Doberman Penny wins the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show

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A Doberman Pinscher named Penny won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Tuesday night, winning the most coveted American Dog Show award. Penny beat out six other finalists at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Each dog is evaluated according to how well it corresponds to the ideal for its breed. The winner receives a trophy, ribbons, bragging rights and, this year, recognition for winning the 150th annual Westminster show.

Over the past two days, 2,500 dogs and more than 200 breeds competed. There are seven groups: hound, toy, non-sporting, herding, sporting, working and terrier. The winner of each group moves on to the Best in Show competition.

A dark brown retriever takes a blue ribbon from its handler — Chesapeake Bay retriever, Next Generation’s Accelerate or Cota, grabs a blue ribbon from his handler after winning the sports group. (Yuki Iwamura/The Associated Press)

Although only one dog ends up with the top prize, many others have achieved memeable moments or set the crowd on fire, even if they didn’t make the finals.

During the two nights of the semi-finals, the spectators cheered extremely loudly for a Xoloitzcuintli named Calaco, a hairless dog who walked around the ring as if he had nothing to prove.

Elegant dark dog — Calaco, Xoloitzcuintli, performed in the non-sporting group. (Lucas Boland/Imagn Images/Reuters)

A vizhla named Beamer charmed the crowd by jumping into a box set up for his handler’s tools and then sitting there like he was at home.

a line of slender, short-haired red dogs — Vizslas are always crowd favorites at the fair. (Jeenah Moon/Reuters)

Spectators cheered so loudly for the golden retriever named Oliver that they overpowered the announcer in the hall.

A woman in blue leads a golden dog around the ring — Hillcock’s Burl Oak, or Oliver, is led through the ring during a group of sporting dogs. (Yuki Iwamura/The Associated Press)

And cries of “Lumpy! Lumpy!” echoed as Lumpy the Pekingese walked before the judge.

A very long haired little dog — The audience chanted the name of the Pekingese Lumpy. (Lucas Boland/Imagn Images/Reuters)

One dog that made history in the semifinals is Millie, a Danish-Swedish farm dog. The small, lively breed has just become eligible for this year’s Westminster show, and Millie beat around 10 other farm dogs to make the evening round on Tuesday afternoon.

a small brown-white dog in blue hair with its handler — The Danish-Swedish farm dog is getting ready for the ring. This is the first year that the breed can compete. (Jeenah Moon/Reuters)

“It’s been a very exciting journey” to establish the breed in the U.S., said Brita Lemmon, who competed with her farm dog named Coyote.

The Seal Beach, Calif., plant nursery owner got her first farm dog from a Danish breeder in 2000, after looking through a breed encyclopedia.

a large, jagged, rusty dog jumping with his handler — Bugga, a Dogue de Bordeaux, competed in the working group. (Lucas Boland/Imagn Images/Reuters)

Westminster wins usually go to dogs with professional handlers or owners with decades or even generations of experience. But just reaching the elite, an exhibition only for champions, is a great achievement in dogdom.