Patty Hearst makes headlines again - thanks to her dog

NEW YORK -- Famed and infamous heiress Patty Hearst was back in the news Monday after a dog she co-owns won its group at the Westminster Kennel Club show.

A shih tzu called Rocket was picked as the top toy dog at Madison Square Garden.

On Feb. 4, 1974, the 19-year-old granddaughter of newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst was snatched from her San Francisco apartment by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

She was quickly recruited by the left-wing group and became an accomplice to their crimes. Two months after her kidnapping, Hearst was photographed brandishing a rifle during a bank heist.

Hearst served 21 months before her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter. Her conviction remained on record until 2001 when she was pardoned by President Bill Clinton on his final day in office.

"People move on," she said, smiling at Rocket. "I guess people somehow imagine you don't evolve in your life. I have grown daughters and grand-daughters and other things that normal people have."

She also has appeared in films including "Cry-Baby" and "Serial Mom." She's done television roles and charitable work.

Hearst has been involved in the dog show world for more than 10 years. She said many are surprised to find out she's moved on to play with pooches.

Listed as Patricia Hearst Shaw, she turns 61 on Friday and is one of Rocket's three co-owners. She's mostly worked with French bulldogs and one of them won an award ribbon earlier in the day.

Hearst's dog will be one of seven in the championship ring Tuesday night when best in show is chosen. That will cause her to do some shifting - she didn't originally have tickets for the finals.

Even though Hearst loves dogs, her two daughters own cats.

"I don't know what I did wrong," she said.