"Old Dog" Stump Wows Westminster

(CBS)  America has a new top dog! The winner of the highly-anticipated best in show prize at the 2009 Westminster Dog Show was crowned, and as CBS News correspondent Kelly Wallace reports, the champion made history.

Seven canines competed for the premier prize at the country's oldest dog show. Final contestants included a Scottish deerhound named Tiger Woods, a Puli known for its dreadlocks and a Scottish terrier who might have been battling a case of the nerves.

But there could be only one champion.

"I love them all, tonight the Sussex," said best in show judge Sari Tietjen.

A 10-year-old Sussex spaniel named Stump, a crowd favorite, won best in show -- the oldest winner in Westminster's 133-year history. Stump only came out of retirement last week and almost died in 2004 from a medical condition.

"He hasn't slowed down a bit," handler Scott Sommer said. "I thought it would be fun."

"He showed his heart out," Tietjen said. "He was everything you want."

The previous oldest winner at Westminster was an 8-year-old Papillon in 1999, and Stump was the first of his breed to capture the silver bowl.

Stump now goes on the stump -- taking the place of last year's winner, the beagle named Uno -- as the country's number one dog.

One of Stump's first stops was the set of The Early Show, where co-anchors Julie Chen and Harry Smith talked to handler Scott Sommer and David Frei, co-host of the Westminster Dog Show broadcast.

Some highlights:

Stump's illness in 2004 - "He had a bacterial infection that took them 19 days to figure out. And now he's good," Sommer said.

Stump's winning attributes - "He's a great specimen of his breed," Frei noted. "As a Sussex, they should be long, low and level and he's very long -- you can see from pictures. He has this beautiful head piece. A dog of substance. He has to push his way through the underbrush as a flushing spaniel."

Sussex spaniels - "Somewhat of a rare breed. Been near extinction a couple of times and had to be repopulated in this country. They are from the U.K.," Frei noted. "And it takes dedicated people that understand the breed and the challenges with this breed. They are not for everybody. However this is a friendly, happy dog and probably this morning at the Sussex Club of America, the phone is ringing off the hook."

To see view the complete interview, click the Play button below:

[perm3800]

No being loves ''unconditionally''. Anecdote: my sister''s brain damaged Sheltie mix had a broken paw in a cast. His most favorite human on the planet, my aunt, came in and he leapt up to greet her, forgetting in his excitement that his paw was casted, banged his paw heavily into a step and was in terrible pain. He blamed my aunt and she was never his favorite again. After that, he gave her the evil eye and cold shoulder when she visited. Unfortunately, too many breeds, in order to enhance their abilities to perform certain work, have been chosen for genes that enhance impression so that the dog is forced into a primary loyalty and so a dog will appear to take a lot of caca for his devotion and, like abused children, return to an abuser rather than run away but, looked at by breed, this is not the norm for all dogs, just forced by certain breeds. There are dogs who run away, as any animal control officer can tell you.

[perm3800]

Physiologically, for most breeds (though not all) a dog ages ten years in the first six-eight months of life relative to human development. It ages another six years by age two. It ages about ten years from ages two-four and stalls. For large breeds, development/ aging stalls until approximately two years before end-of-life and then those two years show the aging it would take a human about forty years to accomplish. Smaller dogs hit another plateau around age ten where they are the physiological equivalent of a middle aged human and stall there until a year or two before end-of-life where they then age approximately thirty years of human aging.
Mentally, the dog never develops much past a five year old human. Most breeds will have, by then, acquired a comprehension vocabulary of 300-800 words, depending on breed, and the ability to make simple choices and gross categorizations. How much dog can you understand? Dogs do have a limited understanding of ''future'' and ''past'' - why else bury a bone if you don''t think you will want it again at some future time and, if you don''t recognize a part, how will you find it when you need it? Dogs do have a limited comprehension of ''right'' and ''wrong'' but often, like most humans, will do the ''wrong'' thing if it is worth the consequences.

[mahdeealoo]

We''ve got a border collie that is mellow like Stump - also 10. Nothing beats a great dog who loves you unconditionally. And the best thing - the kinder you are to your dog, the better they are. Our dog has never been hit or beaten, ever. Voice is enough to train any dog if you stick with it, and lots of learning treats.

[spinproof]

This has to be the coolest dog I''ve ever seen, smooth, I bet you couldn''t pay him to bark! lol

[cameraphone]

WOOF! WOOF!

[puzzler125]

When are they going to scrap this nonsense about dog years and people years (the incorrect notion that one dog year equals seven ''people'' years")? The comparable timelines, for example age 1 to 2 in a dog, are NOT the same for every year therefore you cannot say a 10 year old dog equals a 70 year old human.

[wobxw]

WAY TO GO STUMP!!!!!!! WHAT A CUTIE!!!!!

[thgdriver1]

Finally!! Us old dogs have our day!!