Stump Comes Out of Retirement to Be Top Dog

A Sussex spaniel named Ch Clussexx Three D Grinchy took the top prize at the Westminster Kennel Club's 133rd dog show last night. Nicknamed "Stump," the 10-year-old canine's competition was a giant schnauzer (working group), a brussels griffin (toy), an Irish deerhound (hound), standard poodle (non-working), Scottish terrier (terrier) and a puli (herding). But he impressed Best in Show judge Sara Brewster Tietjen, who said, “He’s just everything that you’d want in the breed, and I couldn’t say no to him.”

Stump hit the media circuit today, visiting morning talk shows (like the Early Show) and meeting the press at Grand Central Terminal. What makes his win more remarkable is that Stump almost succumbed to a bacterial infection in 2004. His handler Scott Sommer, who is also one of the his owners, credited the vets at Texas A&M with saving him. In fact, Sommer wasn't even sure he was going to enter Stump into the competition until last week.

And, according to the Daily News, "He is named 'Stump'... because he has stubby legs, is brown and resembles a tree stump."