Piddles
Handler: Andi Benson. Two years of professional showing and a hat she wears like a job. Often seen around Barkbucks, accepting the sort of attention a Puppuccino attracts. If you find her, do not keep her for the photograph. Call the judge.
The final four
These are the dogs who were still in the conversation for Best in Show when the lights went out. Nobody has been crowned. The purse is still in the drawer Delbert will describe only as "a drawer." Piddles is the one the town is looking for.
Brutus
Handler: Lawrence. A bulldog of considerable lap and, his people insist, considerable tone. He cross-trains at Lifting is Life and has been described as favored by anyone who enjoys a favorite. He is present. He is not the headline today.
Cupcake
Handler: Marcia Blake, of Pupcakes & Pastries and also of a building full of locks. Cupcake is sweet, which the handler will tell you before you have finished asking. Personality counts. So does still being in the building.
Starla
Handler: Sharlene. The registration card says Strala, because the office is open one hour a week and the pen was ambitious. The dog answers to Starla. Mixed breeds are allowed this year, on purpose, for inclusion, and the secretary has been asked not to call the category "other, but make it nice."