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The 146th edition Westminster Dog Show is underway at the Lyndhurst Estate in Tarrytown, NY. Over 3,000 dogs representing 209 breeds will compete for the coveted title of Best In Show.
As is tradition, the award does not come with a cash prize. The winner walks away with just a trophy, bragging rights and the respect of their peers. Last year’s Best In Show, Wasabi the Beijinger, has hung up her leash, meaning a brand new champion will be crowned in 2022.
Before we reveal this year’s standout dogs, let’s take a look at the history of this beloved event.
Westminster: The American Dog Show
Westminster Kennel Club, founded in 1877 by a group of avid dog hunters, is America’s oldest organization dedicated to the sport of purebred dogs. This is the second continuously organized sporting event in the country. Only the Kentucky Derby, which started two years earlier in 1875, preceded it.
The event has survived power outages, snowstorms, a national depression, two world wars, a tug strike and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Fun facts about Westminster:
- Westminster predates the founding of the sport’s governing body, the American Kennel Club, which was established in 1884.
- Westminster’s first TV show dates back to 1948, three years before ‘I Love Lucy’ premiered.
- The dog show has been held at all four Madison Square Garden editions and is currently the only organization to do so.
- Westminster has been held in Madison Square Garden for almost eight years since its existence.
- In 2021 and again in 2022, the show was moved to Lyndhurst Estate in Tarrytown, NY due to COVID-19 issues.
- The Masters Agility Championship held its inaugural trial in 2014 as part of Westminster Week.
Past champions
112 individual dogs won the title of Best In Show, which might seem odd since there have been 145 Westminster Kennel Club dog shows. The discrepancy is due to the fact that several dogs have won several consecutive years.
Most notable is the show’s first-ever Best In Show winner, Warren Remedy, a smooth-coated Fox Terrier who won the award a record three times in 1907, 1908 and 1909. Since then, many dogs have won twice, but neither has matched or surpassed Warren Remedy’s three-year streak.
RELATED: Wasabi The Pekingese Wins Best In Show Award At Westminster Dog Show
Terriers are clearly adored at Westminster, with the group with the most Best in Show wins at 47. No other group comes close. Second-placed Sporting Group have only won 18 Best in Show titles.
Most wins per group
| Band | Number of winners |
| Terrier | 47 |
| Jock | 18 |
| Work | 15 |
| Toy | 12 |
| Not athletic | 11 |
| Dog | 6 |
| Breeding | 3 |
Beloved breeds that have never won Best in Show at Westminster
1. Labrador retriever
According to the AKC’s annual rankings, Labrador Retrievers have been America’s favorite dog for over 25 years, but the breed has yet to win a single Best in Show – or even Best In Group – title!
2. Golden retriever
America’s Third Most Popular Breed began competing at Westminster in 1928, but they never took first place. In fact, they only took Best of Group once – in 2006.
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3. Dachshund
These silly short-legged puppies are loved by millions of Americans, but the nation’s twelfth most popular breed has never won the Best In Show award. However, they have won Best of Group at Westminster on 11 occasions.
4. French Bulldog
While their larger English Bulldog cousins have won Best in Show twice (in 1913 and 1955), the Frenchies have yet to pick up a win. 2022 caused a near miss with Winston the French Bulldog taking second place Title “Book Best in Show”.
5. Rottweiler
A beautiful Rottie named Carter’s Noble Shaka Zulu won the Best in Group award in 2006, but these mighty working dogs have never won the top trophy.
Several other beloved breeds were notably snubbed at Westminster, including:
- Great Dane
- Chihuahua
- Shih Tzu
- Miniature Schnauzer
- Pembroke Welsh Corgi
- Australian shepherd
- Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
- Shetland Sheepdog
- boston terrier
- Dalmatian
This year’s contest
Over 3,000 dogs arrived at Lyndhurst Manor this week to take part in the 146th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. They represented 209 breeds, including two newly recognized breeds: the Mudi, a breed of Hungarian shepherd and the Russian toy.
An additional 350 dogs entered the ring to compete in the 9th Annual Westminster Masters Agility Championships. Established in 2014, this part of the event is open to dogs of all breeds, including pooches (or “All-American Dogs,” as the AKC calls them).
How Judgment Works
A team of skilled judges examine each dog, taking into account traits such as teeth, temperament and agility to determine which dog from each group best represents the ideal or “standard” of their breed. In this first round of judging, dogs compete only against others of their own breed. Depending on the breed, there may be dozens of competitors or just a handful.
Then the winner of each race advances to a semi-final. Here they are judged against others in their “group”, of which there are seven – toys, working, sporting, non-sporting, hunting dogs, sheepdogs and terriers.
Finally, the top dog from each group advances to the final round to compete for Best in Show.
Although the coveted Best in Show title does not come with a cash prize, a donation of $5,000 is made in the name of the Masters Agility Championship winner to the AKC training club of their choice or to the AKC Humane Fund .
An additional donation of $1,000 is being made in the name of the highest-scoring US dog, as well as the four remaining first-place dogs in their size categories.
RELATED: Adorably Distracted Beagle Steals the Show at Westminster Agility Trial
The Winner’s Circle 2022
Trumpet, a 4-year-old Bloodhound co-owned by Chris Flessner, Bryan Flessner, Heather Buehner and Tina Kocar, was the big winner, taking home the Best in Show trophy. He is the first Bloodhound and only the seventh dog in the Hound category to win honors at Westminster.
The father of the trumpet, Nathan, also won dog group at Westminster but never Best in Show.
Here are the additional 2022 winners in each category:
- Dog: Trumpet the Bloodhound
- Toy: Hollywood the Maltese
- Non-athletic: Winston the French Bulldog
- Breeding : River, the German Shepherd
- Jock: Beautiful the English Setter
- Work: Attacking the Samoyed
- Terrier: MM, the Lakeland Terrier
And of course, Bee the Shetland Sheepdog, who won the 9th Annual Masters Agility Championship. Watch his winning run below.
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