As dozens of people applauded and cheered for him, Vito, a young pug, looked around, his four paws on the blue carpet. Did he know he had just won best in show at the National Dog Show?
“He’s very smug — I do think he knows,” Michael Scott, Vito’s handler, told the NBC broadcaster Mary Carillo after the competition.
Vito had just beaten out nearly 2,000 other dogs, representing more than 200 breeds, to become the first pug to win the National Dog Show. He became a sensation on Thursday, when the competition, which was held in Oaks, Pa., northwest of Philadelphia, on Nov. 16 and 17, was broadcast on NBC after the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
What makes Vito so special?
“He has a beautiful head and expression,” Mr. Scott said, adding that Vito is a compact dog who has “wonderful movement.”
Vito, 2, is owned by Carolyn Koch of Chapel Hill, N.C., who won a cash prize and bragging rights on future dog walks.
Before taking best in show at the competition, Vito first won the toy group, which includes breeds that the American Kennel Club defines as dogs that may be “short on size” but “definitely not short on personality.”
You might say that Vito is on a roll. He won best of breed at the American Kennel Club National Show in 2023, and best of breed at the Westminster Dog Show earlier this year, competing under the name GCHG CH Andi in Cahoots. It was also not a first for Mr. Scott, who was handler for a Pointer dog named Holly, who won the National Dog Show in 2008.
During the best in show portion of the National Dog Show, Vito trotted around on the blue carpet, graciously and seemingly at ease, unbothered by the TV cameras, the lights and the crowd clapping for him.
George Milutinovich, one of the judges who picked Vito over a stellar lineup of other dogs, said in a statement that Vito is “everything a pug should be.”
“Lots of dog in a small package,” Mr. Milutinovich said. “To look at a pug is to put a smile on your face.”
Taking reserve best in show, or second place, was Verde, a Welsh terrier.
Vito and Verde competed for best in show against a clumber spaniel named Houston, a giant schnauzer named Monty, an Ibizan hound named the Zit, a Berger Picard named Rupert and a Lhasa Apso named J.J.
The competition is hosted by the Kennel Club of Philadelphia, which has held dog shows since 1879, and is presented by Purina. The show made its television debut in 2002, and since then, roughly 30,000 dogs have competed in the event. The move to broadcast the competition, which draws about 20 million viewers, was inspired by the 2000 movie “Best in Show,” a satirical comedy about the world of competitive dog shows.
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