The Laguna Beach Dalmatian That Conquered New York City

Going into the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City on Monday, Barbara Lyons’ only hope for her spotted pooch, Spotlights Ruffian (but you can just call him Ian), was that he would win the Dalmatian category.

Which he did. A successful trip, then, to what’s considered the Super Bowl of dog shows.

Lyons figured she was done, and had booked a return flight home to Orange County—and her home in Laguna Beach’s Emerald Bay—for Tuesday, the day after.

After all, Tuesday was when the show’s ultimate Best In Show prize was going to be handed out. But there was no way Ian would make it to that point, she thought. To get that far, Ian would first have to win his Non-Sporting Breed group category, a hugely difficult task.

But then Ian won that, too. Which meant he would be one of just seven dogs competing for Best In Show.

So Lyons had to switch up her travel plans.

“I was shocked,” Lyons tells Laguna Beach Patch. “I didn’t even expect to win the breed category. I was telling people going in that I only had a 40 percent chance. So at the group level alone, it was the best of the best. So many things can go wrong.”

Things like your dog acting up (or worse, pooping) on the green show carpet spread out across the floor of Madison Square Garden, where the competition is held each year. The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show has been around since 1877, and with a live national TV audience these days, a lot of people are paying attention.

“You’re kind of numb, and you know the odds going in to Best In Show are not great,” says Lyons.

Indeed, in the 136 years of the show, a Dalmatian has never taken home the Best In Show prize.

“The odds were one 1 in 7, so once he got through, I was hopeful. You want him to perform well and not do anything funny and be happy, and he showed beautifully the whole time he was on camera. His tail was wagging, and that’s what you want—you want the public to see that he enjoys what he’s doing. They’re just dogs at heart.”

In the end, though, Ian lost out to a floor mop with legs, also known as a Pekingese. Still, considering her expectations going in to Westminster, Lyons feels as if she won the whole thing anyway. As an added plus, Ian beat out Martha Stewart's Chow Chow named (interestingly) Genghis Khan in the Non-Sporting Breed preliminary, so there's that.

"She was sitting right behind us!," Lyons says. "She didn't clap when my dog won, though, but she's a very nice person."

Ian, who Lyons says loves to play in the Emerald Bay surf, and has even occasionally gotten up on a surfboard, won’t be coming back to California right away. He’ll be busy competing in other dog shows back east and living with his handler in Maryland.

Meanwhile, Lyons will take in everything that's happened in the past 48 hours.

“It’s unbelievable really, totally unexpected. To finish one out of seven is huge. I don’t think I’ll ever see this again. I’m very happy.”