Top dogs get ready for Westminster

DIXON – Two Dixon dogs will strut their stuff this month at the Westminster Kennel Club show.

The two dogs – Hoss, a Boston terrier, and Cooper, a bulldog – both won best of breed at the American Kennel Club Eukanuba National Championship in Orlando, Fla.

Hoss won against 64 other Boston terriers and Cooper against 21 bulldogs in a competition that is invite only for dogs that reach a grand champion level.

“He knows now when he goes onto the show ring that he’s Mr. Hot Shot,” said Dennis Considine, Cooper’s owner.

But Cooper isn’t just a show dog.

He’s Considine’s pet.

Considine didn’t know what he had, Ken Roux said, when he walked into Roux’s salon to have Cooper groomed.

“I asked him, ‘Where did you get this dog?’ and he acted like I thought he stole it or something,” Roux said.

“He was like, ‘I bought it as a puppy someplace over in Indiana.’ Well, it was a really nice dog. I spotted it when I walked in, and it took me 21/2 years to get him to show it.”

Roux, Hoss’ owner, has been professionally breeding Boston terriers for 28 years and bulldogs for 22 years.

He had actually owned Cooper’s great-grandfather back in the 1990s. His name was Geronimo. He died young, at 2 years old, of a heart attack.

Involved with 4-H from an early age, Roux didn’t want to give up showing when his family moved into town, so he got a dog.

He learned how to groom – 187 different breeds – in the “school of hard knocks,” he said, as he was on the dog show circuit himself. He now owns Ken’s Dog Daycare and Grooming Service in Dixon.

But the connections went even further.

Roux worked for Considine back when he was in high school and Considine, now 67, managed Kline’s Department Store.

“I hadn’t seen him since Kline’s 20 some years ago,” Roux said. “I asked, ‘Do you remember me?’ and he said no. I said, ‘You used to be my boss at Klein’s,’ and he said, ‘Was I nice to you?’”

The two have become good friends since reconnecting more than 2 years ago, as Cooper and Hoss travel the dog show circuit.

Hoss has been making the rounds longer than Cooper, competing in 180 dog shows last year and winning best of breed last year at Westminster.

“Showing a dog or campaigning a dog is like sending a kid to college,” Roux said. “They’re away and then they come back home.”

Cooper has been showing about 7 months.

The ribbons aren’t actually blue, though. The best of breed ribbons from Eukanuba are purple and yellow.

When the dogs are ready to retire, they’ll be full-time pets again, Roux and Considine said.

Hoss will join Roux’s 11 other dogs, retired show dogs and puppies. He’s co-owned by Vicky Wilt of Baltimore, but that is mainly for breeding purposes. Roux maintains ownership of the dog.

For more information

Highlights from the American Kennel Club Eukanuba National Championship will be shown at 1 p.m. Saturday on ABC.

Meanwhile, the dogs are gearing up for the Westminster Kennel Club Show, which will be Feb. 13 and 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

For more information about Hoss and Cooper, go to Facebook.com and search "Hoss the Boston Terrier " or "Considine Exact Classic Cooper."