Westminster Best of Group (So Far)

I enjoyed watching the Westminster Dog Show last night...  and I was particularly pleased with 2 of the 4 Group Winners last night.  I loved the fact that the Wire Haired Dachshund won the Hound Group, and that the Dalmation won the Non-Sporting Group.  A Pekingese won the Toy Group, and a German Shepherd won the Herding Group.  Tonight, decisions will be made for the Sporting, Working, and Terrier Groups.  Then the top seven dogs will face off in the Best in Show Class.  There were six new breeds shown this year at Westminster - the American English Coonhound (in the Hounds, of course), the Cesky Terrier (in the Terriers), the Entlebucher Mountain Dog and the Finnish Lapphund (in the Herding Group), and the Norwegian Lundehund and the Xoloitzcuintli (shoh-loh-eets-KWEEN'-tlee), formerly known as the Mexican hairless (in the Non-Sporting Group). Individuals of the last breed are called a "show low" for short, so we Americans won't be tripping all over our tongues.  I have to admit I like the Lundehund best of the new breeds; it's also known as the Puffin Dog.  It spent centuries on the rocky cliffs and high fields of arctic Norway hunting and retrieving puffin birds, an important meat and feather crop to local farmers. Uniquely equipped for their task, this little Spitz-type dog has at least six toes on each foot for stability in the near vertical environs where puffins nest. A flexible skeletal structure enables the dog to squirm out of tight spots or spread-eagle to prevent slips and falls. Lundehunds have a protective double coat, reddish-brown, often with white collar and feet and a white tip on the tail. Today puffin birds are protected and the puffin dog has taken up its new role as an alert, cheerful and somewhat mischievous companion.
  Also, if you live in or near Boulder, don't forget that today you can adopt any cat or kitten from the Boulder Valley Humane Society for absolutely free....  You may view the selection available at: http://www.boulderhumane.org/animals/adoption/adopt_cats 
   It's nice and warm again today.  The snow has compacted to a depth of two to four inches, and it has a nice crust on it.  The squirrels and birds can walk across it without any problems, but my kits crunch through the surface.  I received two Valentines today, the first ones since my husband died.  It was nice.  ..... But I also got ticked off because someone, this morning, stole my multi-colored heart that had been hanging on my door for this month's decoration.  It hadn't been touched since the first of the month - and it was there when I walked over to the store to purchase eggs this morning.  But it was gone when I returned.  Someone is a grinch, somewhere nearby....