Sage beat out a talented field, including Monty, a giant schnauzer that was in the final group for a second consecutive year.Credit...Amir Hamja/The New York Times
Sage, an extravagantly coifed miniature poodle with a certain winsome mystery about her, won the 148th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Tuesday night, prevailing over a tough field of competitors including a majestic German shepherd, a silken Afghan hound and a proud giant schnauzer.
The competition began with some 2,500 dogs from more than 200 breeds, then eventually pared down to a field of seven group champions who vied against each other for the top prize. The best-in-show judge, Rosalind Kramer, who remained sequestered during the proceedings so that she could emerge fresh for the final round, selected Sage over what she called an “absolutely glorious” lineup of dogs.
Sage, a 3-year-old bitch whose full name is GCHG Ch Surrey Sage, was a surprise win. Before the show, which was held for a second consecutive year at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens, she was ranked just 39th of all show dogs on the country — based on points amassed in previous shows — and only fourth in her group, non-sporting dogs. But she had something about her.
Like all show poodles, Sage appears to be about 75 percent hair, with a sumptuous coiffure that rises to a huge pouf above and around her head, surrounds her body in a kind of puffball, and reappears again as topiary-ed pompoms on the end of her tail and at the bottom of her skinny legs, as if she is wearing après-ski boots. She trots daintily, as if running was slightly beneath her.
It was the 11th time a poodle of one size or another has won the competition. In 2020, the title was won by Siba, a standard poodle; in 2002, it was won by Spice, another miniature poodle who happens to be Sage’s great-grandmother. Sage (and Spice’s) handler, Kaz Hosaka, said that this was his 45th Westminster and that it was time for him to retire.
Mr. Hosaka, who is known for his poodle hairdressing expertise, — a Times profile in 2009 called him “an artist who tends his poodles’ poufs as if they were bonsai trees from his native Japan” — carried Sage into the ring for the best in show competition, and again into the post-show news conference, positioning her in front of a yellow-and-purple ribbon twice the length of her body. “She’s heavy,” he said.
“I was not expecting anything,” Mr. Hosaka, 65, said. “She did it for me today.”
He said that Sage, too, would retire now that the show is over. He plans to go to happy hour more often, he said, and Sage will finally be allowed to venture outside in the rain without anyone worrying about what it will do to her hairstyle. “She’ll be like a normal dog.”
Mr. Hosaka has a towering reputation in the dog world for his way with poodles. A recent article in Edge, a lifestyle magazine, said that Mr. Hosaka “is to the poodle world what Michael Jordan is to basketball. Smooth, clever, elegant and nearly unbeatable.”
Reserve best in show — Westminster’s title for second place — went to Mercedes, a German shepherd, who won the herding group and was a crowd favorite because of her flashy good looks and the graceful and ebullient way she loped around the ring. Monty, a dark and dignified giant schnauzer who won the working group, came into the show the No. 1 ranked dog in the country and had been considered a favorite to win before Sage’s surprise victory.
Other finalists were the winner of the hound group, Louis, a 6-year-old Afghan hound with such silky hair he looked like an animate shampoo commercial; Comet, a 3-year-old Shih Tzu who won the toy group and who sported a fetching blue bow in his hair; Micah, a spry black cocker spaniel, who defeated a formidable field of pointers, setters and retrievers to take the sporting group; and Frankie, the colored bull terrier who won the popular, if crowded, terrier group.
May 14, 2024, 11:10 p.m. ET
Sarah Lyall
Reporting from Arthur Ashe Stadium
It was a surprising end to a dog show full of twists and turns. Monty, a giant schnauzer, the top-ranked dog in the United States, was considered the odds-on favorite to win, but he didn’t even make it into the top two.
My grandmother had a (non-toy) poodle when I was little. He normally had normal hair, but once he got one of those pouffy haircuts beloved of show poodles, with the little balls of topiary everywhere.He was so embarrassed, he ran home and hid under the bed.
May 14, 2024, 10:49 p.m. ET
Matt Flegenheimer
Dogs can’t talk but they have mirrors.
May 14, 2024, 10:47 p.m. ET
Sarah Lyall
Reporting from Arthur Ashe Stadium
The judge has to know the breed standards for all these breeds, and pick which one of these dogs best epitomizes that standard.
May 14, 2024, 10:45 p.m. ET
Sarah Lyall
Reporting from Arthur Ashe Stadium
No giant schnauzer has ever won best in show. Could this be Monty’s night?
May 14, 2024, 10:45 p.m. ET
Matt Flegenheimer
Monty has the measured gait and conspicuous confidence of a clear favorite. No frills, no stray looks at his competition, as if he thinks he has any.
May 14, 2024, 10:43 p.m. ET
Matt Flegenheimer
The German shepherd really does glide. Mercedes almost looks like she’s hydroplaning across the carpet.
Dressed in an elegant blue evening gown, the judge is methodically examining each of the dogs. (Weirdly, the German shepherd is referred to as “The German shepherd dog.”)
May 14, 2024, 10:40 p.m. ET
Callie Holtermann
Reporting from Arthur Ashe Stadium
In the arena, the cheers sounded loudest for the German shepherd and the miniature poodle. Moral of the story: There are different ways to win fans.
May 14, 2024, 10:40 p.m. ET
Sarah Lyall
Reporting from Arthur Ashe Stadium
Even the toy group winner, the Shih Tzu — who does in fact look like a toy, check out the hair — has to arrive in the ring under its own steam!
May 14, 2024, 10:38 p.m. ET
Sarah Lyall
Reporting from Arthur Ashe Stadium
Here’s the Afghan hound, the winner of (obv) the hound group, with the swishiest hair of anyone. The resident supermodel.
There’s been too much hype with Monty the giant schnauzer.
May 14, 2024, 10:37 p.m. ET
Sarah Lyall
Reporting from Arthur Ashe Stadium
And the group winners are coming in! A huge burst of acclaim for the German shepherd.
May 14, 2024, 10:34 p.m. ET
Sarah Lyall
Reporting from Arthur Ashe Stadium
Rosalind Kramer, the best in show judge, just said that this is the most exciting moment of her life. Her husband, as we pointed out before, is described as a “terrier enthusiast” in her official bio. Does she have a special weakness for terriers?
May 14, 2024, 10:32 p.m. ET
Sarah Lyall
Reporting from Arthur Ashe Stadium
The terriers have hustled out the back, in their terrier-like way, and we’re waiting for the final event: the Best in Show competition, pitting the winners of all the different groups against each other. Remember, they’re not giving out awards for who is the prettiest, floofy-est or hardest-working dog, but rather the dog that most perfectly fits the Platonic ideal of its breed. The dogs are not competing against each other so much as competing against an ideal— and the ideal is different for each breed.
May 14, 2024, 10:32 p.m. ET
Scott Cacciola
In a live interview with FS1, Rosalind Kramer, the best in show judge, emphasized exactly what Sarah just noted — that she’s judging based on each breed’s standard. But she said she would also consider “showmanship and personality, becuase that’s what it’s all about.”
May 14, 2024, 10:32 p.m. ET
Matt Flegenheimer
There’s something either genuinely lovely about this idea — be the ideal version of yourself, don’t sweat the competition — or tragically Sisyphean. Who can hope to compete against an ideal? (Okay, it’s getting late.)
Frankie was the final group winner ahead of this year’s best in show judging.Credit...Amir Hamja/The New York Times
The terriers are closely watched at Westminster, for good reason: Their 47 best in show titles make them the most dominant group in the competition.
Frankie, a colored bull terrier,won the group this year (the colors in question being brown, black and white). In just a few moments Frankie will face the crowd favorites Mercedes, a German shepherd, and Comet, a Shih Tzu, for best in show.
The terrier judge, Patricia Anne Keenan, sorted through a squat assembly of terriers of the Australian, Norfolk, Skye, smooth fox and wire fox varieties. (She appeared to be able to tell them all apart.) The crowd went still when a Welsh terrier’s handler tripped and fell, but he was soon back on his feet, tucking a purple handkerchief back into his pocket.
Terriers were originally bred to hunt vermin, but now make good pets, according to the American Kennel Club. Buyer beware: “They can be stubborn; have high energy levels, and require special grooming (known as ‘stripping’) to maintain a characteristic appearance.”
During the competition, the gray Glen of Imaal terrier balanced nimbly on his hind legs while his handler held up a treat. The stunt did not earn him a shot at best in show.
Monty won the working group for a second consecutive year.Credit...Amir Hamja/The New York Times
The winner of the working group at Westminster on Tuesday night was Monty, a dignified giant schnauzer whotriumphed over more than 30 competitors, taking the group for the second year in a row.
Monty is something of a celebrity in the group. He sits atop the Canine Chronicle’s rankings of all breeds, and his father, Ty, won reserve best in show (that’s dog show-speak for “runner-up”) in 2018.
Monty advanced to best in show last year, but lost the top prize to Buddy Holly, a petit basset griffon Vendéen. When it was announced that he would be getting another chance, Monty did not leap onto his handler or gloat in front of the runner-up, a Siberian husky.
“We’re all together, we love our dogs, we’re just trying our best,” Monty’s handler, Katie Bernardin, told the crowd.
Members of the working group were bred to drag sleds and guard property, but at Arthur Ashe Stadium they lined up for assessment by the judge Rick Gschwender in front of a lively crowd. Spectators whooped for the stately St. Bernard and the agile Great Pyrenees.
Despite Monty’s success, it has been two decades since a working group champion has won best in show: A 155-pound Newfoundland named Josh took the prize in 2004.
Striker, a fan favorite in 2021 and 2022, remains a star.Credit...Jonah Rosenberg for The New York Times
I just ran into an old friend: Striker the dazzlingly white Samoyed, a charismatic fan favorite who reached the finals in 2021 and 2022 but sadly failed to win both times (he was robbed, according to his owners).
But Striker has hardly been bitterly licking his paws, or even lounging around in regal idleness, at home in Toronto. This year he returned to Westminster in a new role: as brand ambassador for the canine joint supplement Cosequin, one of the dog show’s sponsors. He has been drawing streams of admirers as he pads regally along the paths, his impossibly fluffy coat practically sparkling in the light. He’s also been posing (and occasionally snoozing) in a special V.I.P. tent.
Marc Ralsky, Striker’s co-owner along with Coreen Pacht, said that Striker has emerged as a kind of dog influencer, so well known that some of his admirers arrived at the show with little gifts for him. Among the items in his haul were a plush toy in the shape of a can of Coca-Cola, a Samoyed-themed key chain and a roll of toilet paper printed with small blue dogs, because Striker is well known (at least to his followers on Facebook) for his affinity for toilet paper.
On Sunday, Striker, who has been staying in a hotel near La Guardia Airport, made a special arrangement to visit Cartier — he would have looked particularly striking against a backdrop of diamonds — but his owners nixed the trip on account of the rain. “We wouldn’t have had time to dry his hair,” Mr. Ralsky said.
Striker has mostly been working hard at what he does best. “He’s a star,” Mr. Ralsky said. “His job is to make people happy.”