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IN TIME FOR NEXT YEAR’S DERBY BRUNCH. WELL, AS IT TURNS OUT, WE AREN’T THE ONLY ONES GETTING INTO THE DERBY SPIRIT. CHECK THIS OUT. SO TOO ARE THOSE WITH FOUR LEGS. THE 2024 RESCUES AND ROSES DERBY SEASON FASHION SHOW. OH HE’S CUTE WAS HELD AT NULU MARKETPLACE THIS AFTERNOON. RESCUE DOGS WALKED THE RED CARPET SPORTING TUXES, DRESSES AND HATS, HOPING THEIR FASHIONS WOULD HELP CROWN THEM DOG OF THE YEAR. THE FASHION SHOW IS MADE POSSIBLE THANKS TO THE DOG SHOP AND ENCOURAGES PEOPLE TO GET OUT AND ADOPT PUPS FROM THE SHELTER. THIS EVENT, AND SO MANY OTHERS ARE IMPORTANT IN SUPPORT OF OUR MISSION AS ANIMAL CARE SOCIETY CELEBRATES OUR 40TH ANNIVERSARY AND THE WORK OF OUR MISSION IS ONLY MADE POSSIBLE BY COMMUNITY SUPPORT LIGHTS AS SHOWN HERE TODAY AND FROM PRIVATE DONORS AND SO MANY OTHERS LIKE THE DOG SHOP AND FRIENDS HERE AT NULU. THE RESCUES AND ROSES FASHION SHOW RAISES MONEY AS YOU JUST HEARD FOR THE ANIMAL CARE SOCIETY. THAT’S A NO KILL SHELTER THAT WORKS

Miniature poodle named Sage wins Westminster Kennel Club dog show

A miniature poodle named Sage won the top prize at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show Tuesday night.Sage bested six other finalists to claim the best-in-show award at the United States’ most illustrious canine event.Video above: Rescue and Roses’ fashion show benefiting the Animal Care SocietyEach stood, strode and sought to shine before the judge at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the home of the U.S. Open tennis tournament. In all, more than 2,500 dogs spanning about 200 breeds and varieties entered the show. They’re judged according to which one best matches the “standard,” or ideal, for its breed.More than 2,500 hounds, terriers, spaniels, setters and others that entered this year’s Westminster Kennel Club dog show.Some of the other top dogs coming into the show were Comet the shih tzu, Monty, a giant schnauzer, Mercedes the German shepherd, Louis, the Afghan hound whose handler and co-owner says he lives up to his breed’s nickname as “the king of dogs,” Micah, the striking black cocker spaniel, and Frankie, the colored bull terrier. “Just to be in the ring with everyone else is an honor,” Monty’s handler and co-owner, Katie Bernardin, said in the ring after his semifinal win. “We all love our dogs. We’re trying our best.”Monty, who also was a finalist last year, is “a stallion” of a giant schnauzer, Bernardin of Chaplin, Connecticut, said in an interview before his semifinal win. She described him as solid, powerful and “very spirited.” So “spirited” that while Bernardin was pregnant, she did obedience and other dog sports with Monty because he needed the stimulation.While she loves giant schnauzers, “they’re not an easy breed,” she cautions would-be owners. But she adds that the driven dogs can be great to have “if you can put the time into it.”Dogs first competed against others of their breed. Then, the winner of each breed went up against others in its “group.” The seven group winners met in the final round.The best-in-show winner gets a trophy and a place in dog-world history but no cash prize. Westminster can feel like a study in canine contrasts. Just walking around, a visitor could see a Chihuahua peering out of a carrying bag at a stocky Neapolitan mastiff, a ring full of honey-colored golden retrievers beside a lineup of stark-black giant schnauzers, and handlers with dogs far larger than themselves.Shane Jichetti was one of them. Ralphie, the 175-pound (34-kg) great Dane she co-owns, outweighs her by a lot. It takes considerable experience to show so big an animal, but “if you have a bond with your dog, and you just go with it, it works out,” she said.Plus Ralphie, for all his size, is “so chill,” said Jichetti. Playful at home on New York’s Staten Island, he’s spot-on — just like his harlequin-pattern coat — when it’s time to go in the ring.”He’s just an honest dog,” Jichetti said.The Westminster show, which dates to 1877, centers on the traditional purebred judging that leads to the best in show prize. But over the last decade, the club has added agility and obedience events open to mixed-breed dogs. And this year, the agility competition counted its first non-purebred winner, a border collie-papillon mix named Nimble.

NEW YORK —

A miniature poodle named Sage won the top prize at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show Tuesday night.

Sage bested six other finalists to claim the best-in-show award at the United States’ most illustrious canine event.

Video above: Rescue and Roses’ fashion show benefiting the Animal Care Society

Each stood, strode and sought to shine before the judge at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the home of the U.S. Open tennis tournament.

In all, more than 2,500 dogs spanning about 200 breeds and varieties entered the show. They’re judged according to which one best matches the “standard,” or ideal, for its breed.

More than 2,500 hounds, terriers, spaniels, setters and others that entered this year’s Westminster Kennel Club dog show.

Some of the other top dogs coming into the show were Comet the shih tzu, Monty, a giant schnauzer, Mercedes the German shepherd, Louis, the Afghan hound whose handler and co-owner says he lives up to his breed’s nickname as “the king of dogs,” Micah, the striking black cocker spaniel, and Frankie, the colored bull terrier.

“Just to be in the ring with everyone else is an honor,” Monty’s handler and co-owner, Katie Bernardin, said in the ring after his semifinal win. “We all love our dogs. We’re trying our best.”

Monty, who also was a finalist last year, is “a stallion” of a giant schnauzer, Bernardin of Chaplin, Connecticut, said in an interview before his semifinal win. She described him as solid, powerful and “very spirited.”

So “spirited” that while Bernardin was pregnant, she did obedience and other dog sports with Monty because he needed the stimulation.

While she loves giant schnauzers, “they’re not an easy breed,” she cautions would-be owners. But she adds that the driven dogs can be great to have “if you can put the time into it.”

Dogs first competed against others of their breed. Then, the winner of each breed went up against others in its “group.” The seven group winners met in the final round.

The best-in-show winner gets a trophy and a place in dog-world history but no cash prize.

Westminster can feel like a study in canine contrasts. Just walking around, a visitor could see a Chihuahua peering out of a carrying bag at a stocky Neapolitan mastiff, a ring full of honey-colored golden retrievers beside a lineup of stark-black giant schnauzers, and handlers with dogs far larger than themselves.

Shane Jichetti was one of them. Ralphie, the 175-pound (34-kg) great Dane she co-owns, outweighs her by a lot. It takes considerable experience to show so big an animal, but “if you have a bond with your dog, and you just go with it, it works out,” she said.

Plus Ralphie, for all his size, is “so chill,” said Jichetti. Playful at home on New York’s Staten Island, he’s spot-on — just like his harlequin-pattern coat — when it’s time to go in the ring.

“He’s just an honest dog,” Jichetti said.

The Westminster show, which dates to 1877, centers on the traditional purebred judging that leads to the best in show prize. But over the last decade, the club has added agility and obedience events open to mixed-breed dogs.

And this year, the agility competition counted its first non-purebred winner, a border collie-papillon mix named Nimble.