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Uno the Beagle had what it takes at Westminster

Denise Flaim | Animal House

February 21, 2008

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Like Eve, I am always sad to leave the Garden.

My garden, of course, is less idyllic than hers, and far more temporal, lasting as it does for only two typically frigid days in February.

Among dog shows, Westminster is in a class by itself. This has nothing to do with its celebrity status: Plenty of dog shows get airtime on cable television, but the show at Madison Square Garden has a certain energy that is different from any other.

Perhaps it is the show's insistence on hewing to tradition, starting with the cramped venue, which it has long outgrown. Oh, to stretch out in the wide aisles that a Javits Center would offer!

Denise Flaim Bio | E-mail | Recent columns

Perhaps it is Westminster's air of formality. "You'd never expect this of Americans," said a British photographer sitting next to me at the press tables before judging began one night last week, nodding in the direction of the judges in tuxedos and evening dresses, and the trophy table gleaming with polished sterling.

Whatever it is, there is something about Westminster, and by the second day, it has enveloped the place like an invisible fog. As spectators hop like fleas from seat to seat, migrating as the breeds they want to see arrive in different rings, they catch the whispers about surprise upsets and hushed prognostications about who will take all. Like the mysterious intelligence that guides the islanders on "Lost," Westminster has a will of its own, and it is often useless to resist.

At the press table, I popped open my laptop and contemplated the story I would have to e-mail to this paper by 11:10 that night. The Best in Show judge would point his finger at the winner by 10:55 p.m. - giving me only 15 minutes to spare. With such tight turning room, I usually prepare three stories - my personal version of "Dewey wins!" - choosing the three dogs I think have the best odds.

First, the obvious: Vikki is victorious. The Japanese-born white toy poodle was the nation's top dog in 2007, shattering records and traveling with her own photographer to document them. But while poodles are the second-winningest group at Westminster - fox terriers take the top spot - nobody at home likes a foo-foo dog to win.

The Australian shepherd, the Akita, the Weimaraner and the beagle - all were long shots. Too long. None of those breeds has ever won at this show. Springer spaniels, any of the terriers, even a German shepherd or an Afghan hound - maybe. But in a show so steeped in tradition, such "nontraditional" breeds simply do not win.

Logically, I suppose I should have gone with Charmin the Sealyham terrier - he already won the AKC Invitational, often the precursor to a Westminster triumph. Or maybe Remy the standard poodle. But the invisible hand of the Garden - and the buzz I had been hearing all day - sent my fingers to typing about the beagle. (Not that I am a huge fan of the breed: They are too vocal and too stubborn, and need the kind of tolerant, patient owner that I am definitely not.)

Just to be safe, I wrote a third version, with "XXXX" in the place of the dog who defied the safe-bet toy poodle and the wild-card beagle.

As I knew it would, the Garden went wild for Uno. "Go Beagle man!" boomed one persistent fan.

For anyone who doesn't understand how Best in Show is decided, you need only to have seen Uno's performance. At that final level, the seven dogs in contention are always good representations of their breed. The deciding factor is that intangible quality called presence. And last Tuesday, no other dog but Uno existed in that big ring. The other six might as well have been wallpaper.

Uno is one of those rare dogs who has it all: He is a near-perfect example of the standard, prompting every judge I have spoken to in the past week to say he is simply the best beagle they have ever seen. He is dead sound, moving effortlessly, as if he could run all day. He has an unshakable temperament, unfazed by the thunderous applause around him.

Most important, he has the "it" factor. Another name for it is quality - difficult to define, but you know it when you see it.

And Uno radiated it, even to the spectators in the nosebleed seats, who screamed in recognition.

It was a history-making win - the first time a beagle has reached those heights at the Garden. I happily trashed my Vikki and nameless "XXX" versions, then elbowed my way through the knot of photographers to get a quote about the tricolor hound sitting triumphant in the big silver bowl.