Penny the Doberman Pinscher outshines the field to claim Best in Show at 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show

By Kevin Dotson, CNN

(CNN) — Penny the Doberman Pinscher was named Best in Show at the 2026 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Tuesday.

The competition as stiff, and as the seven finalists took one last lap around the arena, the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.

The New York crowd seemed to reserve their loudest cheers for the four-year-old Doberman Pinscher, and in the end, she prevailed and became the 42nd female to win the prestigious Best in Show award. It marked the fifth time a Doberman has taken the top prize at Westminster.

Emerging from the Working group, Penny beat out 2,499 other canines spread across seven different groups containing 204 total breeds to win the coveted prize.

“She is as great a Doberman as I’ve ever seen,” said Penny’s handler Andy Linton, who was also the handler of the last Doberman Pinscher to win Best in Show at Westminster 37 years ago in 1989.

The 150th edition of the America’s oldest continuously-held dog show (and second-oldest sporting event in the country behind the Kentucky Derby) was once again staged in New York City at famed Madison Square Garden in Manhattan.

The Best in Show winner is chosen by a single judge. This year’s judge, David Fitzpatrick, had to decide between the winners of the respective seven varying groups – Herding, Hound, Non-Sporting, Sporting, Terrier, Toy and Working.

Fitzpatrick awarded Reserve Best in Show to Cota the Chesapeake Bay Retriever, winner of the Sporting group.

“You know they often say ‘what a great lineup,’” Fitzpatrick said of the finalists. “But this is one that will go down in history.”

The remaining group winners were:

Herding group: Graham the Old English Sheepdog

Hound group: Zaida the Afghan Hound

Non-sporting group: JJ (short for Jingle Juice) the Lhasa Apso

Terrier group: Wager the Smooth Fox Terrier

Toy group: Cookie the Maltese

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