Tony the dog certainly didn’t expect this.

The small, white, fluffy personable coton de tulear couldn’t sit still with his owners eating at Pacific Blues Cafe in Yountville Friday evening. The distraction: A crowd of people massed around Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani as he headed into the cafe.

Off Tony went, zipping around while Giuliani posed for photos with local voters and tourists. Racing through a forest of legs, Tony quietly sniffed to and fro for attention while Giuliani donned a Yountville baseball hat — setting off camera lenses aplenty.

Napa’s first public event with a hopeful in the 2008 presidential election had begun.

Giuliani was in town to meet local voters and drum up support for his campaign, flanked by local politicians including Napa County Supervisor Bill Dodd and Yountville Mayor Cynthia Saucerman. Dodd said he was Giuliani’s guide while in Napa Valley, and the experience was a first for him.

“This is the first time I’ve ever been involved in a partisan race,” Dodd said.

As Giuliani made his way through the small, mostly outdoor restaurant, he shook more hands and allowed people to take photos of him, sometimes with his arm around their shoulder.

Regional TV crews were on hand following his every step, as well as newspaper reporters from around the region. When Giuliani emerged from the throng of restaurant patrons, he stopped to answer some questions from the press.

What did he think of the proposed initiative that would split the electoral college vote in California, rather than giving all the votes to the winning party — a shift likely to benefit Republicans?

“Seems to me we should go with the rules we have,” Giuliani said. “... If it helps Republicans in one place it’ll help Democrats someplace else.”

What about accusations that he ditched a debate at an historically black college?

“Some people get insulted if you don’t do their debates,” he said, explaining that he had too much to do, especially too much fundraising to do, if he was going to beat the Democratic frontrunner, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York.

“I have the best chance of beating Hillary Clinton,” he said. “I think we can win California.”

Clinton is due in Calistoga Saturday, but don’t look for her to make her appearance as public as Giuliani did.

Clinton is scheduled to be at a private fundraiser at the home of one of her supporters. The Clinton for President campaign declined a request from the Register for a short interview and video shoot similar to Giuliani’s.

“Unfortunately she is not having any public events, so (the interview) is not on her schedule,” said Luis Vizcaino of the Clinton media staff.