If you’ve never heard of the Westminster dog show, well, it’s like catnip for the canine crowd. It’s America’s most famous and prestigious pageant for the pooch.

Every year it’s broadcast around the world to millions. Who wouldn’t want to watch four-legged perfectly-groomed and perfectly-behaved dogs strut their stuff on the green carpet in Madison Square Garden?

They’re also watching the one “human” in the ring who matters most: The Judge. The person who determines who wins the coveted silver-plated trophy bowl.

In 2014, that honour went to a Canadian, the pride of Salmon Cove, N.L.: Betty Regina Leininger.

And it is indeed an honour to be chosen.

For Betty, it was “like the Super Bowl” she says. Judging the top dogs is a once-in-a-lifetime event.

W5 caught up with Betty in Nashville, Tenn., in a dog show ring quite different from the razzle dazzle of New York City. In an agricultural auditorium with nothing more than a dirt floor there was Betty, who was greeted just like a movie star.

After all she had just judged Westminster and earned her “Oscar.” The ring in Nashville might sound small town for big time Judge, but Betty doesn’t do this for the glamour, quite simply she loves dogs.

Early days

What began as just a hobby the dog’s life has taken her around the world. Not bad for a gal from the Rock who has beaten breast cancer twice and never missed a dog show during a career that has spanned more than three decades.

She did not grow up in a dog show family. It wasn’t until her 20s, when she was gifted a purebred German shepherd, that Betty discovered the world of dog shows.

“I got a taste of winning,“ Betty says, and she was hooked. And though she’s suffered a dog bite or two, married twice and now has an adult son, Betty admits that when it comes to our furry friends she has a “passion for the pooch…every dog that I judge I can look into its eyes and sometimes I can see right to their little souls, I can, I really can.”

As the first Canadian woman to judge the Best in Show category, she had to keep it secret for months. She didn’t even tell her own son.

The only person who knew before it was made public was her best friend who is not the four legged kind. It was Betty’s 95-year-old mother Bertha, who still lives in St. John’s. They speak to one another every single day, no matter where in the world Betty may be.

Friends say Betty brings elegance to the dog ring. And you can see that. Not a hair out of place. At Westminster, dressed in a purple gown designed by the same person who outfits Royalty like Kate Middleton and Actress Helen Mirren, Betty did not disappoint.

She even wore rare yellow-tinged canary diamonds, another “royal” connection – but she refused to divulge the lender of her bling. Gown, heels, makeup and hair, Betty was ready for Prime Time.

No easy feat

There is a lot of pressure judging Best in Show: it’s very competitive and much is at stake. There is no cash prize but the owners can make a lot of money breeding the champion.

So how does she choose the champion? What does it take to be a winner?

It’s tough.

Out of 2,900 dogs, only seven group winners at Westminster are considered “best in breed.” From top to tail, teeth and coat Betty says she looks for something she calls the “X” factor.

She can’t explain it -- she says it just sort of happens. Even when the crowd at Westminster roared and applauded for Nathan the Bloodhound or Matisse, the Canadian-born Portuguese Water Dog , Betty would not be swayed. One dog locked eyes with Betty that said “This is my night.”

Her choice for Best in Show was Skye, the Wire Fox Terrier. She even asked to give her top dog a kiss , planting a smooch on her favorite pooch.

“It was just the way she looked at me and I looked at her little eyes. We locked for a moment. That special moment that’s very difficult to define.” She got to Betty’s heart. Dogs can do that to anyone.

Westminster changed Betty’s world, she’s very much in demand now. From speaking engagements, teaching, book offers, there was even an offer to star in a reality television show. But her salt-of-the-earth work ethic hasn’t changed, and don’t be surprised if you see Betty in the ring at a dog show in a town near you.

W5 airs Saturday @ 7 pm on CTV and @ 10 pm on CTV 2.