The 150th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show: A Celebration of Canine Excellence

The 150th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is in full swing, showcasing the finest in canine talent and skill. Among the highlights of this year’s event was the 13th Annual Masters Agility Championship Finals, where Prove-It, a Border Collie, claimed victory, continuing the breed’s impressive dominance in the competition.

Prove-It, who competed in the 20-inch height division, demonstrated remarkable speed and precision as she completed the course in just 29.81 seconds alongside veteran handler Amber McCune. What made her performance even more impressive was that she had zero faults, securing a clean run to victory.

While Prove-It did not beat last year’s winner, Vanish, a Border Collie who set a record with a time of 26.49 seconds — the fastest winning time since the event began in 2014 — she came close to other notable performances. Her time was slightly slower than Nimble the All-American dog in 2024 (28.76 seconds) and Truant the Border Collie in 2023 (28.68 seconds).

Before reaching the finals, dogs participated in two rounds of preliminaries, with the field being narrowed down to 50 finalists. These included the top 10 finishers from five respective height classes — 8-inch, 12-inch, 16-inch, 20-inch, and 24-inch.

Fan-favorite Nimble once again made an appearance in this year’s event, competing in the 12-inch height class. She delivered one of Saturday’s top five performances, winning her division with a time of 29.19 seconds.

Another standout this year was Iron Man, an All-American dog from the 16-inch height class. He won a special award for top mixed-breed dog after completing the course in 29.60 seconds alongside handler Merritt Speagle.

Among the most notable achievements were the performances of the largest and smallest dogs to win their respective divisions. Gerard the Poodle, the largest dog to win, triumphed in the 24-inch class with a time of 36.55 seconds. On the other end of the spectrum, Gabby the Papillon, the smallest pup to win, secured victory in the 8-inch class with a time of 33.42 seconds. Gabby also won the same division in last year’s championship event with an impressive time of 30.05 seconds.

The Masters Agility Championship Finals served as the highlight of the Canine Celebration Day on Saturday. Agility is a timed competition that tests a dog’s ability to complete an obstacle course, which may include tunnels, seesaws, bar and wall jumps, weave poles, and more. The dogs must follow the commands of their handlers without prior knowledge of the course map. Agility is judged based on both the time taken and the accuracy of the course completion, with penalties for faults.

In addition to the competition, the WKC donates $5,000 to honor the winner, which can be directed to the AKC training club of their choice or the AKC Humane Fund. An additional $1,000 is donated in the names of the four remaining first-place dogs in their height classes and the highest-scoring All-American (mixed breed) dog.

The 2025 WKC Dog Show resumes Monday, with events taking place at Madison Square Garden and the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The 2026 Masters Agility Champion, Prove-It, and the highest-scoring All-American dog, Iron Man, will go head-to-head in an agility race at MSG on Tuesday. Best in Show will also be crowned Tuesday evening at MSG.