She was here and then she was gone.
Vanish the border collie has won the Masters Agility Championship at the 2025 Westminster Kennel Club dog show.
The dog, guided by her owner-handler, Emily Klarman of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, made short work of obstacles like weave poles, tunnels and a teeter without an ounce of hesitation.
She finished her run in just 24.69 seconds at the Javits Center in New York Saturday as the agility contest aired live on Fox.
Border collies, which are part of the herding group at Westminster, have now won the competition nine out of 12 times. Vanish, 8, won the 16-inch class before becoming agility champion.
Agility dogs compete in various height classes, or divisions, at Westminster — from 8-inch to 24-inch.
The winners of the other height classes are as follows:
*Gabby, a papillon from Cape Coral, Florida, won the 8-inch class with a run of 30.05 seconds
*Swindle, a Shetland sheepdog from Centerburg, Ohio, won the 12-inch class with 26.91 seconds
*Shelby Cobra, a border collie from Newington, New Hampshire, was fastest in the 20-inch class with 27.57 seconds
*Sterling, a Weimaraner from Huntington Beach, California, topped the 24-inch class with 34.67 seconds
Westminster representatives said 42 New Jersey dogs competed at the 12th Westminster Masters Agility Championship, which had a total of 300 dogs participating.
Agility is one of the events at the long-running dog show that allows mixed-breed dogs to compete — the Westminster Kennel Club calls them “all-American” dogs.
Gable, a mixed-breed dog from Lima, New York handled by Kayla Feeney, was recognized as the highest-scoring all-American dog in this year’s competition with a time of 48.89 seconds.
In 2024, a border collie-papillon mix named Nimble became the first all-American, or non-purebred dog to become agility champion at Westminster.
Agility finalists entered the ring Saturday as an overflowing crowd gathered for the dog show’s return to Manhattan after several years.
When COVID-19 hit, the Westminster Kennel Club dog show moved outdoors and into tents during a warmer season than the customary February date. The dogs and handlers descended upon the grounds of Lyndhurst Manor in Tarrytown.
Later, the show found another home at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens. The 2024 dog show took place there in May — less than a year ago.
The 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show marked the comeback of a Manhattan winter setting, starting with the agility and obedience competitions at the Javits Center.
Just before the agility final, Willie, an Australian shepherd owned and handled by Flemington’s Kathleen Keller, won the Masters Obedience Championship for the second time, having first triumphed in 2022.
READ MORE: Westminster dog show 2025: Obedience champion retrieves win for N.J. (again!), restores state legacy
While Jersey dogs didn’t win the obedience title in 2023 and 2024, they have won the most overall since the event was first included in the dog show 10 years ago, in 2016.
The dog show continues at the Javits Center Monday, Feb. 10 with the first day of breed competition before evening group competition at Madison Square Garden, the traditional home of the dog show. A dog will be named best in show Tuesday, Feb. 11, the second night of group competition at the Garden.
In 2024, Sage, a miniature poodle from Houston, won best in show. See our Westminster viewing guide for tune-in times, free streaming, schedule and ticket information.
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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter/X, @amykup.bsky.social on Bluesky and @kupamy on Instagram and Threads.
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