Ch. K-Run's Park Me In First, also known as Uno (May 5, 2005 – September 20, 2018) was a

beagle The beagle is a Dog breed, breed of small scent hound, similar in appearance to the much larger foxhound. The beagle was developed primarily for Tracking (hunting), hunting hare, known as beagling. Possessing a great sense of smell and sup ...

from

Belleville, Illinois Belleville is a city and the county seat of St. Clair County, Illinois, coterminous with the now defunct Belleville Township. It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. The ...

, who won Best in Show in the 2008

Westminster Kennel Club The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is an all-breed conformation show, traditionally held annually at New York City's Madison Square Garden. The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is one of a handful of benched shows in the United States. Dogs ...

dog show. He was the first beagle to claim the top prize at Westminster and the first beagle to win the hound group since 1939.

Early life

Uno was born amongst a litter of four puppies in the garage of the house of Kathy Weichert in

Show career

In 2008, Uno was entered in the

dog show in New York City having been ranked the sixth best dog based on show results in the United States during 2007. While at the competition, he was handled by Aaron Wilkerson, and competed against a field of 2,626 other dogs. Uno won his breed group, and subsequently became the first beagle of any size to win the

Hound Group A hound is a type of hunting dog used by hunters to track or chase prey. Description Hounds can be contrasted with gun dogs that assist hunters by identifying prey and/or recovering shot quarry. The hound breeds were the first hunting dogs. ...

since 1939. Judge Ralph Lemcke said that Uno was "one of the best hounds I've ever seen". This qualified Uno for the Best in Show round at Westminster, where he was competing against a toy

Poodle The Poodle, called the Pudel in German and the Caniche in French, is a breed of water dog. The breed is divided into four varieties based on size, the Standard Poodle, Medium Poodle, Miniature Poodle and Toy Poodle, although the Medium Poodle va ...

, a standard Poodle, a

Sealyham Terrier The Sealyham Terrier ( cy, Daeargi Sealyham) is a rare Welsh breed of small to medium-sized terrier that originated in Wales as a working dog. It is principally a white-bodied, rough-coated breed, developed in the mid-to-late-19th century by C ...

, an

Australian Shepherd The Australian Shepherd is a breed of herding dog from the United States. The name of the breed is technically a misnomer, as it was developed in California in the 19th century; the breed was unknown in Australia at the time. It is claimed that ...

, an Akita and a

Weimaraner The Weimaraner ( ) is a large dog that was originally bred as a hunting dog in the early 19th century. Early Weimaraners were used by royalty for hunting large game such as boar, bear and deer. As the popularity of large game hunting began to ...

. The judge, Dr. J. Donald Jones, took three minutes to make his decision and pointed to Uno, naming him the first beagle to ever become Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. This was ahead of Uno's third birthday during the following May.

Post Show Career

Following his win at Westminster, Uno was retired from show competition as there were concerns that small show judges might deliberately overlook him for best in show prizes because of his victory. Instead the intention was to use him to breed, but this was temporarily postponed by his owner because of the level of attention that Uno was receiving from the press and the public. President George W

Uno and his owner were invited to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...

to meet

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

. While there, he was given a collar by First Lady

Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (''née'' Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American teacher, librarian, memoirist and author who was First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Bush previously served as First Lady of Texas from 1995 to 2000. ...

. Uno was the first Westminster champion to be invited to celebrate victory with the President. Uno was at

Miller Park American Family Field is a retractable roof stadium used primarily for baseball. It is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, just southwest of the intersection of Interstate 94 and Brewers Boulevard. It is the home of Major League Baseball's Milwauk ...

on July 12, 2008, to participate in the first pitch during a matchup between the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. The Brewers are named for the city's association wi ...

and the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

. He also attended a home game for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals h ...

, again to help throw the first pitch. He attended that year's

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States wit ...

; where he rode in the

Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of the most recog ...

float. In honor of Uno's historic victory at Westminster, his home state of Illinois named a day in March in the dog's honor. Uno became a therapy dog following his retirement from the show ring.

Controversy

In 2016, Uno was scheduled to appear live from Madison Square Garden on

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sh ...

as part of the network's coverage of the 140th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. However, Uno had not been registered to attend the event and, after security personnel learned of his presence at the arena, he was barred from appearing on CNBC and was asked to leave the premises. Later, the producer of Westminster's broadcasts called the issue a "misunderstanding".

Personal life

Despite the intention to use Uno to breed, he turned out to be sterile and ultimately never sired any puppies; his owner Caroline Dowell said "it was a blessing in disguise. I just wanted him as a pet". When not traveling, the dog lived with his owner in a property near Dowell's ranch near

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

along with 40 to 50 beagles, most of which are rescued from kill shelters. She kept Uno in a small group of beagles in order to protect him, as she didn't want him hurt by the more boisterous dogs in her care. In 2015, a relation of Uno's became the second beagle to win Best in Show at Westminster. The dog, called

Tashtins Lookin For Trouble Ch. Tashtins Lookin For Trouble (January 9, 2011–October 2021), also known as Miss P, was a female beagle from Enderby, British Columbia and Milton, Ontario, who was named the 2015 Best In Show winner at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. M ...

, otherwise known as Miss P, is Uno's grandniece. Prior to the 2015 event, television host

David Frei David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

described Uno as "easily the most popular Westminster winner in my 25 years". Uno died at the age of 13 of cancer on September 20, 2018. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote on Uno's passing he "maintained his popularity long after other Westminster champions had been crowned but always returned home to Austin, where Dowell, a bunch of rescue beagles and a potbellied pig awaited him."

References

External links

Official fan club
{{Westminster Best in Show 2005 animal births 2018 animal deaths Best in Show winners of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show