Local bulldog to take on the nation’s top dogs in New York

[TribalRats]

Local bulldog to take on the nation’s top dogs in New York
by Michael Flynn
published February 10, 2007 4:59 pm

ALEXANDER – Carroll Smith’s first trip to the heart of New York City should be a memorable one. The Alexander resident and his two-year-old bulldog Duncan are headed to Madison Square Garden to take on the country’s top dogs in the Westminster Kennel Club show.

Considered America’s premier dog show, the 131st annual event kicks off Monday morning with about 2,500 entries from 165 breeds and varieties ready to take the floor in the famed arena.

“I’m in ring one at 8:30 Monday morning,” said Smith, 64, a hearing aid vendor in Asheville who will lead Duncan around the carpet during the competition. “I got lucky – I’ve got a once-in-a-lifetime dog.”

Smith has been a bulldog owner for 25 years, but with less than two years show experience he is a relative novice in the ring. “I learned by doing,” he said. “We were both pretty green when we went in.”

Smith acquired Duncan, whose registered name is Ch. (for champion) Karma’s Big Shot, from a Texas breeder with the understanding that he would show the dog. “When my wife picked him up he was licking on her hair,” he said about the unscientific selection process.

But the strong-jawed Duncan has proved his mettle in competition, picking up 36 best-of-breed honors, 17 group placement awards and a best-in-show ribbon in Nashville last October that solidified his standing to compete in the Westminster event.

“It was a thrill beyond belief,” Smith said about the Nashville win. “Bulldogs don’t go best-in-show because they’re not flashy.” Since 1907, only two bulldogs have taken best-in-show at Westminster, according to the club’s Web site.

Judges choose the winners based on how well the dogs reflect the breed standard. Bulldogs compete in the non-sporting group along with poodles, Dalmatians and others. Duncan will have to beat out the country’s top bulldogs in early competition to make it to prime time Monday night.

UNC Asheville Bulldog fan Alisha Goodman, a freshman at the university, said she was happy to hear about the success of another local bulldog. “It’s in a bulldog’s nature to excel,” she said. “2007 looks like a good year for bulldogs.”

Regardless of the outcome in the Big Apple, it will be a busy year for Duncan, whose next event is a three-day show in Greenville, S.C., starting Friday.

Smith owns three bulldogs, and has another one on the way from Duncan’s breeder, who will likely be Smith’s second show dog. At home, Duncan doesn’t get much in the way of special treatment, said Carroll Smith’s wife Margaret.

“He’s a family pet first, a show dog second,” she said. “He knows he’s a big shot.