She has style. She has grace. And lots of whiskers on her face. This Lady is a real beauty -- and a real dog.

And tonight, she'll be a contestant, on the "First Annual Miss Dog Beauty Pageant 2003.''

Lady, a 3-year-old Jack Russell terrier owned by longtime dog trainer Tony Cucuzella of Manheim, hopes to trot away with the crown and the title on the one-hour Fox TV special airing at 8 tonight.

Lady hopes to win by more than just a whisker or a hair.

As a representative of the Keystone state, this competitive canine hopes to leave the other 50 contestants with their tongues hanging out.

Maybe the defining moment will be the high-wire act, the trick Lady exhibited on the audition tape Cucuzella mailed to the Encino, Calif.-based production company, LMNO, which originated the pageant and sold it to the Fox network. Or maybe she'll win points with her black, sequined evening gown, fitted by a professional designer.

"The pageant is really more like Miss America than the Westminster Dog Show,'' says Marty Tenney, executive producer of LMNO. "Any dog can enter, not just pedigrees, but its open to mixed breeds, mutts, as long as they display some sort of talent.''

Lady never had any shortage of talent. At first, it was just raw and untapped.

From the moment Cucuzella brought the 1-year-old dog advertised on the Internet home, he could tell she was smart. She was named Mouse, but he promptly renamed her Lady and began to train her.

She was able to learn how to push a baby carriage and walk on a high wire, along with dozens of other tricks.

But star appeal?

Who knew?

Cucuzella did know his "Lady girl'' had the potential to get ahead of the pack. Never mind that the Internet ad also said Lady was an "escape artist'' who needed a fenced yard. It also said she was not your typical Jack Russell. Not hyper.

"She's always wanted to do good,'' says Cucuzella.

Cucuzella heard about the pageant through advertisements for dog trainers on the Internet. He submitted an audition tape.

"We did casting calls around the country, and we allowed people to submit audition tapes,'' says Tenney. "It was unbelievable what Lady did. What she did was off the charts.''

Based on the tape, Lady was immediately chosen to represent Pennsylvania as a contestant. She and Cucuzella were flown out to California to tape the show in February.

"We stayed in a four-star hotel,'' says Cucuzella. "Anything we asked for, we got.''

Both Cucuzella and his girlfriend, Sharon Pitzer, were impressed with Lady's on-stage performance.

The dogs were judged in four categories: beauty, poise, talent and the evening gown competition. Judges were AKC and celebrity dog trainers.

"Lady was just so poised, comfortable, dignified and relaxed,'' says Pitzer.

Cucuzella, who owns three other dogs, spends virtually every waking hour training his canine charges when he's not working full-time at a title company.

"I eat, drink, sleep, walk and talk training,'' says Cucuzella, who trained all the animals for Sight and Sound Theatre's production of "Noah'' and is a former magician with an animal act, performing in comedy clubs up and down the East Coast.

Cucuzella believes in the importance of training, and that many dogs could be kept out of shelters and avoid euthanasia if they were properly trained.

"Training is communication,'' he says. "It's being able to get into the animal's head, get on their level.''

"Everything he does is compared to training, his philosophy of life deals with training,'' says Pitzer.

Although Cucuzella has been sworn to secrecy about Lady's placement in the competition until the program airs, he is quick to say she did extremely well.

Tenney wholeheartedly agrees.

The winner will receive $10,000. There will also be a runner up, Miss Congeniality and Miss Photogenic. The latter two will get $500 and a sterling silver dog bowl.

"Believe me when I say Lady was not No. 51 out of 51,'' says Cucuzella, who has been invited to appear on the Animal Planet's "Pet Star'' talent show, as well as to help train animals on another Animal Planet production.

Will there be more dog beauty pageants in the future?

"There's always "Mr. Dog,' (and) "(Miss) Dog Universe,'/i'' says Tenney, with an entirely serious tone. "And what about Miss Dog World?'' blog comments powered by Disqus