Monday, February 4, 2008.
I remember that night, because I was watching CNN, probably Larry King Live. Across the bottom of the screen was the news crawler, and it revealed that a beagle had just won the Hound group at Westminster, and if he won Best if Show the next night, it would be the first time ever for a beagle.
I was delighted and stunned. As the owner of a beagle -- my one and only purebred pet -- Best in Show at Westminster would be something to see. In fact, I was kicking myself for having forgotten to watch Westminster that night. I was also stunned, because since when does the national news report on a group winner at Westminster? Best in Show, yes, but the under classes never get any attention. Obviously, it was an incredibly slow news day for CNN to have bothered. It left the titillation of something magical brewing.
Despite my intention to watch Westminster the following evening, when it would climax in Best in Show, I forgot. But I heard about it plenty the following morning when the various news shows aired footage of Uno baying repeatedly -- to the delight of the crowd -- and being named Best in Show. Unfortunately, I can't find any footage where one can hear him baying, but there is visual ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8PH8xp-cTw), and what one can hear is the tremendous enthusiasm of the crowd, unlike anything Westminster had heard before. (One official said, "I thought they were going to come out of their seats to the floor.")
As a beagle owner, that was a fun time. While being a top dog means being able to reproduce, it turned out that Uno was sterile. His owner called it, "A blessing in disguise, because I just wanted him as a pet." A distant relative, known as Miss P., became the second beagle to win Best in Show at Westminster just seven years later.
As time goes on, there will be other "first time ever" Best in Show winners for various breeds. But I wonder if any will be honored with a national screen crawl when they merely win their group. Uno was one of a kind.
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