Penny the Doberman pinscher won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show last night.

Quick Scoop: Who Won?

  • The winning dog: Penny , a Doberman pinscher.
  • Title: Best in Show at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
  • Date of win: Tuesday night, February 3, 2026, in New York City.
  • Handler: Andy Linton, a veteran handler with decades of experience and a past Westminster win with another Doberman in 1989.
  • Runner-up (Reserve Best in Show): Cota, a Chesapeake Bay retriever.

Why This Win Is Big News

This year’s event was the 150th (sesquicentennial) Westminster show, making Penny’s victory a milestone in U.S. dog-show history. Dobermans have now taken Best in Show at Westminster five times, including Penny’s win, while retrievers are still chasing their first overall Westminster crown, which adds extra buzz around Cota’s strong runner-up finish.

Fans are already debating whether this marks a new “Doberman era” at Westminster or just a perfectly timed peak performance in a stacked field.

Extra Tidbits and Trending Context

  • Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, with thousands of spectators in attendance.
  • Competition: Penny beat roughly 3,000 dogs from over 200 breeds, representing all 50 U.S. states plus multiple countries.
  • Another star: Prove-It the Border Collie won the Masters Agility Champion title with a blazing 29.81‑second run on the obstacle course, which is getting plenty of online hype too.

Mini “Forum-style” Take

  • Some viewers are praising Penny’s textbook Doberman outline and confident ring presence.
  • Others argue Cota the Chesapeake captured more hearts, especially with his playful ribbon moment after taking reserve.
  • Longtime show followers are highlighting how meaningful it is that Andy Linton repeated Westminster glory with the same breed decades apart.

“You tune in for the ribbons, but you stay for the handler–dog partnerships that span whole careers,” as one fan put it in post-show chatter.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.