Yeah, I suppose it’s okay that a Scottish deerhound took the top prize earlier this week at Westminster; after all, that breed had never won before. Sure, I’d like to see a beagle — clearly the cutest and most lovable breed in the world — honored every year, but I guess that wouldn’t really be fair.
There’s no denying, however, that when Uno the beagle won the whole shooting match at Westminster in 2008, it was a heady time for our family, and for Ricky. The very next weekend I was walking Ricky on a snowy back road in Vermont. A car stopped, and the driver rolled down his window. “Your dog looks exactly like Uno,” he said. “Like a champion.” (Note their similarity in the two photos, right.)
The comment on Ricky’s regal appearance shouldn’t have come as a surprise, since he comes from championship stock. His sire was Saranan’s Gentle Ben. His dam was Chrisette’s the Crumb Snatcher. I’m not sure what all this impeccable breeding means — other than that he likes to eat his own poop and to growl at inanimate objects.
Quite frankly, though, in spite of his pedigree, I never had even the slightest desire to put him in the show ring. He probably wouldn’t have scored a whole lot of points for breaking off his march mid-circuit to snatch a knish from a front-row spectator, or for barking insistently at the empty microphone stand.
But that night Uno won, we were proud. Oh, were we proud. After all, it was a victory for Ricky’s extended family. When the judge finished his last once-over and said, “May I have the beagle?” we all jumped off the couch in unison, applauding wildly.
But where was Ricky? Wouldn’t he have wanted to see a member of his own tribe being coronated? We called him — but of course he didn’t come. We looked in all his regular hideouts. Still no Ricky.
Finally my wife found him, upstairs in the master bedroom. The painters, who’d been working on that room earlier in the day (in fact, the paint was still wet), had left behind a styrofoam container from their lunch. While his beagle brother was being crowned best in show at the most prestigious canine event in America, Ricky was feverishly inhaling every last whiff of turkey with Russian. Wearing, of course, a fresh coat of white paint.
Leave a Reply