The breed has taken the top title at the famous dog show -- its 150th anniversary -- five times. Cota, a Chesapeake Bay retriever, was reserve best in show.
NEW YORK -- A Doberman pinscher named Penny was awarded best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Tuesday night, the fifth of its breed to take the title of top dog.
"You can't attribute it to one thing, but she's as great a Doberman as I've ever seen," said his handler, Andy Linton, who previously won best in show 37 years ago and had hoped for a second victory, adding, "I had some goals, and this was one of them."
Four-year-old Penny -- who won the working group earlier in the evening -- competed in the final round against Zaida, an Afghan hound; Cookie, a Maltese; JJ, a Lhasa apso; Cota, a Chesapeake Bay retriever; Wager, a smooth fox terrier; and Graham, an Old English sheepdog. None of the selected dogs had ever previously advanced to best in show.
The last time a Doberman won the top title, when Linton won with Indy, was in 1989.
"They often say, 'What a great lineup,'" said best in show judge David Fitzpatrick before announcing the winner. "But this one will go down in history."
Second place, reserve best in show in Westminster lingo, went to the Chesapeake Bay retriever, which is nicknamed the "made in America" breed.
As each of the finalists returned for judging, Madison Square Garden was lit up in purple. Shortly before she won the grand prize, Penny -- or "monkey," as her owners call her -- galloped around the room, as the announcers praised her "perfect stance" and arched neck. "She's a wonderful dog, she's friendly," Linton said at the news conference after Penny's win. "Any one of you could come up here and she'd try to get you to pet her, but if you were a burglar, you wouldn’t come in our house. So, she’s got that character that a Doberman’s supposed to have."
Judging took place in Madison Square Garden, the longtime home of the competition, which celebrated a milestone 150th anniversary. The very first Westminster featured about 1,200 dogs of 35 breeds; this week's show has 2,500 across 212 breeds and varieties.
"The goal of everybody that you saw hanging on to a leash this week is to win this," said Linton. "This is our Super Bowl. This is our NBA Finals."
The title of "best in show" was created in 1907 and was first awarded to a smooth fox terrier; with 15 trophies, wire fox terriers are the breed that has won the title the most. This year saw the Danish-Swedish Farmdog join the show as the 202nd breed eligible, represented by a petite tan and white dog named Millie.
Fitzpatrick, a Pekingese handler by trade, assessed the animals based on the American Kennel Club breed standards, the organization's guide to how each breed should ideally appear, move and behave. To whittle the thousands of dogs into the finalists, other judges looked at seven specific groups, such as the terrier group, sporting group, hound group, toy group, non-herding group and non-sporting group.
Monday night's competition featured a presentation of "Westminster legends," finalists and winners who have become fan favorites over the years, including Striker the Samoyed (working group champion in 2021 and 2022), Daniel the golden retriever (sporting group winner in 2020) and Louis the Afghan hound (2024's hound group champion). Monty, the giant schnauzer who won last year's competition, also took a celebratory lap around the ring.
On Saturday, dogs competed in agility and flyball, a fast-paced dog relay race. During a commercial break in Tuesday's presentation, the live MSG audience saw a performance by Christian and Scooby, an Instagram-famous acrobat-Chihuahua pair.
Westminster also paid tribute to the actress Catherine O'Hara, who died last week. O'Hara played Norwich terrier owner Cookie Fleck in the 2000 Christopher Guest film "Best in Show," which gently lampooned dog show culture.
"When I first saw it, I was highly insulted. I thought, 'Oh my God, they're making fun of us,'" said Fitzpatrick in an interview with Town & Country. "And then when I saw the second, third, and fourth and fifth time, I just laughed hysterically and I thought, yeah, that's us."