The sound in the building had a direction by the time the seven finalists wound 7 times around Madison Square Garden in their final lap. The greatest applause appeared to be the reception of Penny, a four-year-old Doberman Pinscher, and the ultimate verdict of the judge reflected the audience: Penny won the award of Best in Show at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
The victory had many historical indicators in its wake. Penny was the 42nd female winner of Best in Show and her win was the fifth Westminster title of a Doberman. She was born out of the Working group and to become the best in the top in a competition that is one of the oldest and still running sporting traditions in America in seven different groups and over 200 breeds.
Andy Linton, the handler of Penny, made the dog the focus of the moment. The result was augmented by another layer, added when Linton said, He is as great a Doberman as I ever saw: he was also the handler of the most recent Doberman to win Best in Show, in 1989. It was on a night where winners were on display of Herding, Hound, Non-Sporting, sporting, Terrier, Toy and Working that the decision was made to depend on the opinion of only a single judge on what is excellent on that day.
It is this single-judge organization which contributes towards making Westminster definitive and subjective. During conformation, the dogs are not compared to one another, as in a racing event; they are compared to a blueprint against which each breed is measured, which is idealized. Competition according to Westminster is categorized in three levels starting with Best of Breed or Variety to seven groups and finally the Best in Show, where each of the finalists is once again a reflection of how near it is to its breed standard.
Such standards may be agonizingly precise, including looks, construction, motion and temperament, since dog contests have always been used as a method to ascertain breeding inventory. There, the ring does not refer so much to the appearance of a dog in its day-to-day usage but rather to the capability of an animal to fulfill the written account of what the breed was created to do. Even where the dogs are stacked up next to one another the comparison itself is subject to the sense of type, balance and performance of the judge and Westminster remarks that it depends on the day of the judging since the dogs can perform better on some days than others.
The judge of this year, David Fitzpatrick, originally called the Reserve Best in Show, given to Cota, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever and a winner in the Sporting group, and then chose Penny to take the first place. Fitzpatrick said that the finalists are often praised as being a great lineup. But this will be one that will be remembered in history.
The anniversary edition of Westminster also brought out what remained the same despite modernization of the spectacle. The competition has its origins in 1877 and a New York bench show and the club has stressed that at the core of the competition is the love of dogs despite the increased professionalism, champions only and mass media coverage of the sport.
Such stability is accompanied by constant criticism. With the rise in profile of Westminster, there have been increasing criticisms that certain breeding interests put appearance over health and the show has experienced a number of protests and serious welfare concerns. Meanwhile, the club has cited philanthropy and dog-welfare affiliations that date back to its first years, and a contemporary focus on responsible ownership and dog preservation.
During one night, the plot was reduced to only one lap and one choice. Penny had the most familiar ribbon of the sport as a prize out of the Garden and a victory which to a large audience was a primer in the art of what conformation is intended to reward.
