The 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show wrapped up yesterday (Feb. 11), and there’s a new champ in town— Monty the Giant Schnauzer.
Winning the prestigious ‘Best in Show’ award at the annual spectacle, the 5-year-old dog Monty became the very first of that breed to ever walk away with the highly-coveted trophy.
This year’s dog show took place at Madison Square Garden earlier this week, marking its first time back in Manhattan for four years. It was previously being held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and Lyndhurst Estate in Queens since it restarted after the pandemic.
Monty achieved glory with the help of her handler, Kate Bernadin, while also representing the Working Group. The gorgeous black dog took down seven other competitors including Bourbon the Whippet of the Hound Group, Mercedes the German Shepherd of the Herding Group, Neal the Bichon Frisé of the Non-Sporting Group, Comet the Shih Tzu of the Toy Group, Freddie the English Springer Spaniel of the Sporting Group, and Archer the Skye Terrier of the Terrier Group.
As a reminder, the ‘Best in Show’ recognition is based on conformance to breed standards with criteria like appearance, movement, and temperament. Dogs are first judged amongst their breed before then being compared to one another, with over 200 breeds and 2,500 dogs competing in the 2025 event.
Along with the highest sought after ‘Best in Show’ award, Monty also waddled away with the ‘Best in Breed’ title for the Giant Schnauzer and the ‘Best in Group’ honor for the Working Group.
According to Westminster Kennel Club’s Instagram, the Giant Schnauzer is set to retire from competitions after reaching this pinnacle, as well as conquering the AKC National Championship last year.