Dalmatian CH Fortuna Wins Best in Show at Greater Daytona Fanciers Event

CH Fortuna Give Em' Something To Talk About TKI, a female Dalmatian handled by Milton Lopes, claimed Best in Show at the Greater Daytona Dog Fanciers Association's April 2 show in Elkton, Florida, topping a 503-dog field under judge Ms. Linda Robey.

Read those credentials twice: CH for conformation championship, TKI for AKC Intermediate Trick Dog. That second suffix is the performance story. To earn TKI, a dog must first hold the Novice title, then demonstrate 10 intermediate-level skills without food luring, including directed going to place, catching, and jumping through the handler's circled arms. In a Dalmatian, a breed historically conditioned to run 20-plus miles alongside horse-drawn carriages and built specifically for sustained high-output work, that level of impulse control and handler focus doesn't happen by accident. It's the product of structured daily mental training stacked on top of physical conditioning, exactly the dual-track program that owners of high-drive dogs recognize as the non-negotiable foundation.

Robey, whose roots in Belgian Sheepdogs give her a precise eye for animated movement and working structure, selected Fortuna over the full entry for Best in Show. That call traces a specific athletic arc through a competition day: Fortuna first won her breed, then the Non-Sporting Group, then the final Best in Show ring. Maintaining presence and composure across that full sequence, after what amounts to several hours of travel-to-ring cycles and high-stimulus exposure, reflects physical conditioning and mental steadiness that go well beyond cosmetic show preparation.

The win opened the Ancient City Classic, a four-day all-breed dog show event co-hosted by the Greater Orange Park Dog Club and the Greater Daytona Dog Fanciers Association running April 2 through 5 at the St. Johns County Fairgrounds. Day two drew an even larger 595-entry field, with Linda Hurlebaus selecting GCH Timberblac's Sound Of Music, a Flat-Coated Retriever handled by Roxanne Sutton, for Best in Show on April 3. Hound Group judging on April 2 was assigned to Nikki Riggsbee, with full ring-by-ring placements, reserve winners, and top-four results published within the cluster's regular posting window.

For co-owners M & J Lopes and J Piros, the cluster Best in Show carries the kind of momentum that compounds quickly across a spring circuit: handler credibility, stud or brood visibility, and the positioning that shapes entry decisions heading into nationals. For anyone managing a high-drive Dalmatian of their own, the title stack on Fortuna's registered name is a working model worth studying. The CH and TKI together signal that serious physical conditioning and structured trick-level mental engagement are not competing demands on a working dog's schedule but two essential parts of the same program.