TODAY | June 29, 2011
>> it gives me goose bumps . that was the big moment at the sonoma-marin fair in california. yoda is here with us this morning along with her owners, teri and nicole. my heartfelt congratulations. let's give the backstory. this was kind of a sad thing. wasn't this dog found in a bag in kind of a lot?
>> yeah.
>> so someone clearly didn't want yoda .
>> yeah, i guess not. they never claimed her.
>> but it's a story with a happy ending. when you first laid eyes on yoda , did you see big things in her future in terms of ugly dog competitions?
>> no. when i first laid eyes on her, i saw big things in terms of getting her to the doctor.
>> you thought yoda was a rat at first, right?
>> there's all kinds of -- i thought she was bringing me a dead field rat.
>> nicole, when your mom said, put the dog down -- well, she didn't know what it was, but what did you -- why did you insist on keeping it?
>> i don't know.
>> you were just a little girl .
>> i was little and i was, like, crying. i wanted her. i don't know why.
>> why does yoda keep her tongue out like that, by the way?
>> she always has-now that she's gotten older, she has no teeth.
>> oh, so it just falls out. there's nothing to hold the tongue in. so you hear about this competition, and you entered. did you think you were a shoo-in or that you were going to face tough competition?
>> honestly, i was going just for the experience, more or less. i figured maybe she might get a ribbon and that would be nice.
>> and you got more than a ribbon. you got this trophy here that's, what, about ten times -- well, more than that, i think, bigger than she is. and also i think you got some time of monetary award as well. and you got to be on the "today" show. so if i gave you a coupon that said you could have a free jill rappaport makeover for yoda so she would no longer be the ugliest dog , would you take that coupon? or do you like her as she is?
>> we love her just like she is.
>> that's good because i don't think you could do anything with her. jill's pretty good, but i'm not sure. anyway, what's in the future? are you going to enter more competitions?
>> i'll definitely go to next year's.