Penny, a four-year-old Doberman Pinscher from Reseda, California, won Best in Show at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on February 3, 2026, at Madison Square Garden. It was a milestone night all around. The show was celebrating its landmark anniversary, and Penny’s handler, Andy Linton, had not stood in that winner’s circle since 1989, when he took the same prize with another Doberman named Indy. That 37-year gap between victories is almost unheard of in professional handling.
A Doberman’s Path Through the Working Group
Registered as GCHP CH Connquest Best Of Both Worlds, Penny first had to clear a deep Working Group field before reaching the final ring. She beat out 32 working dogs under judge Mrs. Sioux Forsyth-Green of Pinehurst, North Carolina. Born on June 12, 2021, Penny is still squarely in her competitive prime, and her movement that evening left little room for debate. Her reach, drive, and balance were on full display.
From there, she faced the Best in Show evaluation under judge David Fitzpatrick, who chose her over the winners from all seven groups. Fitzpatrick later said of the final lineup: “They often say, ‘What a great lineup.’ This is one that will go down in history.” He described Penny as having “a beautiful head, great balance and angulation. She looks like she has a job to do.” The Associated Press reported that Reserve Best in Show went to Cota, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever who had drawn strong crowd support throughout the evening.
Watch: Penny wins Best in Show at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show (FOX Sports, 6:49)
Doberman Pinschers are not frequent Best in Show winners at Westminster. Penny became just the fifth Doberman to take the top prize in the show’s history, following wins in 1939, back-to-back victories in 1952 and 1953, and Linton’s own 1989 win with Indy. That rarity made the decision stand out for breed enthusiasts who have long felt the Doberman’s athletic build and alert temperament deserve more recognition at this level. In a year when the show itself was marking 150 years, the selection of a powerful, classically built working dog for the top prize felt like a statement.
Linton’s Long Road Back
Andy Linton’s personal story made the night even more compelling. Years ago, Linton was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a neurological condition that affects movement, coordination, and speech. For a professional handler whose livelihood depends on precise physical communication with a dog in the ring, it was a serious blow. Penny, by his own account, helped pull him through. “She’s really helped me out considerably, over the last year especially,” Linton told reporters after the win.
His last Best in Show win at Westminster came in 1989 with a Doberman named Indy, according to reporting on the 2026 show. Winning with the same breed nearly four decades later, while managing a condition that threatened to end his career, is the kind of story that doesn’t need embellishment. “I have been showing Dobermans since 1974, and Penny is as great a Doberman Pinscher as I’ve ever seen,” Linton said, according to AKC coverage. Careers in professional handling can stretch for decades, but repeat wins at Westminster almost never happen, and doing it twice with Dobermans connects Linton to the breed’s competitive history in a way few handlers can claim.
Penny is owned by Francis and Diana Sparagna, Theresa Connors-Chan, and Gregory Chan. The group is based in Reseda, California, a long way from Madison Square Garden and a reminder that Westminster still draws serious contenders from well beyond the East Coast. For West Coast breeders and owners who weigh the cost and logistics of a cross-country campaign against the potential payoff in visibility and breeding value, Penny’s win is proof that the investment can pay off on the biggest stage.
What the 150th Win Means
The 150th edition of Westminster was always going to carry weight, but Penny’s win gave the anniversary a story worth remembering. This year’s show drew more than 3,000 entries from all 50 states and 17 countries, with 202 AKC-recognized breeds competing. The Westminster Kennel Club traces its Best in Show lineage back more than a century, and the 2026 result puts a Doberman into that history at a moment when the sport could use a good headline. A fit, athletic working dog winning the top prize on the biggest anniversary night gave them one.
Linton tried to describe what the final moments felt like. “You have to imagine being on the floor of Madison Square Garden, and there’s 15-, 16-, 17,000 people screaming at the top of their lungs for their favorite dog,” he said. The national broadcast leaned into his decades-long journey back to the winner’s circle, the Parkinson’s diagnosis, and the owners’ cross-country commitment. Ringside afterward, the dog who had just won the biggest show in America politely nudged her nose into a visitor’s leg, looking for pets. “She’s generally very chill,” Linton said, “but she can get pretty pumped up for a bad guy. Or a squirrel.”
