Westminster dog show 2011: Cocker spaniel, Portuguese water dog, smooth fox terrier win groups

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The Westminster dog show’s final groups -- sporting, working and terrier -- were hotly contested affairs during the country’s biggest dog show Tuesday night.

Coming in first in the sporting group was GCH Casablanca’s Thrilling Seduction, a male black cocker spaniel who is called Beckham for short. Beckham was the second-ranked American show dog from the sporting group in 2010.

The sporting group’s top four placements were rounded out by Ch. Jewelset’s Up Up N Away, a female Irish setter who earlier in the day had a surprising Best of Breed victory over the highest-ranked sporting dog in the country; GCH Fireside’s Spontaneous Combustion, a male wirehaired pointing griffon; and GCH Poole’s Ide Got Water RN, a male Irish water spaniel.

Up next was the working group, which was won by a female Portuguese water dog -- yup, the same breed as the Obamas’ dog, Bo -- named GCH Aviators Luck Be a Lady, nicknamed Ladybug. Portuguese water dogs are a fairly rare breed, but saw a big spike in interest when President Obama’s family received Bo as a gift from the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, himself a devotee of the breed.

Rounding out the top four in the sporting group were GCH Winfall Brookwood Styled Dream, a top-winning female boxer many dog-show experts thought would win the group; GCH Szumeria’s Wildwood Silver Six Pence, a male Kuvasz; and Ch McMagic’s Candied Ham of Pebblesrun, a female Samoyed.

The terrier group was won by GCH Slyfox’s Sneaks a Peek, a male smooth fox terrier nicknamed Adam who won his breed after Dodger, another smooth fox terrier many expected to win Best in Show, failed to turn up at Madison Square Garden despite having been officially entered in the show.

A female Norfolk terrier named GCH Cracknor Cross the Ts; a male Skye terrier named GCH Cragsmoor Buddy Goodman; and a male West Highland white terrier named Ch Blythefell Fergus rounded out the terrier group’s top four.

RELATED PHOTO GALLERIES:
• Westminster dog show 2011: The hair makes the dog
• Westminster dog show 2011: The contestants prepare

-- Lindsay Barnett