Uno was not JUST a show beagle.
When he entered the show ring he was Muhammed Ali in his prime, taking on and vanquishing all comers. He had Ali’s physical attributes – a tremendous athlete – and his winning personality – a beagle “smile” and a happy bark that captivated dog lovers everywhere.
Blessed with rock star charisma, he was dubbed “the most perfect beagle,” a 10 on a 10-point scale. On Feb. 12, 2008, he lived up to that description, becoming the first beagle in the history of the prestigious Westminster Dog Show to earn the title of Best in Show.
From then on, he ruled the dog world, starring in parades and on television talk shows. After a victory tour across the United States where he rubbed shoulders and licked the faces of entertainment icons and babies alike, he was retired to his owner’s 200-acre ranch near Austin, Texas. There he lived the past 10 years until his death last month, enjoying good health until cancer advanced in recent months.
It was late January 2008 when I heard a rumor that a beagle kenneled in Lugoff, a rural community near Camden, S.C., about 30 miles from my home, was being ballyhooed in show dog circles as possibly the first beagle ever to have a chance to win Best in Show at Westminster. I had to go see for myself because no beagle had ever won top honors in the 131-year history of Westminster and the last time a beagle even won the Hound Group was 1939. Las Vegas odds makers said a beagle had a 400-1 chance of winning Westminster.
My wife, Jan, and I met handler Aaron Wilkerson at his home and he took us out to his kennels to meet Uno, the No. 1 ranked show beagle at that time. It was immediately obvious that Uno was no ordinary beagle or ordinary show champion. He had that “it” factor that separates ordinary champions from icons – an off-the-charts personality exhibited through every wag of the friendly tail to the innate intelligence shining through lucent eyes.
Although not an AKC-licensed show judge, I do know something about beagles, having had beagles for hunting, field trials and, yes, dog shows, most of my life since my Dad presented me with a pair of beagle brothers for my 10 birthday. I’ve been a rabbit hunter all my life, although in recent years I follow the hounds more with a camera than a shotgun.
I’ve been a beagle field-trialer, along with my wife, for the past half century and we have enjoyed earning championships on some of our dogs. I am also a beagle field trial judge and have officiated at more than 100 A.K.C. licensed field trials over the past 45 years. And, for one decade we showed beagles and Dobermans in the ring and finished our share of beagle champions. That was an interesting decade as, in addition to traveling the dog show circuit from the Carolinas to Florida, I also had a hunting pack of beagles and a group of friends who hunted almost every Saturday during the season. At the same time, I was getting started in field trials and was at a field trial every weekend when I was not hunting or at a dog show.
So, while I may not know everything there is to know about beagles, I do know a good one when I see one, whether in the woods, at a field trial or in the show ring. And I knew Uno was not only a good show beagle, he was the finest example of a show beagle I had ever seen, both in terms of physical characteristics and adherence to the A.K.C. standard, and his innate showmanship.
On the way home after meeting Uno, I turned to Jan and commented: ‘If a beagle were to ever win Best in Show at Westminster, Uno is the one to do it.” And she agreed wholeheartedly.
Uno did not come by his No. 1 ranking without earning it. He had just won the Group title in the 2007 A.K.C. Eukanuba Classic, giving him 98 Group first places on his way to 32 Best in Show titles in 2007. He finished the year ranked No. 6 among all breeds and the first beagle in 14 years to be ranked the No. 1 Hound. He was also the first beagle ever to win the Purina Pro Plan Quaker Oats Award for the most Group wins in a year.
When Wilkerson arrived in New York for the Westminster show, the buzz was already building for Uno. He had captured the hearts of show fanciers across the country and he lived up to the hype by breezing through the Hound Group to make the finals.
When Best in Show Judge Dr. J. Donald Jones said, “Let me have the beagle,” the sequined and tuxedo-dressed crowd at Madison Square Garden erupted in a standing ovation. No one could have agreed more than Uno, who immediately began baying his approval, too.
“He’s the most perfect beagle I’ve ever seen,” Jones said. “I’d give this dog a 10.”
Uno celebrated by trying to chew the microphones of reporters interviewing Wilkerson. Then came a steak dinner at Sardi’s and the whirlwind tour across the country before settling into retirement at the ranch, where, presumably, he lazed in the shade from the Texas sun, chased butterflies and barked after cottontails in his dreams to his heart’s content.
Although known to everyone by his nickname, Uno, in the show ring he really lived up to his American Kennel Club registered name – Ch. K-Run’s Park Me In First. Perfectly appropriate because he spent most of his time in the show ring in First Place.
R.I.P., Uno.
Beagles compete in 2 classes by height
Uno was a 15-inch beagle. Beagles are separated into two classes for competition in the show ring and in field trials and other tests.
The A.K.C. standard states that beagles competing in the 13-inch class must measure up to and including 13 inches at the withers. Those competing in the 15-inch class must measure above 13 inches up to and including 15 inches.
Carrying on the family tradition
Uno was the first beagle to win Best in Show at Westminster, but he was not the last. Although he was sterile and never produced any puppies, his great niece, Ch. Tashtin’s Lookin for Trouble took the top prize at Westminster in 2015, the second little brown-eyed bundle of black, tan and white to earn the top prize in Dogdom.
Nicknamed Miss P, the 15-inch female beagle is co-owned by the mother-and-daughter team Lori and Kaitlyn Crandlemire of Enderby, British Columbia, along with co-owner Eddie Dziuk, an American breeder, who was also a co-owner of Uno.