Miss P The Beagle Wins Best In Show At Westminster

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A soft-spoken beagle really raised a ruckus.

Wagging her tail a mile a minute, Miss P became America's top dog Tuesday night by winning best in show in a big surprise at the Westminster Kennel Club.

At 4, Miss P is related to Uno -- in 2008, the immensely popular hound barked and bayed his way to becoming the only previous beagle to win at the nation's most prominent dog show.

Miss P, however, didn't let out a peep in the ring.

Instead, it was the packed crowd at Madison Square Garden that seemed to loudly gasp when judge David Merriam picked her in a dog show world shocker.

Only a half-hour after her win did the 15-inch Miss P, a breed known as ``big beagles,'' started making a noise. And that was only because her people were giving her treats in front of handler Adam Bernardin.

The best-of-seven final ring was full of favorites.

Matisse, a Portuguese water dog that's a cousin of President Barack Obama's family pet Sunny, was the top-winning male in show dog history with 238. Swagger the old English sheepdog finished second at Westminster in 2013 and clearly drew the biggest cheers.

A Skye terrier came in second this time. A standard poodle, a shih tzu owned by Patty Hearst and an English springer spaniel also made it to the last ring.

There's no prize money for winning Westminster. Instead, there's prestige forever in the dog circles, plus the possibility of lucrative breeding rights.

Miss P also earned a full day Wednesday _ appearances of morning TV shows, a meeting with Donald Trump, lunch at prominent Manhattan restaurant Sardi's and a walk-on part in the Broadway hit musical ``Kinky Boots.''

It was the 20th best in show win in the United States for the Canadian-born Miss P. Her call name is short for Peyton, and her official champion's name is Tashtins Lookin for Trouble.

One of her owners is Eddie Dziuk, a co-owner of Uno, who now lives on a ranch in Texas.

Merriam is a retired California trial-courts judge. He has spent more than 50 years with dogs, but this was the first time he'd judged a best in show.

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The show came amid a winter freeze that some of the dogs were not thrilled about. Isabella is a xoloitzcuintli, also known as a Mexican hairless dog, and she lives in West Palm Beach, Florida.

So when her owner drove up for the Westminster show, arriving at a Manhattan hotel while temperatures plummeted toward the single digits, Isabella had other ideas.

"We pulled up and opened the car door, she jumped out and then she jumped right back in," veterinarian Diane Voss said. "It's been hard for her."

Same for the Chihuahuas, Italian greyhounds and plenty of other pooches unaccustomed to this kind of frigid weather blasting New York and much of the country this week.

No doubt, this show served up a lot of chilly dogs.

Gingery's Rhubarb, among them. She's a little Chinese crested, and was shivering as handler Victor Helu clutched her. Hardly a coat on that breed, aside from the fleece jackets their owners put on them.

"It's pretty cold -- for the dogs, too," Helu said.

Helu lives on Long Island, and said he turned up the heat in his car to make her comfortable driving to the city.

Inside Piers 92 and 94, the exhibition space where the dogs spent much of the day, it was warm. Even downright hot in some spots.

But every dog needs to do its business, and that meant a few minutes outside on a walkway above the icy Hudson River.

Diesel the trembling toy fox terrier didn't want to linger. That blue blanket with a hood was no help.

"He was looking for a way back inside," owner Jerry Barlet of Reading, Pennsylvania.

Brian Cox picked up Mercedes, a Brussels griffon, and tucked her inside his winter parka.

"It was 55 degrees when I left Tennessee,' he said. "We got here, and it was 4."

While in town, owners took precautions with their pets. That often meant no extended romps in Central Park or long strolls to Times Square. There was concern, too, about all the snow-melting salt on the sidewalks and streets because it can irritate their paws.

For some, though, this big chill in the Big Apple was invigorating.

Brenner the American Eskimo dog was totally comfortable, said owner Stephanie Strunk from near Chicago. So was Mo, the Siberian husky from outside Montreal.

"He likes to take a bath in the snow," Mo's owner, Francois Boivin, said Tuesday. "When we go home, he'll be sledding with my wife and daughter."

Bill McFadden, a top handler who guided Mick the Kerry blue terrier to best in show at Westminster in 2003, brought six entries this year. He said they were very adaptable.

"I haven't heard much complaining from the dogs about the cold," he said. "More from some of the people."

"I've seen this weather make the dogs have the 'let's do it!' energy. It can make them frisky,'' he said at Pier 94.

Before the show, grooming products, such as hairspray, were prevalent backstage -- and they're not cheap -- CBS2's Alice Gainer reported.

Becky Lloyd, of Michigan, said she spent $2,000.

"But, you know, somebody else does that just to go to a football game, to go to the Super Bowl," Lloyd said.

Mary Clegg, of Ohio, said if one her dogs had won Best in Show, she would have treated herself -- and her dogs -- to a steak dinner.

"I think they'll let them in the restaurant, don't you?" she joked.

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