Carson City show dog Adele wins Best of Breed at Westminster

Adele, a Spinone Italiano show dog owned by Carson City Deputy Director of Emergency Management Stacey Belt, won best dog out of 12 in her breed Tuesday at the prestigious Westminster Dog Show in New York City.

“We are surrounded by incredibly beautiful dogs and very dedicated owners and handlers," said Belt. “The entire city is so welcoming.”

Adele is now advancing to the Sporting Group competition, which will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 Tuesday night from 5 to 8 p.m. Pacific Time.

"The sporting group is generally the largest group to compete against,” Belt said. “I feel confident because Adele is not just a show dog. She spent December and January actually hunting in Nevada — doing what she was bred for.”

If the local Spinone, Adele, can emerge victorious in the Sporting Group competition she will join six other groups of winning dogs to compete for the potential honor of Best of Show during Tuesday night's television coverage on Fox Sports 1.

Judges will pick the four top dogs in the sporting breed.

“If you get pulled for any of those it is such a great honor,” said Belt.

If Adele gets pulled for Group One, she will go on to Best of Show representing the sporting breed to compete against the winners of six other groups which are: Toy, terrier, working, herding, hound and the non-sporting categories of breeds.

Belt said that Adele has outgrown her training talents and has been working with handler Laura Reeves. Laura and Stacey are best friends and are also using this opportunity to celebrate their 50th birthday’s together in New York City.

“The Empire State Building was lit up in the Westminster colors of purple and gold and also Madison Square Gardens — it was absolutely gorgeous,” Belt said.

“We have dog shows locally and we have such an outdoor oriented and family friendly community in Carson City,” she added. “Taking a small-town girl to the Big Apple is such a darn big deal.”

Go here for an interview with Stacey Belt about Adele that was published in January, as the local Spinoni was selected to compete at the Westminster Dog Show.

For more on Northern Nevada news, visit www.carsonnow.org.