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For the second year in a row, a San Antonio-bred Canaan dog has won best of breed at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York.

She will compete for best of group among herding dogs tonight. Group winners go on to compete for best of show on Tuesday.

Caliente Dangerous Gale Force Winds — she answers to Gale — earned the same honor her mother, Mad River Cool Breeze Blowing, won at the prestigious competition in 2009.

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“Gale was in the first litter I’ve bred, so this is so exciting,” said Rosette Davila, a member of the dog’s ownership group and owner of Davila Pharmacy on the West Side. “I’m ecstatic.”

Gale was the seventh and last pup born in her litter, Davila said. But she was the most active.

“She was the first out of the whelping box and first to start climbing on her mother to nurse,” she said. “She had to most guts in the bunch.”

Davila said Gale’s coloring, white with beige or brown markings, makes her different from most Canaans, which often are white and black. It also is unusual for females to win best of breed, she said.

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“I know it sounds weird, but females go through hormonal changes after they’re in heat,” she explained, praising the dog’s handler for the past two years, Tiffany Knox, for overcoming the difficulty. “Gale shed a lot, but Tiffany really helped her show her presence in the ring.”

A mid-size breed, Canaans are described as “naturally alert, inquisitive and watchful,” according to the American Kennel Club. The dog is the national breed of Israel.

Once the show ends Feb. 14, Gale will return to San Antonio, where she will retire and, Davila hopes, spend her days making future Canaan winners.

rmarini@express-news.net

Twitter: @RichardMarini

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