Temecula Dog Wins ‘Best in Show’ at 140th Wesminster Event

A German shorthaired pointer called CJ has won America’s most prestigious best in show dog competition in NY.

Rumor won 175 Best in Breeds previous year and 93 Best in Shows.

Those seven breeds just added to the American Kennel Club’s registry are the Bergamasco, Lagotto Romagnolo, Berger Picard, Miniature American Shepherd, Boerboel, Spanish Water Dog and Cirneco dell’Etna.

Earlier in the day, handler Valerie Nunes Atkinson explained what made CJ so special. He was the first dog from the Sporting Group to win since 2009. She has retired and will return to live with her co-breeder, co-owner, and handler, Kent Boyles of Edgerton, Wis.

“I love having a living thing with me that loves me”, Rogers said, speaking of her family’s four dogs.

CJ also beat out a German shepherd, shih tzu, Samoyed, Skye terrier and bulldog for his new title.

“He has that extra sparkle”, she said.

Dozens of other breeds, common and rare, are still waiting for a win at the nation’s pre-eminent dog show. “For us that are in this sport, and promote purebred dogs, [Westminster] is the pinnacle”.

A handsome German shorthaired pointer was proclaimed Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club’s Annual Dog Show.

And now that C.J. has taken home the Best in Show award for 2016, Nunes-Atkinson said he’ll probably celebrate by playing with his bestie at home, a whippet named Ramona, NBC News reported.

“He’s an old soul”, she said. They were bred to point in the field, and they have to move well.

The three-year-old CJ only began showing six months ago, but Nunes-Atkinson sensed immediately he was a natural. He is the author of Angel On A Leash, a book about his work and observations in the world of therapy dogs and his life in dogs.

The idea, she said, is to connect with “new faces, new people”, as well as to grow alongside the club’s more digitally savvy canine-owners.

“He oozed that pointer style”, Richard Meen, the judge with the unenviable task of crowning a king of kings at Westminster, told USA Today.