‘Vito’ the pug wins best in show at annual National Dog Show competition

National Show contestants were judged based on overall appearance, temperament and structure according to their breed’s official standard.

“Compact, features, movement — everything a pug should be,” said best-in-show judge George Milutinovich in a news release. Vito was selected over a top-ranked Welsh terrier, a giant schnauzer, a clumber spaniel, a Lhasa apso, a Berger Picard and an Ibizan hound.

“Never seen him before. Wow. Just wow. Lots of dog in a small package.” Milutinovich said. “To look at a pug is to put a smile on your face.”

“I was optimistic,” Vito’s handler, Michael Scott of Chesapeake City, Maryland, said in a release. “I always hope to get a really good look [from the judge]. … Vito has a beautiful head and expression. Great outline.”

Vito earned Koch and co-owners Joy Barbieri and Rebecca Movall of Stanfordville, New York, a $20,000 prize. Barbieri and Movall could not immediately be reached for comment.

Reserve best in show (second place) went to a Welsh terrier named Verde and handler Gabriel Rangel from Rialto, California.

Some 2,000 canines convened at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center for this year’s show, which has been held annually since 1933, with its first incarnation taking place in 1879.

The National Dog Show is an all-breed show run by the Kennel Club of Philadelphia and authorized by the American Kennel Club (AKC). Any AKC-registered dog can enter to compete.