NESBC member Cathy Figueroa & Mickey III
wins BOB at Westminster 2009
Click Here for 2009 Westminster Saint Bernard Results & Video
'Mickey III' scores at national dog show
The Republican, Springfield Mass
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
By PATRICK JOHNSON
pjohnson@repub.com
CHICOPEE - Mickey III is a Saint Bernard, so it goes without saying that he is huge.
And Tuesday was a huge day for Mickey III, as the 4-year-old show dog from Chicopee won the Best of Breed prize at the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City.
Mickey III had a chance to go even higher in the competition, and perhaps even become the top dog, but those hopes ended Tuesday night when the best in Mickey's working group class went to a giant schnauzer named Galilee's Pure of Spirit out of Virginia. Nevertheless, this year's show was a success for Mickey III's co-owner, Catherine M. Figueroa of Chicopee. "This is just like winning the World Series," said Figueroa earlier on Tuesday, speaking on a cell phone from behind the scenes at Madison Square Garden, the setting for the 133-year-old dog show. Figueroa, a breeder of Saint Bernards for 20 years and dog show handler for the past seven years, said this is the first time one of her dogs won best of breed.
In the Westminster Dog Show, some 2,500 dogs, representing 170 breeds and varieties, are entered this year.
Mickey III wasn't the region's only entry. B-Mac N Lil People Ragin' Cajun, a 4-year-old parti-color cocker spaniel dog owned by Beate Pruitt and Betty McClendon of East Granby, Conn., won a best of breed award at the show. Winners of each breed compete to be named the best in one of seven groups: hound, terrier, non-sporting, herding, sporting, toy, and working dogs. Saint Bernards, which can be as tall as 27 inches at the shoulder and weigh up to 200 pounds, are in the working group. Winners of the seven groups then face off for the coveted Best of Show prize, which went to Stump, a a 10-year-old Sussex spaniel. At the time of the interview, Figueroa was getting ready to get Mickey ready for the working group competition. With the shampooing, drying and grooming, it takes about 3 hours to make Mickey presentable, she said.  "Every hair has to be in the right place." Figueroa said she knew Mickey III was a champion since he was a puppy. She owned his father and bred his mother, so she was well aware of his blood lines.
But beyond that, Mickey just looked like a winner, she said. "You just feel it. You see it in them," she said. "It's hard to explain but as a breeder, it's something you feel."
When they announced she and Mickey III won Best of Breed, Figueroa said she could not believe it. "It's like someone gave me a million dollars," she said.
Mickey III was excited too. "He knew I was excited and he knew he did well," she said.
The dogs in the shows know what is going on, she said. "They can feel the energy in the air."
Figueroa said she was drawn to the dogs since she was a child and her mother owned one. "I fell in love and swore I'd have one someday." That day came in 1989 when her husband, Miguel A. Figueroa, bought her a Saint Bernard puppy. "It grew from there," she said. Figueroa and her husband now breed the dogs professionally, under the name Royalty Saints. At their kennel in Chicopee, they have 17 Saint Bernards. "People look at me funny when I say that," she said.
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