Boxer Muhammad Ali, basketball star Willis Reed and hockey star Mark Messier played to sell-out crowds at Madison Square Garden.

Now a Dalmatian from Weldon Spring gets her chance.

"Indy," whose full name is GCH Insignia IndyGeaux Dotts, and owner Kathryn Ryan-Hogan are in New York this week while Indy competes in the 136th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, which is scheduled to wrap up Tuesday.

Indy was one of nine Dalmatians around the world selected to vie for this year's coveted Best in Show award. The James Mortimer Memorial Sterling Silver Trophy is awarded for the dog winning Best in Show if American-bred.

Based on other competitions throughout the year, the top five ranked dogs in each breed are automatically invited to Westminster. Other owners submit their dog's names to Westminster, and some of those dogs receive invitations. Indy is not ranked in the top five but received an invitation.

Ryan-Hogan didn't want to risk sending Indy to New York on an airplane, so Indy rode to New York with her handler, Paul Catterson. Ryan-Hogan turned over Indy's reins to Catterson for Westminster. Catterson said he's been handling dogs in competitions since 1993. Ryan-Hogan flew to New York on Saturday.

"I think (Indy) feels the excitement," Ryan-Hogan said Friday. "When I packed her bag, I put in treats she likes. When she sees that bag come out she gets excited, and when she sees Paul she jumps in the van and is ready to move out. When she's in the ring, she's happy to be there. She makes great eye contact with the judges.

"I am more excited than nervous," she said. "I'm thrilled with the opportunity. I never thought I'd have a dog in Westminster and I wasn't trying to do it."

Westminster could be considered the Super Bowl of dog competitions. On its website, Westminster claims its competition is the oldest for American pure-bred dogs. Dozens of breeds compete to win Best in Show.

Dalmatians are entered with other breeds in the non-sporting group. Since 1978, the winner of the non-sporting group has been awarded the James F. Stebbins Trophy. In 2006, that trophy went to a Dalmatian named Ch Merry Go Round Mach Ten.

Indy's journey to New York began with a Dalmatian breeder in Indianapolis. Ryan-Hogan had another Dalmatian for 16 years and began looking for another dog of the same breed after her first Dalmatian died. The breeder from Indianapolis told Ryan-Hogan she had 'show breed" puppies.

"I didn't know what I was starting," Ryan-Hogan said.

Bright lights, big city

Indy got to stretch her legs in Manhattan when Catterson took her out for a walk Friday morning. Catterson said that natural to a Dalmatian's breed, Indy is full of energy and doesn't take well to being penned up.

Catterson, 33, of Cameron, Mo., said his mom brought home his family's first show dog when he was 10. He's been showing Indy for two years. Ryan-Hogan said Indy shows better for men and that most dogs in the Westminster competition are shown by professional handlers.

"I don't feel like I have to be in the ring to get the enjoyment of my dog," Ryan-Hogan said. "When I really want her to be her best Paul does a better job. That's his vocation."

Win or lose, Catterson said he's paid the same amount to handle dogs during competitions. In 2009, Catterson won the Toy Group competition at Westminster while handling a Brussels Griffon. Having Catterson handle Indy, Ryan-Hogan knows she has someone who knows the ins and outs of the competition, what the judges look for and how to get the dog to compete at its highest level.

Catterson said Indy has a chance to win her breed group.

"She's a great show dog," Catterson said. "Some dogs live for it. Indy enjoys attention and being in the ring. You can have the most beautiful dog and if they don't like being in the competition, you'll have an uphill battle."

Support back home

For more than a century, Dalmatians have been mascots, service animals or protectors for fire departments across the country. During the days of horse-drawn fire carriages, Dalmatians were used to protect equipment when firefighters battled a blaze, or the dogs ran alongside the horses to make them run faster to the fires.

Ryan-Hogan said Indy has visited fire stations in the Cottleville Fire Protection District and Central County Fire and Rescue District in St. Charles County, as well as the West County Fire District in St. Louis County. Indy's visits typically are to help promote fire safety.

Using funds from competitions Indy competed in, Ryan-Hogan last March donated four pet oxygen masks last to the Cottleville fire district.

Cottleville Assistant Fire Chief Scott Freitag said his department hasn't had to use the pet oxygen masks, but that members of the department and community wanted to express their thanks for having Indy help out.

"It's been great because parents and kids think of Indy as a fire department dog and that adds to everything that's going on," Freitag said.

When Cottleville firefighters respond to a fire, as much effort is put into saving a family's pets as the people who own them, Freitag said. Having the pet masks will help firefighters do their jobs.

Freitag said once all the people have made it outside and clear of a fire, they should wait for the firefighters to re-enter the building to search for and rescue pets.

"Dogs and cats have different facial features, and it is our responsibility to save pets from a burning building," Freitag said. "People are just as distraught when their pets are in a burning building. It's our job to provide medical care appropriate for pets, and the (pet oxygen masks) that fit their faces allows us that care."

Ryan-Hogan said Dalmatians are known as a 'silly breed of dog" because they seem to have a slack-jawed smile on their faces and their tongue usually is hanging out one side of its jaw.

But no matter how Indy does at Westminster, there's nothing silly about what she means to her community, handler or especially Ryan-Hogan.