Westminster Part I

Not that anybody cares, and if you do, you probably already know this, but it’s time for the annual doggie do presented annually by the Westminster Kennel Club. Yep, the pooches are parading at Madison Square Garden again.

Four group winners were selected last night, with the final three groups slated to compete tonight.

A Scottish Deerhound (Foxcliffe Hickory Wind) was named Best Hound, a Pekingese (which resembles a hairy slug) named Palacegarden Malachy won the Toy group, Best Non-Sporting group winner was Vaje’s Miss Jane Hathaway (a wrinkle-faced Chinese Shar-Pei), and the hairy-faced Tolkien Raintree Mister Baggins (a Bearded Collie) won the Herding group.

Coverage was a bit unusual in Hawaii. I actually got to watch the second half first on CNBC because it was carried live. The early portion of the broadcast was on USA Network, which was shown later. See, the broadcast is delayed two hours in California, and then further delayed for Hawaii.

I hate that. I want to see live coverage.

Anyway … my favorite breed, the Beagle, came in second in the hound group, so it’s out of the competition. It was a 15-inch Beagle, not to be confused with the 13-inch Beagle. You may recall that Uno, a 15-inch Beagle, won Best of Show in 2008.

Tonight’s competition will pit the Best of Breeds in the final three groups – Sporting, Working and Terrier. Then, all seven group champions will vie for the coveted “Best of Show” title.

You can bet I’ll be watching, even though I will already have found out who the winner was, thanks to the Internet.