On Wednesday night, a 4-year-old bloodhound named Trumpet was the first-ever bloodhound to win the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show for his breed.
The competition featured nearly 3,500 purebred dogs, with more than 200 breeds competing. Trumpet won against tough competitors and placed Top Six with a French bulldog, a German shepherd, a Maltese, an English setter, a Samoyed, and a Lakeland terrier in the 146th Westminster Dog Show.
A little bit about the competition: the Westminster Dog Show is a contest representing a variety of breeds from across the nation in competing for each dog’s agility, obedience and “conformation.” The competitors are also judged upon their appearance, movement, temperament, and specific physical traits – such as height and weight, coat, colors, eye color and shape, ear shape and placement, feet, and tail, just to list a few – for the standard ideal dog in their breed category. There are seven groups for judging: Herding, Hound, Terrier, Toy, Working, Sporting and Non-Sporting. Dogs earn points for the number of other dogs they defeat, so, the more dogs that enter and compete, the more points there are to win.
The goal of the show is to evaluate and select the most ideal dog based on the abilities and image each has demonstrated during the show. The show’s philosophy is that this process improves the next generation of dogs (since perfect dog-show champions go on to parent more perfect puppies).
This was only Trumpet’s second dog-show competition.
“There were seven beautiful dogs in that ring. You know, I feel like sometimes a bloodhound might be a little bit of an underdog. So I was absolutely thrilled,” exclaimed Heath Helmer, Trumpet’s handler and owner.
The trumpet comes from a “winning stock bloodline,” something that champion dogs apparently come from. “His great-grandfather, Tigger, held the record of having the longest ears for dogs,” according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Tigger’s right ear was 13.75 inches long, and his left was 13.5 inches long.
Sources:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1656024262213x467357109930074000/Westminster%20Dog%20Show%202022_%20Photos%20and%20Highlights%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times.pdf
https://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/
The competition featured nearly 3,500 purebred dogs, with more than 200 breeds competing. Trumpet won against tough competitors and placed Top Six with a French bulldog, a German shepherd, a Maltese, an English setter, a Samoyed, and a Lakeland terrier in the 146th Westminster Dog Show.
A little bit about the competition: the Westminster Dog Show is a contest representing a variety of breeds from across the nation in competing for each dog’s agility, obedience and “conformation.” The competitors are also judged upon their appearance, movement, temperament, and specific physical traits – such as height and weight, coat, colors, eye color and shape, ear shape and placement, feet, and tail, just to list a few – for the standard ideal dog in their breed category. There are seven groups for judging: Herding, Hound, Terrier, Toy, Working, Sporting and Non-Sporting. Dogs earn points for the number of other dogs they defeat, so, the more dogs that enter and compete, the more points there are to win.
The goal of the show is to evaluate and select the most ideal dog based on the abilities and image each has demonstrated during the show. The show’s philosophy is that this process improves the next generation of dogs (since perfect dog-show champions go on to parent more perfect puppies).
This was only Trumpet’s second dog-show competition.
“There were seven beautiful dogs in that ring. You know, I feel like sometimes a bloodhound might be a little bit of an underdog. So I was absolutely thrilled,” exclaimed Heath Helmer, Trumpet’s handler and owner.
The trumpet comes from a “winning stock bloodline,” something that champion dogs apparently come from. “His great-grandfather, Tigger, held the record of having the longest ears for dogs,” according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Tigger’s right ear was 13.75 inches long, and his left was 13.5 inches long.
Sources:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1656024262213x467357109930074000/Westminster%20Dog%20Show%202022_%20Photos%20and%20Highlights%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times.pdf
https://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/
