Puli was named "cordmaker field of dreams." Stump's age, unassuming name and brown coat only made his underdog status more apparent.

Several years ago my family adopted a retired champion Springer Spaniel named Manie, whose real name was Manifold the Marigold Fancy Dancer or something like that. Although most American Kennel Club and Westminster Kennel Club dogs come with aristocratic pedigrees and certificates of registration and for obvious reasons they are not neutered or spayed like most house pets, you cannot buy the love and affection and years of training and overcoming life's obsticles with a cheerful spirit that Stump the Sussex Spaniel displayed in the ring that night. He certainly deserved to win Best in Show because of who he was, not what he was.

Stump's owners say that because of his age, Stump will be taking it easy after returning home to his bed in Texas rather than travel all over the country making public appearances like "Uno" the Beagle did. We can all learn a lesson from Stump's stamina at the show, however, you can teach an old dog new tricks and you can't keep a good guy down.