The 2018 National Dog Show saw many breeds enter the arena, but only one emerged victorious.
The 2018 edition of NBC’s annual Thanksgiving canine special, The National Dog Show presented by Purina, aired on Thursday, Nov. 22.
The NDS was hosted, as usual, by TV personality John O’Hurley, dog show authority David Frei and sportscaster Mary Carillo.
(For more information about how dog shows typically work, see our explanation here.)
The actual event itself took place on Saturday, Nov. 18, in conjunction with the Kennel Club of Philadelphia’s annual show; it is the most-viewed dog show in America, though not technically the most prestigious.
The Herding Group, holding traditional farm dogs used to herd sheep and cattle, was won by a Pembroke Welsh Corgi called Bella (official name GCHS GH Foxwood Lionhart’s Quintessence). Her handler is Kara Janiszak.
Bella’s trio of owners live in Hudson, Ohio, and she is ranked No. 1 in her breed for 2018.
The Hound Group, consisting easily enough of hounds, was won by a Whippet called Whiskey (registered as GCHP Pinnacle Tennessee Whiskey), whose handler Justin Smithey is also the breeder and co-owner.
They hail from Sugar Valley, Ga. Whiskey is not only the No. 1 Whippet this year, but also the No. 1 Hound, which is impressive.
The Non-Sporting Group, which is essentially a miscellaneous category, was won by a Lhasa Apso called Billy (registered name Grand Champion Silver Xeralane’s Bite Me). His handler Adrian Agard comes from Mililani, Hawaii, where the kennel who owns Billy is located.
Billy has won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Show at Madison Square Garden, the dog-show world’s equivalent of the Super Bowl.
The Sporting Group, which is mostly hunting dogs, was won by a Chesapeake Bay Retriever called Ducky (officially CH Poisett’s Doctor Mallard) from Mattapoisett, Mass.
His handler is Annie Henshaw, who is also his co-owner. He was named named Best in Show at a 2014 specialty for sporting dogs.
The Terrier Group, which consists of various terriers, was won by a Wire Fox Terrier called King (officially King Arthur Van Foliny Home), whose handler is Gabriel Rangel. King has won several Best in Shows in multiple countries, and his owner is from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The Toy Group, which is for canines of microscopic size, was won by a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel called Bogie (officially CH Blackdales Da Vinci), whose handler is Evan Threlfall of Derry, N.H.
Derry was the home of poet Robert Frost, Travel Channel host Samantha Brown and astronaut Alan Shepard, and may have been the inspiration for one of Stephen King‘s fictional towns in Maine.
The Working Group, which is reserved for dogs commonly working in non-farm contexts, was won by a Doberman Pinscher called Irupe (officially Eich Macaco’s Riande’s Irupe), whose handler is Carissa Shimpeno of Sandy Hook, Conn. Irupe was the No. 1 Working Dog in Argentina in 2017.
185 breeds and varieties (some breeds had more than one entrant based on variations) took part in the show. But only one of those could be named Best in Show for the 2018 version of the National Dog Show, and in the end it was Whiskey who earned the prize.
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