In Thursday’s National Dog Show competition, a Boxer named Scarlett had impressive credentials, but it was Clooney, an Irish Setter, who won Best in Show.
Clooney and his handler, Peter Kubacz, summed up the day’s events with an interview at the end of the dog show.
When Kubacz was asked if Clooney knew he was the top dog, Clooney nodded yes with the enthusiasm of a true winner.
Clooney was one of more than 2,000 dogs representing 179 different breeds that took to the ring on Thanksgiving Day to compete in The National Dog Show presented by Purina.
Hosted by the Kennel Club of Philadelphia, the show is one of the oldest benched conformation dog shows in the country and has been held annually since 1933.
A conformation dog show shows off breeding stock and a benched show allows those attending to mingle with the dogs behind the scenes.
To pick the winning dog, the judge has to know the breed standard of each dog.
Six new dog breeds were among the breeds showcased in this year’s National Dog Show.
New breeds are recognized by the American Kennel Club when the breed has a good following spread across the country with a parent club to oversee them.
The six new breeds introduced this year were the Boykin Spaniel in the sporting group, the Cane Corso and the
Leonberger in the working group, the Bluetick Coonhound and Redbone Coonhound in the hound group and the Icelandic Sheepdog in the herding group.