PERRY, Ohio–Peg Geyer was glued to her TV set.
“I was just sitting there going. OK, Malachy, smile. Stick your tongue out. Do something,” she laughed.
And as Malachy, a little Pekingnese dog, was named Best in Show at the 136th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Peg squealed in excitement.
“He’s a showman. He’s like, ‘See me,” she said of the 4-year-old dog, edging past a Dalmatian, a dachshund, a German shepherd, a Doberman pinscher, an Irish setter and a Kerry blue terrier. “He walks proud. I’m proud too.”
Peg owns a 2-year-old Pekinese, Cameron, who is also a show-dog champ—and he also happens to be Malachy’s son.
After Peg’s husband passed in October, she thought it was time to get a new companion. She wanted a Pekingese, and heard of a woman in Florida that had some for sale.
She eventually drove all the way down to Florida to get her new pup, Cameron. Little did she know he was puppy royalty.
“My husband’s up in heaven doing a happy dance because he kept saying, ‘Oh Peg, what would it be to have something like Malachy,’ Peg said. “We have had a Peke in the house for over 30 years. They’re our favorite breed. It was perfect.”
At that time, the dog breeder was also trying to find a home for the dog’s sister, Hannah.
Peg thought her daughter, Sue, might like the dog too.
“I would love to have another Peke, but my husband doesn’t want another dog,” Sue Westover said at the time. “So I played the puppy face. Please, please please, I want a puppy.”
Eventually, Sue and her husband made the family’s second trip down to Florida to get Hannah.
“You can tell looking at them, and I think looking at their face that they look like Malachy,” Peg said. “There’s a strong family resemblance.”
Together, the four watched Malachy waddle his way to that coveted silver bowl, knowing that they too have champions in their own homes.
“It’s incredible,” Sue said. “A big moment. So, we got a little piece of history with us.”