Diamond dog has his day to Cosby's dismay

[TribalRats]

Diamond dog has his day to Cosby's dismay

Thursday, February 15, 2007

By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles

Like beauty queens, prize-winning dogs have their quirky preferences and selfless ambitions. Diamond Jim, the English springer spaniel who was declared best in show at this year's Westminster Dog Show - the American Crufts - likes chicken-and-garlic treats and hopes to become a therapy dog working with Alzheimer's patients.

Like beauty queens, too, dogs have their rivals. In Diamond Jim's case, it was Harry, a Dandie Dinmont terrier co-owned by the sitcom actor Bill Cosby who had been squaring off against him at show after show for the past year. Harry fell short at last year's Westminster show when he slipped on the green carpet. And this year, he just couldn't outdo what one judge described as Diamond Jim's "beautiful expression and beautiful conditioning".

Yesterday, as the dog world chewed over the bones of yet another emotional, tenaciously fought competition before a sell-out crowd at Madison Square Gardens, Diamond Jim did the circuit of morning television shows and geared up for a celebratory meal at Sardi's, New York's quintessential showbiz restaurant. He didn't have any comment for the throngs of reporters, but his handler certainly did. "I wanted him to go out with a bang," Kellie Fitzgerald said. "He shows 110 per cent all the time. Fabulous, fabulous dog. He really excels in the big ring."

Diamond Jim - or James, as he is also known - is descended from another fabled winner at Westminster, a springer spaniel called Aristocrat which won the sporting group in 1967. With dogs, as in royal families, the breeding is everything.

Cosby, meanwhile, was so disturbed by his Dandie's run of bad luck that he chose to stay away from Madison Square Gardens altogether. Harry, named after Prince Harry, also has a longer version of his name: Hobergays Fineus Fogg. The crowd loved him - loved him noticeably more than Diamond Jim - and roared their approval every time the chief judge, Robert Indeglia, walked by.

Indeglia, though, said he screened out the audience and focused on the fundamentals. "He's a fabulous dog," he later said of Diamond Jim.

"I had a lot of great dogs to choose from. But this one stood out. He had that look in his eye that said 'It's my night.' ."