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2024 National Dog Show Winner Makes History As First Pug To Win “Best In Show”

A small dog wins big at the annual Thanksgiving Day dog competition after it becomes the first Pug in history to win the coveted ‘Best In Show’ title.

Vito the Pug makes history at this year’s National Dog Show as this is the first time in two decades that a Pug has bagged the ‘Best In Show’ title, according to NBC News.

Furthermore, NBC News reports that Vito is the No. 1 Pug in all show systems and was also the winner for the Toy Group category.

Contestants for the National Dog Show were judged based on their overall appearance temperament, and structure, according to their breeds’ official standards.

And Vito came out on top despite being up against a top-ranked Welsh terrier, a giant schnauzer, a Clumber spaniel, a Lhasa apso, a Berger Picard and an Ibizan hound.

Best-in-show judge George Milutinovich described Vito as “Compact, features, movement — everything a pug should be.”

Vito’s co-owner, Carolyn Koch of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, said she’s proud of Vito and called Pugs “her breed”.

Vito’s handler, Michael Scott of Chesapeake City, Maryland, said that he was optimistic of the pooch’s chances of winning.

“I always hope to get a really good look [from the judge]. … Vito has a beautiful head and expression. Great outline,” he said.

And for bagging the coveted title, Vito won Koch and co-owners Joy Barbieri and Rebecca Movall of Stanfordville, New York, a $2,000 cash prize, as per NBC News.

Vito is no stranger to winning. As a matter of fact, he has 25 best-in-shows under his belt, even though he’s only two-and-a-half years old!

NBC News reports that Vito also claimed best of breed at this year’s Westminster Dog Show in New York City and best of breed at the AKC National Show last year.

The National Dog Show is an annual dog show competition hosted by the Kennel Club of Philadelphia and is broadcasted during Thanksgiving Day by NBC.

This year, the dog show competition was held on Saturday, November 16 and Sunday, November 17.

About 2,000 dogs representing 205 breeds, including the newest AKC-recognized dog breed Lancashire Heeler, gathered on stage at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.

Furthermore, this year’s Best in Breed winners include:

  • Herding: Rupert (Berger Picard)
  • Working: Monty (Giant Schnauzer)
  • Toy: Vito (Pug)
  • Sporting: Houston (Clumber Spaniel)
  • Hound: The Zit (Ibizan Hound)
  • Terrier: Verde (Welsh Terrier)
  • Non-sporting: JJ (Lhasa Apso)
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Jennifer Garner Mourns The Loss Of Her Pet Dog, Birdie the Doggie

Jennifer Garner’s nine-year-old Golden Retriever, Birdie, has passed away, as announced by the actress on her Instagram on November 27.

The award-winning actress shared the news with an emotional Instagram post. “It is hard to know how to write this— it seems nuts, given the world, to mourn a pet, but since we have shared Birdie with all of you, it only seems fair to let you know of her passing.” she wrote.

Garner explains that they brought nine-year-old pooch to the vet on Thursday, because “she wasn’t feeling herself (a renowned foodie, Birdie never missed a meal)”.

“We were surprised to learn that, not only was she very ill, she was at the end of her life.” 

Garner also shared that Birdie “hanged on” until her person, Garner’s daughter with Ben Affleck, Violet Affleck, came home from college for Thanksgiving.

“The vet told us that dogs often hang on until their person comes home from college and we believe Birdie did just that, so that we could pet her soft ears together and thank her for being the world’s best dog,” Garner shares.

In her life, Birdie has shared a YouTube show with Garner called “Books with Birdie” because she loved being read to.

She also found her way into Garner’s other YouTube show called “Pretend Cooking Show”.

Aside from being a YouTuber, Garner and Birdie were featured in WeRateDogs’ YouTube show, ‘WeWalkDogs’, where the actress revealed that the pooch became a therapy dog at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

In their episode of ‘WeWalkDogs’, Garner reveled that Birdie was a gift to Violet for her 10th birthday.

“My eldest was 2 and decided she needed her own dog, and she talked about it all the time,” the actress reveals.

“And I said, ‘When you’re 10, that’s the age that one might get their own dog.’ I thought she’d forget because she was just 2. But now we have Birdie.”

Garner wrote, “She lived a happy dog life and is now in the role she was born to play: angel girl.”

Garner ended her emotional post for Birdie with, “It’s a gift to love and be loved by such a creature as Birdie the Doggie.”

The Instagram post included some of the best moments of Birdie during her life. Moments where she was being read to, sang to, and her admiring a stained glass window in their home with her in it.

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‘Never Without His Squishy’: Abandoned Dog Found With Nothing But His Stuffed Toy Looking For Forever Home

A sweet Pitbull mix is going viral on TikTok and breaking thousands of hearts after he was found, abandoned by his owners, with nothing but his stuffed dog toy with him.

The abandoned pooch, later named Squishy by the animal shelter that took him, was first discovered by TikTok user @devil_nyxx. The user then uploaded a video of Squishy on Friday, November 08.

“Found this sweet boy abandoned outside my house with his stuffy, no tag, no collar, nothing,” TikTok user @devil_nyxx wrote in the caption.

In the video, Squishy can be seen reluctantly walking towards the TikTok user, with a stuffed toy in his mouth while wagging his tail.

“He was shy at first but slowly walked up and laid on me,” Nyxx wrote. “It shows he once had a home, this is cruel, my heart aches for him.”

@devil_nyxx This hurts my heart 💔💔💔#abandoneddog #sweetiepie #poorbaby ♬ son original – 🌅🤍🫶🏻

The video uploaded was almost 6-minute long, and by the 2-minute mark, Squishy finally approached Nyxx – enjoying the pets and laying his head on her lap, without releasing the stuffed toy in his mouth.

TikTok users were devastated with the situation Squishy was put through. But some were questioning Nyxx if the dog was truly abandoned because he looked clean and healthy.

One user wrote, “His stuffy looks clean! Why are you assuming he’s abandoned? Maybe he was trying to go home.”

However, another TikTok user pointed out how the dog kept on coming back in a certain spot. They explained, “He was not wanting to leave that spot he kept going back, which tells me he was dumped there and didn’t want to leave because he is waiting for his humans to come back.”

Nyxx later reveals that after giving Squishy water and food, they brought him to the Pet Circle Waco.

In a Facebook post, Pet Circle Waco wrote, “Never without his squishy!” with photos of Squishy and his stuffed dog toy and other toys.

The animal shelter reveals that the pooch is bonded with the stuffed dog toy and that “He loves to play with all kinds of toys and loves good pets. He is very sweet and will make your heart melt!”

Furthermore, according to the animal shelter’s website, Squishy is a two-year-old Pit Bull Terrier mix and he was brought to the shelter on November 08.

Squishy is currently in a foster home and lives with another TikTok user, @brooke.reese, who stitched Nyxx’s video of Squishy.

In the video uploaded by Brooke, Squishy can be seen taking his stuffed dog toy from her while she says “Oh my god! You’re famous!”

Squishy is currently up for adoption. If you are interested to meet him, and possibly adopt him, you can contact Pet Circle Waco.