A bloodhound named Trumpet won the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Wednesday, the first time the breed has ever snared US dogdom’s most coveted best in show prize.
Rounding the finalists’ ring with a poised and powerful stride, Trumpet beat a French bulldog, a German shepherd, a Maltese, an English setter, a Samoyed and a Lakeland terrier to take the trophy.
“I was shocked,” said handler, cobreeder and co-owner Heather Helmer, who also goes by Heather Buehner.
Photo: Reuters
The competition was stiff, “and sometimes I feel the bloodhound is a bit of an underdog,” Helmer said.
After making dog show history, does Trumpet have a sense of how special he is?
“I think he does,” his Berlin Center, Ohio-based handler said.
After his victory, Trumpet posed patiently for countless photographs, eventually starting to do what bloodhounds do best — sniff around.
He examined some decorative flowers that had been set up for the pictures, not appearing to find anything of note.
Winston, a French bulldog co-owned by National Football League defensive lineman Morgan Fox, took second in the nation’s most prestigious dog show.
“I’m just so proud of him and the whole team,” Fox said by text afterward.
Fox, who was just signed by the Los Angeles Chargers, and has played for the Los Angeles Rams and the Carolina Panthers, got Winston from his grandmother Sandy Fox.
She has bred and shown Frenchies for years.
Morgan Fox grew up with one and said that as he watched Winston mature, he knew the dog was a winner in appearance and character.
He went into Westminster as the top-ranked dog in the country.
“He’s a joy to be around,” Morgan Fox said by telephone before Winston’s award. “He always walks around with as much of a smile on his face as a dog can have.”
The seven finalists also included Striker, a Samoyed that also made the finals last year; River, a big-winning German shepherd; MM the Lakeland terrier; Belle the English setter, and a Maltese that clearly was aiming for stardom: Her name is Hollywood.
After topping the canine rankings last year, Striker has lately been hitting a few dog shows “to keep his head in the game,” handler Laura King said.
What makes the snow-white Samoyed shine in competition?
“His heart,” said King, of Milan, Illinois.
“His charisma shows when he’s showing,” and he vocally complains when he’s not, she said.
While he was quiet in the ring, an Alaskan Malamute provided a yowling soundtrack for a semi-final round featuring the Samoyed and other breeds classified as working dogs.
The competition drew more than 3,000 purebred dogs, ranging from affenpinschers to Yorkshire terriers. The goal is to crown the dog that most represents the ideal for its breed.
FEELING THREATENED: The first military commission under Kim Jong-un’s leadership to last longer than a day is a sign of a growing escalatory doctrine, an analyst said North Korea discussed assigning additional duties to its frontline army units at a key military meeting, state media said yesterday, suggesting that the country might deploy battlefield nuclear weapons targeting South Korea along the rivals’ tense border. The discussion comes as South Korean officials said North Korea has finished preparations for its first nuclear test in five years, as part of possible efforts to build a warhead to be mounted on short-range weapons capable of hitting targets in South Korea. During an ongoing meeting of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party on Wednesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and
TRADE TALK: Xiao Qian said that Australia had fired the ‘first shot’ in deteriorating trade relations with China, but improvements were possible if Canberra takes action China’s new ambassador to Australia chided protesters who heckled him yesterday during a speech about the future of relations between the two countries. Xiao Qian (肖千), who has only been in the role since January, had just begun his speech at the University of Technology Sydney when the first protesters interjected, calling for freedom for Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. The ambassador was repeatedly interrupted by sign-wielding protesters, some criticizing China’s treatment of the Uighur people as well as the university for inviting Xiao to speak. “People who are coming again and again to interrupt the process, that’s not expression of freedom of
China’s COVID-19 outbreak is shifting to its south coast, with a flareup in Shenzhen triggering mass testing and a lockdown of some neighborhoods, while Macau — an hour’s drive away — is racing to stop its first outbreak in eight months. The new cases come as China’s two most important cities, Beijing and Shanghai, look to be subduing the virus after months of strict curbs and repeated testing. Shanghai yesterday reported nine local cases, while Beijing reported five. Nationwide, China yesterday reported 34 new COVID-19 infections. Yet new clusters continue to emerge, prompting action from local officials. Borders are increasingly under pressure, with
New Zealand stargazers were left puzzled and awed by strange, spiraling light formations in the night sky on Sunday night. At about 7:25pm, Alasdair Burns, a stargazing guide on Stewart Island, also called Rakiura, received a text from a friend saying to go outside and look at the sky. He went out and saw a huge, blue spiral of light amid the darkness. “It looked like an enormous spiral galaxy, just hanging there in the sky,” Burns said. “Quite an eerie feeling.” “We quickly banged on the doors of all our neighbors to get them out as well. And so there were
RSS