Scottish Deerhound Wins at Westminster Dog Show 2011

Hickory the Scottish deerhound is a country dog who typically spends her days on a 50-acre farm in Flint Hill, Va., chasing rabbits and deer. The 135th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show crowned a Best in Show Tuesday night (Feb. 15) and it was Hickory the Scottish Deerhound in what is a bit of an upset over Malachy the Pekingese and Adam the Smooth Fox Terrier, both of which were heavily favored. It is the Scottish Deerhound's first Best in Show win as a breed.

The show kicked off with the Sporting group. The breeds singled out were the Pointer, the German Wirehaired pointer, the Curly-Coated Retriever, the Irish Setter, the Black Cocker Spaniel, the English Springer Spaniel, the Irish Water Spaniel, the Weimaraner and the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon. The top four in order were: the Black Cocker Spaniel, the Irish Setter, the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon and the Irish Water Spaniel. The Boykin Spaniel was the new breed in the Sporting group, but was not brought down.

The Working group was up next. The dogs brought down were the Alaskan Malamute, the Boxer, the Doberman Pinscher, the Kuvasz, the Portuguese Water Dog, the Rottweiler and the Samoyed. The top four were the Portuguese Water Dog, the Boxer, the Kuvasz and the Samoyed.

The last group of the night is the Terrier group. The breeds singled out are the American Staffordshire Terrier, the Smooth Fox Terrier, the Irish Terrier, the Norfolk Terrier, the Norwich Terrier, the Scottish Terrier, the Seelyham Terrier, the Sky Terrier and the West Highland White Terrier. The top four finish the Smooth Fox, the Norfolk, the Sky and the Westie.

The Best in Show group included from last night the Scottish Deerhound from the Hound group, the Pekingese from the Toy group, the Shar-Pei from the Non-Sporting group and the Bearded Collie from the Herding group. From tonight, we had the Black Cocker Spaniel from the Sporting group, the Portuguese Water Dog from the Working group and the Smooth Fox from the Terrier group, who is the favorite according to odds-makers.

But then in an upset, Hickory the Scottish Deerhound won Best in Show! It is the first Best in Show win for the Scottish Deerhound breed and was quite a surprise in the face of Adam the Smooth Fox Terrier and Malachy the Pekingese, who were both heavily favored.

The Best in Show judge, whose first language is not English, said of the win, "Scottish Deerhound ... is exactly the same like I studied in the standard that was about 150 years ago. Outstanding dog. Moving and type was super. All the others were wonderful."

Congrats to Hickory the Scottish Deerhound!