For the first time since the annual National Dog Show began airing on Thanksgiving Day in 2002, a pug was honored as Best in Show.
Vito the pug took the important prize in the competition in Philadelphia, defeating over 1,900 dogs representing over 200 breeds and varieties.
“Compact, functional, mobile – everything a pug should be,” he said Jerzy Milutinowicz said NBC, which broadcasts the dog event yearly. “A lot of dogs in a small package. Looking at a pug brings a smile to your face.”
Vito, from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, defeated the second-placed Welsh terrier, Verde, to win Best in Show. The other finalists included Berger Picard, Ibizan Hound, Lhasa Apso, Clumber Spaniel and Giant Schnauzer.
Vito, who also won a bunch of toys at Thursday’s event, has achieved successes at the most significant dog shows. Earlier this 12 months he won Breed Winner at the Westminster Dog Show in New York and the same distinction at last 12 months’s National Dog Show.
In fact, it’s he won 25 Best in Show titles during his liferegardless that he is simply 2 and a half years old.
“I always hope to look really good [from the judge]” Vito’s handler, Michael Scott, told NBC News. “Vito has a beautiful head and facial expression. Great outline.”
The National Dog Show was not a significant showpiece until the early 2000s, when NBC purchased the rights to broadcast the competition and began broadcasting it live after the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
No pug had won Best in Show in the last 22 years until Vito’s victory on Thursday.
Vito co-owners — Carolyn Koch, Joy Barbieri and Rebecca Movall – received a prize of $20,000.
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