Only one dog can win best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, and this year the honor went to Sage, a spectacularly coifed miniature poodle whose main-character energy was hard to ignore.
But what of the dogs she defeated?
Seven dogs entered the final round, each representing distinct canine groups: herding, working, hound, terrier, toy, sporting and non-sporting.
(Don’t ask what “non-sporting” means; theoretically the group could just be labeled “other.”) The dogs were big and small, fast and slow, excited and phlegmatic — a dizzying range of canine pulchritude and behavior.
Here’s a look at what made the seven finalists champions in their own right, and impossible to forget.
Organizations:
Westminster Kennel, Sage