Scottish Deerhound Claire Makes History Winning Best In Show Twice At National Dog Show

Scottish Deerhound Claire made history after winning Best In Show at the 20th Annual National Dog Show on Thursday.

The dog, and her handler Angela Lloyd, also won top prize at last year’s competition, making them the first to win Best In Show two years in a row. This year, Claire beat out more than 180 different breeds of dog in order to take home first place.

Claire comes from a family of winners; her grandmother was the Best In Show winner at the 2011 Westminster Dog Show and her mother won second place, or Reserve Best In Show, at the 2015 National Dog Show. Plus, Claire is currently the No.1 ranked Scottish Deerhound in the United States.

The Scottish Deerhound is one of the tallest breeds of dog, originally bred to stalk wild red deer. They weigh around 100 pounds and are described by the American Kennel Club as dignified, gentle and polite.

This year’s Reserve Best In Show went to the Pyrenean Shepard, Sasha, winner of the Herding Group. Other top dogs won in their respective categories: Winter the Bulldog won the Non-Sporting Group, MM the Lakeland Terrier won the Terrier Group, Chester the Affenpinscher won the Toy Group, Jade the German Shorthaired Pointer won the Sporting Group, and Mo’Ne the Kuvasz won the Working Group.

Claire wasn’t the only dog making history this Thanksgiving. This year’s competition included a new breed of dog, the Biewer Terrier, represented by Rumor, a 19-month-old female. The breed is intelligent, amusing and devoted, according to the AKC, who said the Biewer Terrier’s “only purpose in life is to love and be loved.”

The National Dog Show has been broadcast on NBC on Thanksgiving since 2002, but has been an annual tradition of the Kennel Club of Philadelphia since 1933.