The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is the second-longest continuously held sports event in the nation, predating the invention of the zipper and the light bulb. In fact, only the Kentucky Derby is older.
The latest winner of this world-famous canine competition was CH Soletrader Buddy Holly “Buddy Holly” the Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen, 2023’s Westminster Best in Show winner.
Here are 14 of the other past winners of New York City’s famous hometown dog show, which itself has beaten insurmountable odds. But Westminster is no ordinary show — and, as you’ll see from this gallery of past winners, its Best in Show winners are no ordinary dogs.
Best in Show 2023
CH Soletrader Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly the Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen
Buddy Holly is handled by Janice Hayes, bred by Gavin and Sara Robertson, and co-owned by Janice Hayes, Lizzie Cadmore, Cathy Oneill, and Donna Moore. He is the first PBGV to win Best in Show at the Westminster Dog Show.
Best in Show 2022
GCHB CH Flessner’s Toot My Own Horn
Trumpet the Bloodhound
Handled by Heather Buehner, owned and bred by Chris and Bryan Flessner, Heather Buehner, and Tina Kocar, Trumpet is the first Bloodhound ever to win Best in Show at the Westminster Dog Show.
Best in Show 2021
GCH CH Pequest Wasabi
Wasabi the Pekingese
In 2019, Wasabi the Pekingese — bred, owned, and handled by David Fitzpatrick — was the first-ever Toy Dog to win the AKC National Championship. In 2021, the Pekingese won Westminster. Fitzpatrick’s other Pekingese, Malachy, won at Westminster in 2012.
“Like anything in life, things can change in a second,” Fitzpatrick says. “Wasabi went from an unknown dog to a history-making dog.”
GCHP CH Stone Run Afternoon Tea
“Siba” the Standard Poodle
Owned and bred by Connie S. Unger, Siba the Standard Poodle was the fifth of her breed to win Best in Show at Westminster. The last time a Standard Poodle won was in 1991.
Best in Show 2019
“King” the Wire Fox Terrier
King’s Best in Show win made him the 15th Wire Fox Terrier to earn the top title at Westminster. The breed is the winningest at Westminster, followed only by the Scottish Terrier, which has eight wins. King’s handler, Gabriel Rangel, won in 2014 with another Wire Fox Terrier, a female named Sky who, like King, was owned by Victor Malzoni Jr. of Brazil. But King’s win is a “very significant one,” Rangel noted, because of the expertise of the man who judged it. Peter Green of Bowmansville, Pennsylvania, is recognized the world over as an unassailable terrier expert.
Best in Show 2018
GCh. Belle Creek’s All I Care About Is Love
“Flynn” the Bichon Frise
This 5-year-old Bichon Frise is only the second of his breed to win Best in Show there. (The other, J.R., became a household name in 2001 after sitting in the silver-bowl trophy and pumping his paw at admirers.) Flynn’s handler, Bill McFadden, knows the thrill of reaching the pinnacle on Westminster’s signature green carpet: In 2003, he piloted Mick the Kerry Blue Terrier to victory there — a year after the fiery terrier turned in an out-of-control performance that likely cost him the big ribbon and two years after Mick was bested by that powder-puff of a Bichon, J.R.
Best in Show 2017
“Rumor” the German Shepherd
Maybe it’s the pop-culture echoes of Rin Tin Tin, but German Shepherd Dogs are perennial crowd favorites at this show, though they’ve only captured top honors twice. Those who remembered when the aptly named Manhattan won at the 1987 show rejoiced to see this female Shepherd retake the mantle three decades later. Rumor’s win was arguably all the sweeter because she had been thwarted the year before by CJ the German Shorthaired Pointer. Named after a hit song by Adele, Rumor came out of semiretirement to earn this 2017 victory, prompting a rash of inevitable “Rumor Has It” headlines.
Best in Show 2016
“CJ” the German Shorthaired Pointer
Some Westminster wins are dynastic, and this German Shorthaired Pointer is no exception: His grandmother Carlee won Best in Show at the Garden in 2005. The third GSP in the show’s history to earn that honor, CJ was shown by his breeder and owner Valerie Nunes-Atkinson, who is also a prominent West Coast-based professional handler. She has referred to him an “old soul,” though a commanding one, too: She notes that his nickname at home is “the Prince.”
Best in Show 2015
“Miss P” the 15-inch Beagle
As beloved as the Muppets may be, Miss P the Beagle was not named for Miss Piggy, but rather her name is a shorthand for “Peyton.” Born and bred in Canada, the 4-year-old hound was the second Beagle to win at the Garden; the first to break the ice was her great-uncle, the inimitable Uno, who won in 2008. The conventional wisdom was that the 2015 show would be won by a top-winning Bloodhound, but Westminster has a tendency to nurture upsets and upstarts, and Ms. P was no exception.
Best in Show 2014
“Sky” the Wire Fox Terrier
Bred in England to run with Foxhound packs, the Wire Fox Terrier became a symbol of all that was debonair and dashing in the 1930s and ’40s. (See Asta, canine star of the popular “Thin Man” movies starring William Powell and Myrna Loy.) Today, these harsh-coated terriers have lost some of their cultural cache, but at Westminster they continue to reign supreme as the show’s winningest breed, taking Best in Show 15 times. “Sky” was “discovered” by her handler Gabriel Rangel, who spent almost a year convincing Sky’s owner to let him take her on the road. As it is with many show dogs who want to go out on top, Westminster was 5-year-old Sky’s final bow.
Best in Show 2013
GCh. Banana Joe V Tani Kazari
“Joey” the Affenpinscher
Joey the Affenpinscher was among the most cosmopolitan of Westminster winners, born in the Netherlands and understanding commands in English, Dutch, Spanish and German. A continent-hopping show dog, Joey scored the sought-after Triple Crown — Best in Show at the world’s three iconic shows: Crufts, Westminster and the AKC National Championship. This win at Madison Square Garden was the first for his breed, which was developed in Germany in the 1600s and whose name means “monkey terrier.” And, like those supersmart simians, Joey had a mind of his own. “This isn’t a breed you train,” his handler, Ernesto Lara, told The New York Times. “He’s like a human. You befriend him.”
Best in Show 2012
GCh. Palacegarden Malachy
“Malachy” the Pekingese
The second time was the charm for this pear-shaped Pekingese, who won the Toy Group at Westminster in 2011, but lost Best in Show to sprightly Hickory the Deerhound — a study in opposites. While critics on Twitter compared 4-year-old Malachy to a Wookiee and even “Snooki” from “Jersey Shore,” they clearly didn’t appreciate this breed’s royal roots: Pekingese warmed the laps of Chinese emperors for centuries. Insider insight: Knowledgeable judges will gently lift a Pekingese during the examination on the table to ensure the dog has the desired density of bone and substance.
Best in Show 2011
GCh. Foxcliffe Hickory Wind
“Hickory” the Scottish Deerhound
“The most perfect creature of heaven” is how this ethereal Sighthound was described by Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott, one of the famous owners of the breed; another was General George Armstrong Custer, who hunted buffalo with them on the Great Plains. The Scottish Deerhound’s springy, floating gait helped it traverse the heather-covered Scottish moors, and its harsh coat protected against the cold and mist. Six-year-old Hickory’s win was the first ever for her breed at Westminster, and she retired after the show to go on to her next career — motherhood.
Best in Show 2010
Ch. Roundtown Mercedes of Maryscot
“Sadie” the Scottish Terrier
No doubt about it: Westminster is terrier territory. Those scrappy earth dogs have won 46 of the show’s 112 Best in Shows — more than 40 percent of them. Focusing on individual terrier breeds, Scottish Terriers like Sadie have won Westminster eight times, second only to Wire Fox Terriers. While Westminster has a reputation as something of a “giant killer” show — dark, um, horses will often triumph there, despite the conventional wisdom — 4-year-old Sadie started the show as the odds-on favorite and sailed right to the finish.
Best in Show 2009
Ch. Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee
“Stump” the Sussex Spaniel
The Sussex Spaniel is supposed to embody the three L’s — long, low and level. And those proportions are what gave Stump his name: He evokes a furry brown log, or tree stump. At 10 years of age, Stump was the oldest dog to go Best in Show at the Garden, after surviving a near-fatal infection years before. His breeder, Doug Johnson, scored another first with this win, being the only person to breed two Westminster winners of different breeds. (The other winner, in 1996, was “Brady,” a Clussexx-bred Clumber Spaniel, which explains the kennel’s portmanteau: Clumber + Sussex = Clussexx.)
Best in Show 2008
Ch. K-Run’s Park Me In First
“Uno” the 15-inch Beagle
Arguably, no other Westminster winner earned quite the celebrity of this bugling Beagle, who traversed the country to visit the White House, ride on a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and visit veterans as a certified therapy dog. The first of his breed to win Best in Show at Madison Square Garden — accompanied by the roar of the New York City crowd, which delighted at his impromptu howls — Uno died this September at 13 years old, prompting obituaries in some of the nation’s largest newspapers.