Poodle perfection

[bigdoglover]

The Daily Times

By Eric Conn

SALISBURY --The Poodle Club of America's 74th annual International Poodle Show came to a close Friday as one dog among thousands was crowned Best in Show -- the most prestigious award handed out among the international poodle community.

Owners, handlers and poodles from around the world gathered at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center for a series of events that began last Saturday and culminated Friday with the Best in Show finale.


The Best in Show competition, which began Wednesday, measures how well dogs conform to a set of standards established by the American Kennel Club.

One dog is selected from each of the poodle varieties -- toy, miniature and standard -- and from there judges pick one of the three dogs for Best in Show.

Chris Manelopoulos of Greensboro, N.C., and his standard poodle, Brighton Minimoto, captured Best in Show on Friday after beating out three other dogs from the toy and miniature categories.

Manelopoulos, who won Best in Show two years ago with a different dog, said the victory came as a surprise.

"I was completely shocked. It's a new dog that just started her career," he said. "It's phenomenal for her to win here."

Manelopoulos said to win at the PCA poodle show is the ultimate achievement.

"For us, this is the show to win. The PCA has the highest quality in the world," he said. "This is the Super Bowl for the poodle world."

Best of Show Judge Dennis McCoy made the final decision, picking Manelopoulos' dog over toy poodle Smash JP and miniature poodle Avalon Vanilla Sky.

PCA President Doris Cozart said there's no more meaningful win than at the International Poodle Show.

"To win is so prestigious. It's the only place in the world where there's this many poodles at one time. These are the best dogs in the world," Cozart said.

A former judge of 18 years, Cozart said it's always a surprise to see which dog wins.

"No one knows which dog is going to come out on top," she said. "Most judges will tell you they surprise themselves with their final decision."

This year's competition, Cozart said, was one of the best the PCA has ever had. She also said the city of Salisbury has been supportive of the poodle show.

"The Chamber of Commerce, the entire Salisbury community -- everyone was wonderful to us," Cozart said.

"That's why we keep coming back. We came because of a leap-year mistake, but the city's been great to us," she said.

While introducing the field of standard poodles, Judge Frank Sabella said this year's group was among the best he's seen.

"Standing before you today is the most beautiful array of poodles you'll see in the world," Sabella said.

Among the countries represented at the dog show were Japan, Italy, England, Australia, Israel and Denmark.