REBECCA BARNETT | The Roanoke Times;Roanoke Kennel Club members cheer during the Westminster Kennel Club dog show at Lucky Dog Pub and Deli in Cloverdale on Tuesday night. Their hero, Peyton, won best of breed and placed third for the second year in a row in the sporting group, which represents 30 breeds of dog.

Alas, Peyton, the hometown favorite to win the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show last night, came up just short of the coveted prize.

The gorgeous spaniel, bred by a couple that lives just outside of Vinton, did take third in the sporting group and, I think it’s safe to say, first in the hearts of the patrons of the Lucky Dog Pub last night.

And my living room, too, where my family was cheering him on.

Click here to read Liana Bayne’s story about the party in Peyton’s honor as he competed last night.

In case you missed it, a German wirehaired pointer named Oakley took the top spot in the sporting group, but he was no match for Banana Joe, an affenpinscher, who was named top dog last night.

Congratulations to Banana Joe, Oakley and the other five finalists for Best in Show and, of course, congratulations to Peyton for a strong finish.

STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS | The Roanoke Times;
Billie (left) and Charlie Kerfoot have bred English springer spaniels for years. One of their dogs, Peyton (not shown), will compete Tuesday at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

As a longtime Indianapolis Colts fan, the title of the blog entry was easy to type. But I am not referring to No. 18, who now plays for the Broncos.

I am sending out a big cheer for Peyton, the Vinton-bred English springer spaniel that won best in breed today at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show and will compete tonight to represent sporting dogs in the Best in Show finale.

This breed has a special place in my heart: the dog I had as a kid was Sparky, an English springer spaniel, was the sweetest I have ever known.

Read reporter Liana Bayne’s story about Peyton (officially Wynmoor Champagne Supernova) by clicking this link and the update about his win today by clicking this link.

You can follow the action tonight on the USA network, or if you are feeling social, you can drop by the Lucky Dog Pub in Botetourt County, where a cluster of Peyton fans will gather to cheer him on.

Good luck, Peyton!

I confess I fell asleep to Olympic figure skating last night and did not see the Best in Show competition at the Westminster Kennel Club’s annual dog show.

Sadie, a Scottish terrier, is the subject of photographers after winning best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)

So I missed Sadie, the Scottish terrier, taking the top honor and I missed the two PETA members that interrupted the show with protest signs.

Sadie, pictured here, was a favorite to win the grand prize, having already claimed 111 Best in Show titles. The Westminster win in New York’s Madison Square Garden completed the dog show triple crown for the black Scotttie. She won best in show at the National Dog Show in November and the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship in December.

Stealing Sadie’s shine were two women, Dana Sylvester and Hope Round, who stepped into the show ring holding signs that said “Mutts Rule” and “Breeders Kill Shelter Dogs’ Chances” between the judging of the brittany, winner of the hunting group, and the Doberman pinscher, winner of the working group.

The women were escorted out within minutes and will be charged with criminal trespass. According the the Associated Press, Sylvester and Round are PETA members, but were acting on their own.

What do you think of the protest? As the pet parent to four rescued pets, two of whom are purebred dogs, I do indeed support shelter adoptions and finding good homes for all pets. I don’t, however, demonize people who enjoy raising and showing purebred dogs.

I also admit I have a negative attitude toward PETA because I have nice family and a pit bull in my home, so I disagree with its rhetoric on banning and/or making pit bulls extinct.

Post a comment and share your thoughts. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civilized and no personal attacks on other commenters.

We took a break from watching the skiing, snowboarding and skating competitions in Vancouver last night to watch a little canine competition in New York City.

Chanel, a two-year-old whippet, wins the hound group at the Westminster Dog Show (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)

On Monday night the hounds took the ring at Madison Square Garden for the Westminster Kennel Club show. At the Chez Nelson Spa and Pampered Pets here in Roanoke, home to two retired racing greyhounds, we were most excited that top three spots were awarded to sighthounds.

A whippet called Chanel will represent the hounds in the Best in Show competition. A brindle greyhound, very similar in appearance and personality to our beautiful Coral, and a Scottish deerhound were runners-up. Coral, by the way, seemed unimpressed by her beauty queen look-a-like, snoozing through the whole competition.

Fourth place went to a petite basset griffon vendeen, a scenthound.

(Sighthounds, including greyhounds, whippets and dachshunds, hunt using their superior peripheral vision; scenthounds, including beagles, bassets and bloodhounds, hunt nose to the ground, using their keen sense of smell.)

Whippets, which looks like a merry, miniature version of their greyhound cousins, are usually a crowd favorite at dog shows. They perhaps steal a few more hearts at Westminster since a prized whippet named Vivi was lost at Kennedy airport after the 2006 show. Vivi escaped from her travel crate, darted into the woods and, despite and extensive search, was never seen again.

Tuesday night Chanel will face a poodle (toy group), a French bulldog (non-sporting group), a puli (herding group) and the winners of tonight’s sporting, working and terrier* groups for the Best in Show title.

*Tonight we will cheer for the American Staffordshire terrier, the closest relative we can guess to our mutt Stormy. The favorite to win the whole show is a Scottish terrier.

I confess to being a Food Network junkie; I have it on all the time, especially while I am cooking. I hardly ever flip over to it’s neighbor on my cable lineup, HGTV.

Apparently the home improvement and decorating network has decided to venture into the reality genre with a show called “Leader of the Pack.”

I have never seen it. Don’t think I want to.

Blog reader Sharon sent me an e-mail yesterday and asked if I had heard of it. I had, actually, from my boss last week, who had pretty much the same reaction Sharon did to this show.

Here’s the premise of it from HGTV’s Web site:

“The Reckseit family believes that their home isn’t complete without a dog, but they can’t agree on what kind to adopt. So they choose eight dogs to bring home, where they will begin a series of challenges to test their skills and compatibility with parents Milena and Peter, along with their children Stuart, Adam and Molly. Seven of these dogs will be adopted by new families, but one will eventually become the beloved best friend and Leader of the Pack to the Reckseits.”

Here’s Sharon’s take on it:

“They started off with eight (dogs) and the one I watched (Sunday) was so heartbreaking that I will not watch another one. The middle child, Adam, was so heartbroken because one of his favs was voted off I was crying with him and all his mom had to say was it’s gonna get harder next week. No hugs or anything from his brother, sister or mom or dad. In fact he seems to be the only child that would make a great pet parent and he is a child.

Anyway this family, barring Adam, have absolutely no concept of what it entails to have a dog much less any pet. I could go on but I believe you get the idea. On a last note they proclaim that the dog voted off does go to a good home, but that stinks as some of them have already bonded at this house. Just all in all a terrible show to do.

I guess HGTV went this route cause the housing market is on a skid and they got tired of doing alot of rerun shows. Bad idea. Whoever thought up this awful show obviously doesn’t have a pet of any kind. …If you do watch an episode, please keep a box of tissues handy. Hubby has never seen me so upset as he did at the end of (Sunday’s) episode.”

There was a show on Animal Planet called “Who Gets the Dog” that wasn’t much better than this. One dog spent the night with three different families and the families have to perform tasks, recording everything to be critiqued later by a panel including an animal behaviorist, a vet and a comedian (what??)

The panel, with input from the dog, decides where the pooch would eventually live. I thought that was pretty awful for the dog, bonding with people and then getting yanked away. This “Leader of the Pack” show sounds even worse.

Animal Planet is now showing it’s second season of “Groomer Has It,”but the only casualities of that reality show are some rather annoying dog groomers.  No dogs are ever harmed during that show. Physically or emotionally, that is.  Some of them suffer some pretty jacked-up haircuts along the way.
 
Last summer I blogged for a while about CBS’  “Greatest American Dog,” until that got to be unbearable.

While the dogs were always with their owner, and no dog ever seemed to mind being voted off, the challenges were clearly stressing some of the pooches and just got to be no fun to watch.

What do you think? Are reality shows like this sending the wrong messages? Are they stressful for the dogs?

He’s nearly 70 in human years, but Stump, a Sussex spaniel from Texas, took the Best in Show title at the Westminster Kennel Club show last night, proving the old dog still has a few tricks left.

The 10-year-old pooch came out of retirement on a whim and stole the show at Madison Square Garden, earning the first Westminster Best-in-Show title for his breed and the second for his handler, Scott Sommer.

According to a report from the Associated Press, Stump retired from the show ring in 2004 after winning 50 best-in-show titles and winning his group at Westminster. He was later treated by vets at Texas A&M for a mysterious wasting disease that nearly ended his life.  Sommer said the spaniel spent 19 days in the hospital.

After he recovered, Stump lived a dog’s life in Houston with Sommer and Sommer’s other Westminster champ, J.R., a bichon frise who took the top prize in 2001.

Five days before this year’s show, Sommer told the AP that he thought Stump might enjoy one more go around the ring. After the media tour that goes with winning the Super Bowl of dog shows, Sommer said Stump will permanently retire.

Stump faced stiff competition for this victory. He defeated a Scottish deerhound named Tiger Woods, a puli named Conrad and a Scottish terrier named Sadie. Others in the final seven title contenders included Yes, a standard poodle with 94 prior wins, Spirit, a giant schnauzer that is currently the nation’s top show dog, and Lincoln, a Brussels griffon that was favored by Vegas odds-makers.

But Best-in-Show judge Sari Tietjen pointed to the reddish-brown spaniel for the coveted silver cup.

“He showed his heart out,” Tietjen said. “He was everything you want.”

(All photos by Associated Press)

Douge de Bordeaux compete in the ring during the 133rd annual Westminster Kennel Club dog show Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 at Madison Square Garden in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Once again I watched the Westminster Kennel Club dog show from the comfort of my home. I wanted to siphon a little travel money into the Wag budget this year for a trip to the Big Apple so I could bring your first-hand accounts of the glamour and action from Madison Square Garden, but alas, I could not get the funding.

Maybe next year.

Last night the hounds, the terriers, the non-sporting and the herding groups took their turns around the ring. The first two pooches to move on to Best in Show were the Scottish deerhound (named Tiger Woods) and the Scottish terrier (named Sadie).

Guess they could have shared a celebratory shot of Glenlivet backstage.

Next group winner was the standard poodle, a pooch named Yes that had my hubby saying no, no, no. Hubby thinks the deck must be stacked in favor of the poodles because there always seems to be one or more of the three possible sizes in the Best in Show round.

He’s also not a fan of the poofy haircuts they wear in the show ring.

I admit I dozed off before Conrad the puli was crowned champion of the herding group. Insert your favorite Rastifarian mop joke here.

Tonight we see the working group, the sporting group and the toys strut their stuff before the big winner is announced. If you follow The Happy Wag on Twitter, tweet along as the pooches parade through the evening.

Puppy Bowl returns for a fifth season this Sunday.

What? You were going to watch something else on Sunday?

In case you haven’t seen any of the four previous incarnations, Puppy Bowl is three hours of puppies frolicking in a playpen that looks like a little football field. A human referee keeps order in the game (and cleans up any fouls, if you know what I mean), and you get a unique view from the Bowl Cam, a camera located below a clear-bottom water dish located in each end zone.

All of the puppies, including beautiful Bella here, are from shelters. And for the feline fans, the kittens take the field for the halftime show. According to the Web site, a parrot will start things off with the national anthem.

I would include a link to the Puppy Bowl page, but it has the most annoying pop-up window that I have ever encountered on the Internet and I cannot in good conscience send you there.

I’m here for you, my peeps.

Puppy Bowl is on Animal Planet and starts at 3 p.m. with replays throughout the evening. I highly recommend it over the seemingly endless pre-event chatter on the network showing that other game.

Click here to read a review of the movie, “Hotel for Dogs,” which opens here in Roanoke this weekend.

The reviewers, by they way, are 11-year-old girls, who I think are the perfect choices to voice an opinion on a movie about orphans and dogs. Personally, I value their opinion above any middle-aged film critic.

The movie is about two kids who take over an abandoned hotel as a home for every stray dog they can find. Then they outfit the hotel with various contraptions that make life better for the dogs. A happy tail.

Pedigree, the makers of the dog food, will make a donation to its own charitable foundation for every ticket sold this weekend. The charitable foundation helps dogs in shelters across the country.

Remember Geronimo, the itty bitty kitty who took a big plunge off the Memorial Bridge in Radford last May? Click here to read how the orange tabby has adjusted to a grounded life with his adoptive family. It’s a happy tail.

Speaking of pet tails, I did not have a chance to go see the movie “Marley and Me”, but apparently millions of other people did as it was the number one box office draw over over the long holiday weekend.

I loved the book and, as most of you who love to read can attest, the movie is seldom as good as the book. I think that has more to do with the experience of reading, where you see the story in your mind, verses seeing that same story through someone else’s imagination.  But I am hoping to get to the theater and see it some night this week.

In a surprising move, the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals actually gave the movie two paws up. That’s surprising because PETA normally objects to amy project that involves animals for human entertainment. The group released a statement that the movie presents the right message that pets are a lifetime commitment, no matter how they behave.

(If you are not familiar with the story, Marley is a hyperactive and ill-mannered pooch that caused his family endless household turmoil, but provided his pet dad endless bad-dog fodder for his newspaper column.)

Of course, PETA also approved that, in the film version, Marley is adopted from a rescue group. Those who read the book know that the real Marley was purchased from a breeder.

If you saw the movie, post a comment. Did you love it? Hate it? Eh, not much emotion either way? Did it compare well to the book? Not even close?

The reviews have been mixed so I would love to hear what pet lovers think of it.