The 2021 AKC Trick Dog winner has been announced, and he put on a super pawformance. (We couldn’t resist, as we’re big fans of superheroes around here.)
Eli, a Miniature Poodle owned by Leslie Gelesh of Akron, Ohio, was named as the 2021 AKC Trick Dog winner in the third annual competition, which was held virtually this year due to the pandemic, which continues to wreak havoc across the dog sports calendar.
143 entries from the United States, Canada and Turkey were submitted, as the contest was limited to Elite Performers, the highest classification of Trick Dog rankings.
“This performance was a joy to watch,” Mary Burch, AKC Family Dog director, said in a press release. “Eli’s routine included a number of advanced tricks and he was able to perform tricks with minimal cues from his handler. A dog who works so happily shows the bond that can result from training.”
The 2021 AKC Trick Dog winner has been named.
Eli’s performance was titled “Batman Furever,” and it can be viewed here. The impressive editing, voiceover and over-the-top comic book graphics all greatly added to the fun of the show as well, as the tricks were edited together to fit the story pawfectly.
Other finalists included Maddie of Altoona, Wisconsin, who has handled by Muriel McMullen, and Brio the mixed breed of Minooka, Illinois, who was handled by Faye Roche.
“It was such a pleasure to judge these remarkable dogs and handlers,” judge and veterinarian Lee Cera said in a press release, adding that it was a close race to pick the winner.
To learn more about the canine sport of Trick Dog, see the AKC website for more information.
For more news, reviews, opinions and more when it comes to all things superheroes within the FanSided Network, see our sister site Bam Smack Pow for all the latest.
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CLEVELAND — A northeast Ohio dog and his handler are getting national recognition for winning a prominent trick dog competition.
What You Need To Know
Eli and his dog mom, Leslie Gelesh, won the 2021 American Kennel Club Virtual Trick Dog Competition
Gelesh and her husband used an edited Batman story to demonstrate the various tricks Eli can do
The miniature poodle also performs at nursing homes as a therapy dog
It was a hard day's work for Eli and Leslie Gelesh at the All Breed Training Club-Akron after putting a miniature poodle’s talents on display.
“You might start really small and you might take a treat and lure them,” Gelesh explained while using a treat to lure Eli through her legs.
Eli has a wide range of tricks from playing the piano to a ring toss and even saving "Gotham City" as the caped crusader with his brother Chip.
“I’ve had dogs my whole life, but never trained one before. He’s the first one I ever trained. And I’m not a professional trainer. I’m a homebody,” said Gelesh.
This retired dog mom got Eli when he was over a year old. He’d already started training, so she thought she’d give it a try and take him to the next level.
When she started getting involved in the AKC Virtual Trick Dog Competition, she thought a Batman storyline she dubbed "Batman Furever" that includes rescuing the Pink Panther would be the best way to show off his talents, while also creating a new hobby.
“I just love it. You know, it’s good for the dog. It’s fun for me. I’s creative. You know, sometimes a trick doesn’t work and you have to come up with an alternate plan on how to get the dog to understand what it is your asking him to do. But, you know, it’s a brain game for me. It’s a brain game for him,” she said.
After calling it a session, Gelesh loaded up Eli and Chip and headed home, where there’s not just a Batmobile, but also evidence of Eli’s recent first-place finish for the national competition. It’s a win Gelesh and Eli are very proud of.
“When I didn’t win the first time, which was probably an unrealistic expectation, then I thought, ‘Well, I can tune this up and do it again’. So, we pulled out all the stops. We did all kinds of tricks, we did — we added everything we could think of into it and 'boom!' Here we are, No. 1 trick dog in the country,” Gelesh said with a smile.
Eli’s work doesn’t stop at the competitions. He also performs at nursing homes, brightening the day of others as a therapy dog and bringing joy to people the way he’s brought joy to his dog mom.
“They are so much fun and they are so active and interesting and they’ve made so many friends for me,” said Gelesh. “Everywhere I go, people connect with me through them and it’s really been a great pleasure of my life.”
This poodle might not have super powers, but he has a talent for tricks and putting smiles on faces.
Put together a Dutch baby with bacon and Camembert, to eat with a glass of something bubbly.
Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Good morning. Greetings from isolation on this final day of what was for many an unsettling, un-fun year. There’ll be no Champagne and caviar for me tonight, no elegant roast, no countdown to 2022. I might tie some flies, listen to an old Ry Cooder show. Quarantine and testing, here’s to auld lang syne.
I hope that’s not the case for you. I hope you’re safe and happy in the embrace of family or friends, that you’ve got a good and safe plan for celebrating, that maybe you’ll look around in the fridge and be able to put together this Dutch baby with bacon and runny Camembert (above) to eat with cocktails, before something grand for dinner and the wait for the ball to drop.
But maybe not. Maybe you, like so many, like me, have been caught up in the spread of the omicron variant and find yourself in seclusion either with those you live with or all alone, and wondering if a peanut butter sandwich might be the best option for this evening (on warm toast, with chile crisp and pickles), or if a baked potato might be more festive (fully loaded, please!).
Me, I hauled a couple of pork chops out of the freezer the other day — beautiful heritage pork, red and marbled with fat, off an animal that took yoga and read poetry and had only one bad day in its life — and could see my way to making pork chops in onion gravy tonight. There’ll be enough meat left over for a pork chop po’ boy on New Year’s Day, the meat cut off the bone and heated through in the leftover gravy, to put on a toasted hero roll with cold shredded iceberg lettuce and a few dollops of hot sauce. I’m living large.
We have many thousands more actual recipes to cook tonight, tomorrow and tomorrow’s tomorrow waiting for you on New York Times Cooking. You do need a subscription to access them, it’s true. Subscriptions support our work. I’m so thankful to you if you’ve already secured one. If you haven’t, I hope you will consider subscribing today. Thanks.
And please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if something kooky happens while you’re cooking or preparing to cook. We’re at cookingcare@nytimes.com. Someone will get back to you. (You can also write to me, if you’re particularly exercised or just want to say hello: I’m at foodeditor@nytimes.com. I read every letter sent.)
Now, it’s nothing to do with tournedos Rossini or a salmon and caviar croque monsieur, but I’m dipping into “Yellowstone” on Peacock and enjoying the scenery. The show itself? “Bloodline” crossed with “Succession” crossed with “Sons of Anarchy,” with some “Dynasty” and “The Sopranos” in there, too.
I’ve had Gilbert Cruz’s “The Essential Stephen King” bookmarked since he published the guide in 2020. I wanted a great crime novel and Gilbert delivered: King’s “The Outsider,” my very first King. (Literally, my first. I’m working up to the scary stuff.)
It is old-school travel writing of the sort that you don’t see very often these days, but Ben Lerwill’s visit to Devon, on Britain’s southeast coast, for National Geographic, introduced me to the term coasteering, which looks pretty cool.
Finally, for Katy Tur and the rest of the fans who won’t be at Madison Square Garden tonight because the shows were canceled, here’s Phish on New Year’s Eve back in 2018, “Mercury” into “Say It to Me S.A.N.T.O.S.” Noodly noodly! Have a wonderful holiday and I’ll see you on Sunday.
If there's one true thing about the United States, it's this: we love chicken. And why not? Lean chicken breast is one of the easiest proteins to cook, plus it's a blank slate that can be dressed up with herbs, spices, and sauces galore. Even chicken thighs are relatively low in fat when treated right and have their place in a healthy diet.
While fast-food chicken sandwiches and takeout have their role as the occasional weeknight solution, it's worth your sanity—and your health—to keep some easy, healthy chicken recipes on hand. To make it easy to comb through the multitude of recipes online, we've gathered together our most popular chicken recipes as chosen by our readers.
This chicken pot pie delivers all the flavors you'd expect from this beloved comfort food with a fraction of the fat and calories. No wonder it was the most popular chicken recipe on our site in 2021. If you're curious, here are The Best Recipes of 2021, According to Our Readers.
We love our slow cookers in the U.S. and what better way to put them to use than to make this warming soup. Chicken noodle soup may not cure an illness, but it makes it much easier to bear.
Chicken sings when it's lightly sauteed and then dressed up with a light lemon-butter sauce and a sprinkle of tart capers. This dish is a classic for a reason, give it a try!
Taking the extra steps of marinating the chicken in buttermilk with a dash of hot sauce and seasoning your breadcrumbs with a touch of oil and herbs and spices make all the difference in this popular recipe.
The classic flavors of chicken Parm become a soul-warming all-in-one dish with this easy recipe. Bonus: It's made with meat from a rotisserie chicken so it's perfect for any night of the week.
If you're craving takeout, give this dish with tons of fresh orange flavor a try. You won't miss the sticky, gloppy sauce and you'll feel much better without all of the sodium coursing through your veins.
Well-seasoned breadcrumbs are the key to this simple, oven-fried chicken. Be sure to cook your chicken on a rack set inside your pan to get the best crispy results.
The Instant Pot infuses simple skinless chicken thighs with lemony goodness in less than 20 minutes. Honestly, this is one of the best appliances to add to your kitchen, If you love your slow cooker, it's time for the Instant Pot.
You won't find a touch of cream in this healthier version of Alfredo sauce, but with a creamy bechamel sauce base, you won't miss it. A ton of crisp veggies and tender chicken help make this a healthy and filling meal that tastes just as decadent as the calorie bombs you get in restaurants.
The key to cooking healthy is knowing that a little bit of decadence goes a long way. A 1/4 cup of real half-and-half combined with Greek yogurt gives this dish the creaminess you crave without all of the fat and calories. Garlic, shallot, and sherry infuse the mushrooms with intense flavor.
Use your slow cooker to get all the spicy flavors of the enchiladas you crave without all the work. You can customize the spice in this dish to your liking.
Do you sense a comfort food theme with these recipes? Comfort food classics like this warming dish of chicken and dumplings struck a chord throughout 2021. All of our recipes, of course, have a healthy spin so you can feel good about your choices.
Greek salads are commonly packed with crisp healthy veggies and this one is no different. Shredded chicken and tangy feta cheese add a hit of protein and chickpeas boost the fiber to make this a filling meal for lunch or dinner.
Takeout fried rice is hardly filling with its little bits of veggies and sorry scattering of protein. In this recipe, we turn leftover rice into a whole new healthy meal by packing in tons of veggies and lean protein. You'll never be satisfied by the stuff in the container again!
Our version of margarita chicken, a meal that you can have on the table in 20 minutes, contains all the same bells and whistles (Cheese! Salsa! Sizzle!), minus all the added calories and dollars spent on eating at a restaurant.
Packed with lean chicken, corn, white beans, and chiles, this warming pot of chili will keep the whole family fed throughout the week. Scatter your favorite toppings over it when you're ready to eat and dig in.
Love chicken fingers? Make the switch to this oven-fried version once a week, and you'll shed 25 pounds (and cut out 210,080 milligrams of sodium) in a year, while still enjoying your favorite childhood food.
