Stumping for Stump

Here's to the new hero of the past-fifty generation: Stump, Westminster's Best In Show, a sussex spaniel who, at ten (yes, you read that right) is the oldest dog to win Best in Show. He is a charmer, for sure--the most adorable bounce in his step and those very long ears that waggle when he walks--and he does not look a day over five!!!

Stump is actually a tribute to the wonders of veterinary medicine, not only because he is about seventy in human years, but also because he almost died when he was five. Apparently his whole body just shut down and the vets at Texas A & M put him back together. He spent 19 days in the hospital--a steep bill for sure.

And then he retired to the life of a pet, sleeping on the bed and just enjoying having his humans at his beck and call, when his owner, on a lark, decided to enter him at Westminster. Or so the story goes, but since you have to qualify for Westminster, it was not such a lark. He had to work his way back into the show ring slowly, which he apparently did last year, coming out of retirement enough to make it back to the big time.

Maybe it was all that rest; maybe it was his maturity or maybe it was just his time to shine because shine he did. From the moment I saw him in the sporting class (although I was rooting, as always, for the golden who came in second), I had to admit, I was in love. Apparently he won the crowd over as well because the cheering and applause for him in the Best in Show class was impressive. He was clearly the favorite because he was, well, just because he was so "normal."

In the last two years, it seems as if Westminster is trying to remake itself more in the popular image. First Uno, the wonderful beagle and now Stump, just a regular golden oldie who gives hope to senior citizens everywhere. Could it be that the stuffy pedigree crowd has realized the popularity of dogs is at an all time high and they should be taking advantage of this rather than distancing itself from the masses as they used to do? Or could it be that judges of even the most uppity of dog shows are won over by charm as well as good looks? Or could it just be that these last two dogs were so spectacular that everyone else just looked too primped?

Regardless, kudos to Westminster for choosing a winner in every sense of the word.