QUEENS, N.Y. – More than 2,500 dogs, consisted of 210 types, contended at the 147th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show today, and an Ohio dog almost won Best in Show honors.
The occasion, hosted May 8-9 at the UTSA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York, narrowed the more than 2,500 dogs down to 7 finalists, each of whom won their group competitors.
Ribbon, an Australian Shepherd from Bloomingdale – a town in east-central Ohio – positioned initially in the Herding Group classification and advanced to the last 7 dogs up for Best in Show honors. And while Ribbon didn’t wind up winning Best in Show, she still made a lot of treats for her outstanding proving.
A petit basset griffon Vendéen called Buddy Holly, in honor of the late rock-and-roll star who was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 1986, was called Best in Show at this year’s Westminster Dog Show.
Ribbon, who contended under her program name Northbay Xsell That’s a Wrap, is referred to as “the fun girl at the party,” her handler Jessica Plourde informed The Associated Press. Her first-place Herding Group surface marked just the 2nd time an Australian Shepherd won the Westminster Herding Group.
The 7 2023 Westminster Kennel Club Dog program group winners are:
- Hound Group: Buddy Holly
- Toy Group: Pequest Rum Dum
- Non-Sporting Group: Fox Canyon’s I Won The War at Goldshield
- Herding Group: Northbay Xsell That’s a Wrap
- Sporting Group: Winchester’s An Apple A Day
- Working Group: Hearthmore’s Wintergreen Mountain
- Terrier Group: Lbk’s Rebel and Proud Party Crasher
