Stella 1st U.S. dog to get U.K. honor

Stella's runner-up performance is the highest honor for an American-bred dog

Star Tribune

Last update: March 11, 2008 - 1:29 AM

A dog trained in Minnesota made history over the weekend at the prestigious Crufts, becoming the first American-bred dog to make the first-round cut and win reserve "Best of Breed" award at the world's largest dog show.

Stella, a female Spinone Italiano, overcame long and difficult odds to win the equivalent of a silver medal, finishing second in the open class at the show, which ran Thursday through Sunday in Birmingham, England.

In more than a century of shows, no dog from the United States has been named Best in Show and no American Spinone has won Best of Breed.

The honor caps a strong couple of years for Stella, and her handler Daryl Cooper, a Hennepin County sheriff's detention deputy. This month, Stella had a good showing at the Westminster Dog Show in New York City. Stella had won Best of Breed in 2007 at the Eukanuba National Invitational and Best of Opposite Breed at that show in 2006, which led to an invitation to compete at this year's Crufts.

Stella's rise to the top of the U.S. dog world had an inauspicious start 21/2 years ago on a northern Iowa farm. Cooper met Stella's owners, Kris Smith and Teri Turner of Charles City, and convinced them he could take the Spinone that liked "rolling in the mud" to big shows.

Crufts, which dates to the early 1890s, featured more than 23,000 dogs from throughout the world, including 100 male and 100 female Spinones. There were 18 other females in Stella's class.

TIM HARLOW

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