NEW YORK - It's not every day that Max Klimavicius, the owner of Sardi's restaurant in New York, personally cuts a customer's filet mignon into bite-size pieces. Then again, not every customer has just won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

The chef had cooked the steak until it was medium rare, lightly seasoned it with salt and pepper, then Klimavicius served it on a silver platter to Hickory, the Scottish deerhound who was making her victory lap after winning on Tuesday night.

But 12 hours into her newfound fame, Hickory was already developing a reputation as a hard-to-please celebrity.

She was having none of the filet mignon, despite the ministrations of Klimavicius and her handler, Angela Lloyd.

"She has a good appetite," Lloyd told a crowd of about a dozen photographers and cameramen who were waiting, a tad impatiently, for their promised photo opportunity. "This is not part of her regular diet."

Upon learning that the winner was a deerhound, had Klimavicius considered serving his guest venison? "That's a good question," he said with a laugh. "A very good question. Well, you see the tradition is filet mignon on a silver platter."

Winning Best in Show at Westminster is a little like being named Miss America - the victory kicks off a one-year reign in which the dog is often whisked from one celebrity appearance to the next.

In 2008, Uno the beagle set a new standard for Best in Show winners. He was feted at a White House Rose Garden ceremony, fetched the first pitch at major league baseball games and rode aboard the "Peanuts" float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

More recent Best in Show winners have not kept pace. Stump, the 10-year-old Sussex spaniel who won in 2009, continued his dotage at the home of his handler in Houston. Sadie, the Scottish terrier who won last year, made appearances at the Macy's Flower Show and a few other events before retiring to give birth to a litter of puppies, said David Frei, the kennel club's director of communications. "It was time for her to go do something else," he said.

Hickory appears to be headed down a similar path. Lloyd and the dog's owners, who live in Flint Hill, Virginia, have said they plan to breed her this year, and although Lloyd said they would like to participate in some events, Hickory has a major limitation: She does not fly.

The New York Times