ATTLEBORO -- This year, for the first time in the 132 years of the Westminster Dog Show, a beagle won Best of Show. But it was also a first for the Swedish Vallhund and a formidable achievement for a local woman and her mother.

The ancient Vallhund breed was accredited by the American Kennel Club last June, allowing it to be entered into the prestigious dog show for the first time this year along with three other breeds.

And for Kerstin Ottmar of Attleboro, along with her mother Marilyn Thell of Cranston, R.I. - who first imported and bred the Swedish Vallhund in the United States in the 1980s - it was a debut that marked an effort of many dog years.

They entered three of their dogs in the breed's first competition of the show, held Feb. 11 and 12 in New York. The dogs did not place in the competition but the daughter and mother tried to take it in stride.

"Of course we're disappointed, but it's a dog show. It's subjective," Ottmar said.

They did, however, receive recognition from a number of quarters, including Cheryl Rolfe, who showed the winning entry for that breed. Posted on the Swedish Vallhund Club of America's Web site, Rolfe gave a nod of thanks to Ottmar and Thell "for their dedication to the breed." The site also includes kudos to Thell "for all of her work in the establishment and promotion" of the breed in the U.S. Thell is credited with founding the original Swedish Vallhund Club in 1987. One of Ottmar's and Thell's dogs, Moose, 12, gained national recognition as the oldest dog in the show, and appeared both on NBC's "Today" show and Martha Stewart's syndicated TV show. Moose was retired at the show "because he had reached all of the achievements that we could ask of him in terms of breed competition," Ottmar said. "It was more than we had expected of an older dog competing."

His litter mate, Minnie, will go on to compete in some other shows, Ottmar said. In the meantime, they are bringing up other dogs and continue to promote the breed while also generating interest among young handlers in training, like 15-year-old David Stevens of Attleboro.

Ottmar has been attending Westminster and other dog shows since she was about 5 years old. Her mother, now 77, started out showing Great Pyrenees in the early 1970s. But the duo had to make a decision between whether to breed and show the Great Pyrenees or breed, show and work toward the accreditation of the Swedish Vallhund after Thell suffered a stroke in the 1990s. Ottmar said she chose to carry on for her mother by going with the smaller breed because "it was such an important goal to her."

Thell is still involved with the international Great Pyrenees club, which Ottmar also credits as being one of the biggest supporters in getting the Swedish Vallhund recognized. Thell has suffered four strokes, two of them so serious she had to relearn walking and talking. But she has missed only one national speciality conference on the Pyrenees since 1978, Ottmar said. Every two years Thell goes with others to England, where she first discovered the Swedish Vallhund while attending the Windsor Dog Show.

As Ottmar tells it, her mother saw the flag of Sweden at one of the tents at the Windsor show and, being of Swedish descent, decided to look into the breed. She conducted five years of bloodline research before importing one male and three females to the United States. Moose and Minnie come from the original bloodline, she said.

Thell developed a breed club and entered the dogs in rare breed shows.

The small, powerful, sturdily-built breed dates back to the Vikings when they were brought onto ships for rodent control. On land, they were used as cattle herders.

They can live into their early 20s, said Ottmar, noting the breed almost died out in the 1940s until a Swede helped bring it back. The Vallhunds were introduced into England in the 1970s.

Swedish Vallhunds can go backward as fast as they can go forward, and to watch them perform is awe-inspiring, Ottmar said. They're quick and high energy, requiring mental and physical stimulation and exercise. Ottmar said her mother, possessing mental acumen but limited in her speech, still has final say over what dogs they bred.

Thell smiles when this is mentioned during an interview at the home of one of Ottmar's handlers in training, stroking Noddi, another of their Swedish Vallhunds, at her side. Thell travels everywhere with her daughter and still has no problem being up and ready at 3 a.m. in preparation for a dog show.

Thell's doctors credit her continued involvement with dogs for her recovery from the strokes, recuperating beyond expectations, Ottmar said. Moose actually detected one of her mother's strokes, she noted.

A couple of their dogs are also employed in therapy for others, including residents at the Wrentham Developmental Center, among others in the past.

"The dogs just give us so much," Ottmar said. "People cannot give us what the animals can give us."

SUSAN LaHOUD can be reached at 508-236-0398 or at slahoud@thesunchronicle.com.