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Monty, a Giant Schnauzer, was named Best in Show at the 2025 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Tuesday.
The winner of the Working Group for the past three years at Westminster, Monty becomes the first Giant Schnauzer ever to win Best in Show at the prestigious contest.
Monty’s triumph broke a long drought for the Working Group, which hadn’t produced a Best in Show winner at Westminster since 2004.
The five-year-old Giant Schnauzer was also awarded Best in Show at the AKC National Championship in December.
“He always tries so hard, and I’m so proud of him,” Monty’s owner and handler Katie Bernardin said to Fox Sports 1, choking back tears after the big win.
“Puppy did the damn thing!”
In pictures: The 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
The Westminster Dog Show, celebrating its 149th edition this year, is the second-oldest continuously held sporting event in the US behind only the Kentucky Derby.
According to organizers, the show sees around 3,000 dogs from around the world descend on New York City to compete in the annual competition.
The Best in Show prize is the most coveted award at the long-running competition and is chosen by a single judge. This year’s judge, Paula Nykiel, had to decide between the winners of the respective seven varying groups.
The seven groups are: Herding, Hound, Non-Sporting, Sporting, Terrier, Toy and Working – made up of various breeds and varieties of canines.
Reserve Best in Show, the designation for the first runner-up, went to a nine-year-old Whippet named Bourbon, who had come out of retirement to enter the competition this year. This was Bourbon’s third Reserve Best in Show win at Westminster.
This year, the pageantry and spectacle returned its usual February scheduling and was brought back to its original 1877 host venue of Madison Square Garden in New York – then known as Gilmore’s Garden.
The competition changed location in 2021 following the Covid-19 pandemic before returning to MSG this year ahead of next year’s 150th anniversary.
“I’ve always loved all the history and tradition that is Westminster,” Nykiel told the sell-out crowd before naming the Best in Show winner.
“I’m sure everyone here tonight is as happy as I am for Westminster to be back in Manhattan, and here at the iconic Madison Square Garden.”
Dates for the 150th anniversary event in 2026 have yet to be announced.
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