Vito the pug wins the National Dog Show, but this dog from New Jersey also triumphed

The 2024 National Dog Show was all about the pug Vito.

A perfect example of his breed, he took on the toy group before being named Best of Show on the annual Thanksgiving afternoon show.

Vito, the No. 1 Pug in the country, also won Best of Breed at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show before proving his skills and emerging victorious at the Kennel Club of Philadelphia Dog Show. The Pennsylvania contest took place last week and, as it has for 23 years, aired after the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC.

Carolyn Koch of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, owns the dog, whose registered name is GCHG Andi In Cahoots. Vito’s handler, Michael Scott of Chesapeake City, Maryland, won the National Dog Show in 2008 with Holly, the pointer. Last year he won second place in the reserve with New Jersey dog ​​Pumpkin, a Dalmatian from Milltown.

And this year a dog from Jersey named Houston also won.

For Houston, a Clumber Spaniel, National Dog Show hosts John O’Hurley and David Frei said, “Wow” when he was announced as the sporting group winner.

The Keyport spaniel defeated everyone else in his group in his first appearance at the televised dog show.

“It was completely unexpected and amazing,” his handler Lexie Ditlow tells NJ Advance Media.

Houston turned 2 in October. Ditlow, who lives in Enola, Pennsylvania, has been showing the dog since he was six months old.

“It was definitely a highlight of my career,” she says of the Spaniel victory, the biggest she has achieved in her career.

Clumber Spaniels are considered a rarer breed – “There are probably 10 to 20, maybe a maximum of 30 litters of Clumber Spaniels born in the world every year,” says Ditlow.

“It’s good for dog shows when breeds like this do well because then you get a little more attention,” she says.

The bird dog breed was developed in England – the “Clumber” comes from Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire.

Houston, who lives a block from Raritan Bay with owner Jackie Hickey, loves swimming and enjoys “zoomies” in the yard.

The dog, all fluffy white with brown markings on his ears, eyes and nose, was born in Houston, which is why his breeder named him that.

Hickey welcomed him home to Jersey when he was three months old.

She owns three male Clumber Spaniels – the only Clumber Spaniels in the neighborhood.

“People often ask me, ‘Is that a mixed breed?'” she says. “They are a wonderful breed, but they are a rare breed.”

While Hickey believed Houston had a shot at a spot at the National Dog Show, she didn’t expect him to win the sporting group.

“(He is) very young to be such a prestigious group winner,” she says. “We’re super excited.”

Hickey works in New York as the director of a school for children with autism. On the weekends, she meets Ditlow and Houston at dog shows.

She has known Ditlow for more than 20 years. During this time they moved from Newfoundland to Clumbers. Both breeds have a “beautiful headdress,” says Hickey—but be prepared for a lot of saliva.

“He drools a lot, but it’s adorable,” Ditlow says of the 85-pound dog, who is spending this week at home in Keyport.

READ MORE: Meet the New Jersey man behind the National Dog Show Thanksgiving tradition

“They always have something in their mouth, they always carry something with them,” Hickey says of Clumbers.

“They’re just really silly and goofy,” Ditlow says.

As for the remaining National Dog Show winners, Verde, a Welsh terrier led by Gabriel Rangel of Rialto, Calif., won second place, or reserve best of the show, after winning the terrier group.

Monty, a giant schnauzer from Chaplin, Connecticut, won the working group; The Zit, an Ibizan hound from Spring Hill, Florida, won the hound group; Rupert, a Mount Picard from Shingle Springs, California, won the herding group; and JJ, a Lhasa Apso from Sabot Virginia, won the non-sporting group.

In 2023, Stache, a Sealyham terrier from Cochranville, Pennsylvania, won the Best in Show title.

There will be an encore presentation of The National Dog Show on Sunday, December 1st from 4-6pm ET/PT on NBC.