A Doberman pinscher named Penny is America’s top canine after earning the title of best in show on Tuesday night at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club dog show in New York.

Judge David Fitzpatrick tapped the four-year-old female with the mirror-sheen black-and-rust coat from Reseda, California, over a field of six other group champions, among them a Chesapeake Bay retriever named Cota, who was awarded reserve best in show to roars of approval from the crowd. Also making the final lineup were an Afghan hound named Zaida, a Lhasa Apso named JJ, a Maltese named Cookie, a smooth fox terrier named Wager and a popular old English sheepdog named Graham.

The victory gave veteran handler Andy Linton another Westminster crown nearly four decades after he last won best in show in 1989 with Indy, another Doberman. For Linton, who has spoken publicly about living with Parkinson’s disease and has indicated he is nearing the end of his career, the moment carried additional weight.

“I had some goals, and this was one of them,” Linton said. He later told reporters that winning at the milestone 150th edition of America’s most prestigious dog show made the triumph “extra-special”.

Penny, bred by Theresa Connors-Chan and Gregory Chan and co-owned with Francis and Diana Sparagna, emerged as the last dog standing after a winnowing-down process that began with roughly 2,500 dogs spanning more than 200 breeds and varieties from all 50 states and 17 additional countries including Peru, Chile, Indonesia and the Philippines. Breed judging took place during day sessions on Monday and Tuesday at the nearby Javits Convention Center before group winners advanced each night to the prime-time finals under the Garden lights.

Each dog is assessed according to how closely it matches the ideal standard for its breed, with judges examining structure, movement, muscle tone and overall presentation. There is no prize money attached to the victory, but the best in show ribbon remains the most coveted honor in American dog shows and can dramatically increase breeding value.

Dobermans, long associated with police and military service, have now won Westminster’s top prize five times: in 1939, in consecutive years in 1952 and 1953, in 1989 with Linton, and again in 2026 with Linton. The breed was developed in late-19th century Germany by tax collector Karl Friedrich Louis Dobermann and later gained prominence in working roles, including service with the US Marine Corps in the Pacific theater during the second world war.

Linton described Penny, whose official champion’s name is GCHP CH Connquest Best Of Both Worlds, as an exceptional example of the breed and said her temperament reflects the traditional Doberman balance of approachability and protectiveness. It marked the second straight year a dog from the working group won the top prize after a giant schnauzer called Monty broke a 95-year hoodoo for his breed last year.

“She’s a wonderful dog, she’s friendly,” Linton said at the news conference after Penny’s win. “Any one of you could come up here and she’d try to get you to pet her, but if you were a burglar, you wouldn’t come in our house. So she’s got that character that a Doberman’s supposed to have.”

Away from the ring, Penny’s personality is relaxed and affectionate. Co-owner Greg Chan described her as “very demanding and very smart”, but also eager to please, particularly when food is involved. Her favorite snack, he added, is simply: “Everything.”

Reserve best in show finisher Cota, a five-year-old Chesapeake Bay retriever handled by Devon Kipp Levy, drew sustained cheers throughout the final round. While retrievers remain among the most popular dogs in the United States, none has ever captured Westminster’s top prize. Supporters greeted Cota’s runner-up finish as another encouraging sign for the group.

Fitzpatrick, himself a two-time Westminster best in show winner as a handler, praised the strength of the final field before announcing the result, calling it a lineup “that will go down in history”.

The sesquicentennial edition of Westminster, the oldest continuously held sporting event in the United States after the Kentucky Derby, also leaned into its place in American pop culture. Organizers paid tribute to the actor Catherine O’Hara, who died last week at 71, with a video montage that played on the Madison Square Garden jumbotron before the judging of the terrier group. O’Hara was especially beloved in dog-show circles for playing Norwich terrier owner Cookie Fleck in Christopher Guest’s 2000 mockumentary Best in Show, which gently lampooned the eccentricities and intensity of competitive dog showing while cementing the event’s place in the broader cultural imagination.

The milestone show produced plenty of crowd-pleasing moments outside the final ring. A total of 202 breeds and varieties were represented at this year’s contest, from affenpinschers to Xoloitzcuintlis. A Danish-Swedish farmdog named Millie made history simply by advancing deep into competition after the breed became newly eligible for Westminster this year.

For Penny, the immediate future will include the traditional Westminster media blitz, typically featuring national television appearances and ceremonial photo opportunities around New York before returning to life outside the spotlight – where, if her owners are to be believed, she will remain a driven performer when asked, and a food-motivated companion the rest of the time.

“You can’t attribute it to one thing, but she is as great a Doberman as I’ve seen,” Linton said. “As the judge said, this is maybe the best lineup I could ever imagine, so it’s truly a great honor to win under that judge, who is so renowned and well-thought-of.”