"Stump" Winning Westminister - Senior Citizen Does It Again!

This year's Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City was a great one! As you have seen, The Sporting Group Winner, a Sussex Spaniel named "Stump" took the entire show!

Veteran Judge, Sari Brewster Tietjen gave the nod to the ten-year-old with a story to tell, Ch. Clussex Three D Grinchy Glee.

In 2004, Stump won the Sporting Group at Westminister. After that, for reasons nobody knows, Stump's body apparently just shut down. His owners took him to Texas A & M Veterinary Hospital where they kept him for 19 days. Magically, the vets managed to save him and get him back up and running.

Stump has been in retirement, living the good life in Houston. We say that "once a show dog, always a show dog" and his owners must have thought hard about that. This year, they decided to take Stump back to Westminster. History was made! "Stump" is now the oldest dog and the first of his breed to win Westminster which has been going for 133 years.

The standard for the Sussex Spaniel calls for a cheerful and tractable disposition. His gait is rolling and deliberate but not clumsy. You could see the perservence as "Stump" came round the ring!

Translated into human years, "Stump" is the equivalent of about 70. Many times I have been to Specialty Shows (for one breed only) where older, retired dogs have been entered. Over and over, I have seen the tenacity and perservance. They just love dog shows; they love the applause and they love to win!

Once the dogs reach the Best in Show ring, generally we expect they are all good dogs. Each has been assessed against his own standard for his breed. In the Group ring, we look to see if this dog is more to his standard than this other dog is true to the standard for his own breed.

Once the dogs reach the Best in Show ring, we look to see if - in this case - "Stump" portrays the standard for his breed better than say, the Poodle or the Puli portray their standards.

At this level, we are also looking at each dog's personality and showmanship.

Last night, "Stump" had it all! Let's hear it for the seniors!