Doberman pinscher named Penny wins best in show at the 150th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A Doberman pinscher named Penny won best in show Tuesday night at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, netting U.S. show dogs’ most coveted prize.

Penny bested six other finalists at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Each dog is judged according to how closely it matches the ideal for its breed.

The winner gets a trophy, ribbons, bragging rights and the distinction of winning the milestone 150th annual Westminster show.

The winner came out on top after two days, 2,500 dogs and more than 200 breeds who strutted their stuff at the Westminster Kennel Club. It came down to just seven canines who vied for the prize.

Penny not only gets a trophy, ribbons, and bragging rights but, this year, the distinction of winning the milestone 150th annual Westminster show.

Finalists includes an Afghan hound named Zaida, a Lhasa apso called JJ, a Maltese named Cookie and an old English sheepdog dubbed Graham. Also in the running were a Chesapeake Bay called Cota and a smooth fox terrier called Wager.

Lots of others scored meme-able moments or lightened up the crowd, even if they didn’t make the finals.

Over two nights of semifinals, spectators cheered extra-loud for a Xoloitzcuintli named Calaco, a hairless dog who went around the ring like he had nothing to prove. A vizsla named Beamer charmed the crowd by hopping into a box set out for his handler’s tools, and Storm the Newfoundland got laughs when he jumped up on his handler, standing almost as tall as she. Spectators cheered so loud for a golden retriever named Oliver that they drowned out the arena’s announcer, and chants of “Lumpy! Lumpy!” resounded as Lumpy the Pekingese strolled before a judge.

One dog that made history in the semifinals was Millie, a Danish-Swedish farmdog. The small, spry breed just became eligible for the Westminster show this year, and Millie bested about 10 other farmdogs Tuesday afternoon to get to the evening round.

“It’s been a very exciting journey” to establish the breed in the U.S., said Brita Lemmon, who got her first farmdog in 2000 and competed Tuesday with one named Coyote.

Westminster wins often go to pooches with professional handlers or owners with decades or even generations of experience behind them. But just reaching the elite, champions-only show is a major accomplishment in dogdom, especially for first-timers such as Joseph Carrero and his Neapolitan mastiff, Dezi.

After yearning for a Neo since his teenage years, Carrero finally got one when he was 35. A heavy equipment operator from Indian Springs, Nevada, he started showing the dog only because the breeder wanted him to. Now Carrero himself breeds and handles his Neos in the ring, while also working full-time and then some.

“It’s really hard for us to do this, but we enjoy it, and he enjoys it,” Carrero said as a visitors gathered around to greet the jowly, 190-pound dog.

Boerboels, which are formidable guard dogs originally from South Africa, played a major role in how Natalee Ridenhour met her late husband and why she eventually left metropolitan life for a farm in Royse City, Texas.

On Tuesday, Ridenhour and a Boerboel named Invictus did something else she once would never have pictured: compete at the Westminster show.

The dog didn’t advance past the first round. But as a visitor delightedly petted the 170-pound animal, Ridenhour said, “Honestly, the big win is: You’re about the 50th person who’s gotten down in his face and loved on him.”