Uno, a 15-inch beagle, became the first of his breed to win the hound group at the Westminster Kennel Club show since 1939.

New York ? Uno barked at his handler, bayed at the crowd, tried to grab his leash and took a flying leap at a piece of filet mignon. Oh, and he gnawed away at a newly printed sign.

Now that’s one great beagle.

His white-tipped tail in perpetual motion, Uno turned the green carpet of Madison Square Garden into his own personal backyard.

On Monday night, he became the first beagle to win the hound group at the Westminster Kennel Club show since 1939 – that’s 483 years, in dog years.

“Snoopy would be proud,” handler Aaron Wilkerson said earlier. “He was being his merry little hound self.”

Westminster has presented best in show 100 times, and a beagle has never won. Uno’s victory assured him a place in the final seven tonight at America’s No. 1 dog event.

Beagles are always among the most popular dogs in the country, yet Wilkerson was at a loss to explain why they’ve never done better here.

“I can’t really say,” he said. “All of them are just good.”

While Uno aimed at best in show, the precocious package of personality certainly deserved one title: noisiest in show.

“Ah-rooo!” his howls echoed all over the arena. It didn’t take much to get Uno going, either. A click of a spectator’s pen, a wave of the judge’s hand, any effort by Wilkerson to hush him. “Ah-rooo!”

A repeat standard poodle, a prize-winning Sealyham terrier and an Australian shepherd also locked up spots in the final ring. A perfectly trimmed toy poodle and a top Akita hoped to win their groups today.

They were among the 2,627 entries at this year’s show, coming in 169 breeds and varieties. Included were four newly sanctioned types – the Tibetan mastiff, Beauceron, Swedish vallhund and Plott.

Also roaming around the rings: a niece of Vivi, the award-winning whippet who ran away at John F. Kennedy International Airport two years ago, and the daughter of Rufus, the colored bull terrier that won the 2006 Westminster with a football-sized noggin.

Though the Disney movie “Underdog” was a big winner last year, a beagle is forever a long shot at the Garden.

Tri-colored and nearly 3, with pleading, golden-brown eyes and a most playful nature, Uno wanted to break out of the Westminster doghouse. His official name is K-Run’s Park Me in First, and he topped 12 other entries in the 15-inch beagle category.