It takes a lot of ham to make a show dog

You never expect to win here, and you're never ready when it happens," said Mrs. Walter Bunker of Pebble Beach, Calif. at New York's Madison Square Garden last week while her husband darted out through the crowded building to look for an uncrowded bar where he could set up drinks for congratulatory friends. The Bunkers' pert wire fox terrier, Biddy, otherwise known as Ch. Zeloy Mooremaides Magic, sketched on the spot (left) by Artist Allan Mardon, had just been tagged the very best of the 2,557 dogs at the 90th Westminster Kennel Club show. Biddy's upset victory, achieved in large part by the skillful showmanship of her handler, Jimmy Butler, climaxed 30 years of breeding and showing by Mrs. Bunker. Butler himself had worked with the little terrier for two and a half years. "We've lived together," he said in a rich Yorkshire burr. "I know the bitch, and she knows me. It's that simple. She was tired, but she gave all she had."

Biddy won out over five other group winners (above), at least one of whom accomplished an upset victory even more surprising than that of the little wire. The huge, bearlike Old English sheepdog, Ch. Fezziwig Raggedy Andy (SI, March I, 1965), beat out two preshow favorites to become only the third dog of his breed in the history of the Westminster to win the working group. Like the other finalists—the miniature poodle Ch. Round Table Cognac, the Afghan Ch. Sahadi Shikari, the little Maltese Ch. Aennchens Poona Dancer and the Irish setter Ch. Blaneywood Country Squire—Andy went down to ultimate defeat like a true showman. But then all the dogs at the Westminster were hams at heart, with maybe one exception. Reveille Defender was named the best mastiff in the show largely because he was the only mastiff in the show. But, according to his master, this victory cost him plenty. Defender lost at least eight pounds each day that he had to stay at the Garden. He hates dog shows.

TWO ILLUSTRATIONS