German shorthaired pointer named CJ claims best in show crown at Westminster
NEW YORK — Now appointed America’s top dog — CJ, the German shorthaired pointer.
CJ won best in show at the 140th Westminster Kennel Club on Tuesday night, beating a couple of top favorites at a nearly packed Madison Square Garden.
The 3-year-old CJ bested 2,751 other entries in 199 breeds and varieties to win the nation’s most prestigious dog competition.
CJ certainly came from championship stock. His grandmother, Carlee, was one of two previous German shorthaired pointers to win Westminster, taking the title in 2005.
A borzoi called Lucy finished second.
CJ also topped a Skye terrier, German shepherd, bulldog, shih tzu and Samoyed to win the prized silver bowl. There is no prize money for the win, but there are valuable breeding rights in the near future and a legacy in dogdom forever.
Charlie the Skye terrier finished second at Westminster last year to Miss P the beagle. Rumor the German shepherd was ranked as the No. 1 show dog in the country last year and had won 101 times.
Dog f anciers cheered judge Richard Meen’s choice. The fan favorite earlier in the night was a large Leonberger, who wanted a treat and kept gnawing at his handler’s suit pocket all the way around the ring.
This was the 18th overall best in show win for CJ, whose initials stand for his path from the West Coast — quite a California Journey, it was.
Earlier in the day, handler Valerie Nunes Atkinson explained what made CJ so special.
“He has that extra sparkle,” she said. “He’s an old soul.”
CJ has his rituals, too. Before romping around the ring, he usually bows down and sneezes.
After the victory, Atkin- son kept kissing CJ while looking into his golden, winning eyes.
This was third victory for CJ’s breed at Westminster. Still waiting are breeds as rare as Dandie Dinmont terriers and as familiar as Labrador retrievers, the nation’s most popular purebred dog.
Wire fox terriers hold the Westminster record with 14 bests in show.
Uno flap: Try to imagine Derek Jeter being ejected from Yankee Stadium on Old-Timers’ Day. That’s sort of what happened Monday night to Uno the beagle, widely acclaimed as the most popular win- ner in Westminster history.
CNBC wanted to show Uno in the opening segment of its telecast, and had him brought to the TV tower in the ring. But Uno wasn’t registered to be in the building and Westminster officials didn’t know he was there until they heard him barking.
Now almost 11, the 2008 winner and his handlers were escorted by security out of the Garden as “any undocumented dog would’ve been,” Westminster President Sean McCarthy said.
A spokesman for NBC Sports said it was “a misunderstanding.”