Scottish Deerhound Claire Wins Best In Show At National Dog Show

A Scottish Deerhound named Claire won the 19th annual National Dog Show in Philadelphia on Thursday.

Claire, whose full registered name is GCH Foxcliffe Claire Randall Fraser, beat out more than 500 other dogs in the pre-recorded program. Usually, the show features about 2,000 dogs and is filmed in front of a live audience, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the audience was replaced with cardboard cut-outs.

The show was filmed over two days, November 14 and 15, and handlers and judges stuck to a strict mask policy for safety. The show, which premiered after the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, also did not allow sponsors, vendors or media on the premises.

This year’s show was different for many obvious reasons, but it also was different because it featured three new dog breeds: the Barbet, the Belgian Laekenois and the Dogo Argentino.

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.

“Claire has so many wonderful traits,” her handler, Angela Lloyd, said in a statement at the show after her win. “She embodies the same qualities. She is very similar to her grandmother, especially in the eyes.”

The National Dog Show has been broadcast on NBC on Thanksgiving for almost 20 years, but has been an annual tradition of the Kennel Club of Philadelphia since 1933.

Last year’s top dog was Thor, a 2-year-old male Bulldog.