PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles-owned Lancashire Heeler, Ki, made a name for herself this week by winning Best of Opposite Sex at one of America’s largest dog shows.
The Westminster Kennel Club Annual Dog Show is “America’s most iconic dog show,” according to USA Today. Dating back to 1877, this year marked the 149th time the event had been held.
“Even people that don’t do dogs, they know what Westminster is,” said Chelsy Pendleton, one of Ki’s co-owners.
Dogs must be invited to participate in Westminster or win one of the few lottery spots, said Linda Bell, a co-owner and Port Angeles resident.
Dogs like Ki qualified by accumulating points throughout the year and ranking overall as one of the top five dogs in their breed.
“My dog finished No. 3 in the country overall, and No. 1 female in her breed,” Bell said.
Getting an invite to Westminster doesn’t happen every day.
“I’ve been showing dogs for 40 years,” Bell said. “This is my first invite.”
The show typically is held at Madison Square Garden in New York. When Ki qualified for the show, the owners decided that Pendleton would show her, and Bell would watch the competition from home.
“She’s young,” Bell said, referring to Pendleton. “And I have no desire to go to New York.”
Pendleton and Bell became Facebook friends a couple years ago due to their mutual love of showing dogs. After Pendleton came up from Utah to show one of her dogs in Wenatchee, Bell said, “we’ve just been best friends ever since.”
Pendleton has two Lancashire Heelers of her own that compete in a variety of competitions, Bell said, and they co-own Ki.
Four-year-old Ki’s official name is “CH Broken Wing’s Yippee Ki Yay of Thatldu DCAT.” Those words and acronyms convey things like the dog’s achievements, point levels and their kennel or breeding program, according to the Seattle Times.
At home, however, Pendleton said she just calls her Ki, “the little rodent” or “the wee dog.”
Ki’s competition was at 1 p.m. Monday. Although Pendleton said she’s usually “really, really nervous,” even at smaller shows, she wasn’t really nervous this time.
“I was really confident in myself,” she said. “And I was really proud of myself for that.”
Ki competed against five other Lancashire Heelers — four that were invited and one that won the lottery, Bell said.
After the judge looked over all the dogs, Bell said he pulled Ki and one of the male dogs out for further presentation. That usually means those are the top two dogs being considered as Best of Breed, Bell said.
When the judge did that, Bell said, “I almost had a heart attack. Seriously.”
The judge awarded Best of Breed to the male dog, choosing Ki as Best of Opposite Sex. That essentially means second place, Bell said.
When Ki won, Pendleton said she couldn’t believe it.
“Even when people congratulated me after, I still couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I would just stare at my ribbon and was like, ‘I won a ribbon from Westminster.’”
There are no cash prizes for winning. Just bragging rights, a ribbon and a couple hoodies. But Ki’s victory was even more impressive, Bell said, because she had a litter of puppies only three months ago.
“It’s absolutely not common to get back into the show world three months after pregnancy,” Bell said. “But that’s how the timing worked, so we had to go with it.”
To get her into shape, Ki went to Utah and took classes with Pendleton. That’s where she is now, Bell said, waiting until prices come down and arrangements can be made for her to fly home to Port Angeles.
“I would love to go get her,” she said. “I miss her terribly.”
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
