Blog

11:12: BEST IN SHOW goes to the bloodhound, Trumpet! First bloodhound to win Westminster.

French bulldog Winston gets reserve best in show.

10:53: Will it be the Frenchie? The Samoyed? The bloodhound? The Maltese? The German shepherd? Best in show awaits.

10:29: The Lakeland terrier, MM, wins the terrier group!

10:12: ANOTHER JERSEY ALERT! Joe the Norwich terrier is from Flemington, the town that is also home to this year’s obedience winner, Willie.

10:02: JERSEY ALERT! Flynn the Irish terrier is from Annandale.

9:58: The wire fox terrier is the breed with the most best in show wins (15) at Westminster.

9:52: The cairn terrier — the same breed as Toto from “The Wizard of Oz.”

9:49: What I like to call the “Spuds MacKenzie” part of the evening. Bull terriers on parade!

9:31: Striker the Samoyed wins the working group for the second year! Just the terrier group left before best in show.

9:25: Striker, the Samoyed from Toronto, was the 2021 winner in the working group. And the Malamute continues to howl … the dog’s own running commentary!

9:14: If we didn’t have the mastiff, we wouldn’t have the boxer, the bulldog, great Dane and more … but look at the mastiff! If you can distract yourself from the howling Malamute.

9:10: Check out Addie the Komondor with handler Ernesto Lara. Lara won best in show with affenpinscher Banana Joe in 2013.

8:54: JERSEY ALERT! The dogue de Bordeaux, Izzy, is from Summit!

You may recognize this breed from “Turner & Hooch.”

Izzy is handled by Valerie Nunes-Atkinson, who won best in show at Westminster with CJ the German shorthaired pointer in 2016.

8:48: The working group is underway with some of the most treasured big dogs, including Cuervo, the Bernese mountain dog, and another Belle, the boxer.

Then there’s Ben the bullmastiff! Who could ever hate that face?!

8:28: Here we see a recap of the 2022 Masters Obedience Championship at Westminster, which happened Monday.

This year’s winner — Willie, an Australian shepherd owned and handled by Kathleen Keller of Flemington — continued the great tradition of Jersey obedience wins.

Only dogs from New Jersey have emerged victorious since obedience was added to the dog show in 2016.

A lot of that is because of the astounding five-year run from Heart, the Labrador retriever handled by obedience trainer Linda Brennan from Columbia, Warren County — see our profile of the winning team from 2020. After five years, Heart and Linda retired the trophy.

8:20: Belle, the English setter, gets it! The dog wins the sporting group.

The last time an English setter won Westminster was 1938.

8:18: Vizslas are too cool. Trek is no exception.

8:15: That’s “parti-color” coat, not “party color.” Just FYI.

8:10 p.m.: As we move ahead in the sporting group, we’re in the thick of the spaniels.

This year’s top Boykin spaniel, Guido, is from Florida. Westminster Kennel Club spokeswoman Gail Miller Bisher notes that Montclair’s own Stephen Colbert, host of “The Late Show,” owns one, too.

–––––

Earlier: Welcome to the 2022 Westminster dog show live blog.

Here we’ll be noting all the action from the sporting, terrier and working groups to best in show at the 146th Westminster Kennel Club dog show at Lyndhurst estate in Tarrytown, New York.

Last year, the victor of the toy group, a Pekingese named Wasabi, won best in show.

For the second consecutive year, the dog show, airing on FS1 (Fox Sports 1), had to move from Madison Square Garden to the grounds of the Westchester County estate, and change seasons from winter to summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

First up tonight is the sporting group. But breed competition has been going on outside since Monday, and the first night of group competition was last night under the big tent.

To recap, here are this year’s best in show contenders so far:

Winston, a 3-year-old French bulldog from Bixby, Oklahoma, is the No. 1-ranked dog in the country and won the non-sporting group Tuesday.

Winston is handled by Perry Payson and co-owned by Morgan Fox, defensive lineman for the San Diego Chargers.

French bulldogs are the fifth largest entry at the dog show (41) behind No. 1 breed golden retrievers (70), but like golden retrievers, Frenchies have never won best show.

Hollywood, a 3-year-old Maltese who won the toy group Tuesday. Hollywood, from Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, is handled by Tim Lehman.

Trumpet, a 4-year-old bloodhound from Saint Joseph, Illinois who won the hound group and is handled by Heather Helmer.

River, a 5-year-old German shepherd from Woodstock, Georgia and handled by Lenny Brown, won the herding group.

Three more group winners will join the final before the naming of best in show.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at [email protected] and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter.