The 2023 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show has crowned this year’s dog king, with the coveted title of Best in Show awarded to Buddy Holly the Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen. Though as always, it’s important to remember that every dog is a good dog. Our destructive obsession with beauty standards is just driving us to elevate a single canine above the rest.
This year the Westminster Dog Show took place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, with FS1 televising it live on Tuesday night. Six-year-old Buddy Holly is the first of his breed to ever win Best in Show, beating out 2,500 hopeful canines to take the grand prize.
The Westminster Dog Show chooses its Best in Show by evaluating the group competition winners to determine which is closest to the ideal for their breed. In addition to being the overall champion, Buddy Holly was also the winner of the Hound group. This makes 2023 the second year in a row that the Hound group winner also took out the main prize.
Meanwhile, runner-up Rummie the Pekingese was the top dog in the Toy group, beating out the best dogs in the Sporting, Working, Terrier, Non-Sporting, and Herding groups. Hopefully, they were all given a few treats to celebrate their achievements anyway, because they all deserve it.
Trouble the American Staffordshire Terrier, winner of the Terrier group. Credit: Sarah Stier / Getty Images for Westminster Kennel Club
