What happened
A giant schnauzer named Monty was named best in show last night at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show in New York’s Madison Square Garden. Monty, 5, was a three-time winner of Westminster’s working group, for large breeds that work on farms or in service jobs, and the odds-on favorite, arriving at the prestigious dog show as the nation’s highest-ranked dog. Bourbon, a 9 1/2-year-old whippet, was named reserve best in show, or runner up, for the third time.
Who said what
Monty, a “regal giant schnauzer with a dramatic beard and a winning way about him,” defeated a “tough crowd of canine competitors,” The New York Times said. Though he is a working group dog, Monty “looks like a white-collar worker.”
Best in show is chosen from the seven winners of each grouping of breeds. Monty was the “first working group dog to win best in show since 2004, ending the longest drought of any particular group,” said USA Today. The judge is supposed to pick the dog that best matches the ideal of its specific breed.
What next?
Best in show winners “get a trophy, ribbons and bragging rights, but no cash prize,” The Associated Press said. Monty “will likely celebrate his win by chewing on a soccer ball, or several of them,” the Times said. “He destroys them,” said handler and co-owner Katie Bernardin, “but that is his favorite thing.”