When did the first Standard Poodle win Westminster Best in Show?

According to the Westminster Kennel Club archive, in 1935, Mrs. Sherman Hoyt handled her Standard Poodle to Best in Show, the first such win ever for a woman handler.

According to the American Kennel Club, the magnificent snow-white standard Poodle Ch. Puttencove Promise was whelped in 1955 and won Best in Show at Westminster three years later. He was the turning point for the standard Poodle as we know the breed today, a bridge from the working water dogs of the past to the breed as we know it today.

Below is a full list of  Westminster Kennel Club Best In Show Poodles provided courtesy of Westminster’s Joanne Anderson. It appears the Poodle had quite a popular run in the late ’50s to early ’60s across the categories. Note the back-to-back wins of a Standard Poodle in 1958, a Toy Poodle in 1959, and a Toy Poodle again in 1961. Viva La Poodle won in 2020 again!

Standard Poodles

1935 – Ch. Nunsoe Duc de la Terrace of Blakeen

1958 -Ch. Puttencove Promise

1973- Ch. Acadia Command Performance

1991- Ch. Whisperwind On A Carousel

2020- GCHP CH Stone Run Afternoon Tea

Miniature Poodles

1943-C. Pitter Patter of Piperscroft

1959- Ch. Fontclair Festoon

2002- Ch. Surrey Spice Girl

Toy Poodles

1956- Ch. Wilber White Swan

1961- Ch. Cappoquin Little Sister

The History of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show

The Westminster Dog Show has a rich history. It was established in 1877 and is America’s oldest organization dedicated to purebred dogs. Westminster pre-dates the invention of the light bulb, the automobile, basketball, and the establishment of the World Series in baseball.

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, first held in 1877, is America’s second-longest continuously held sporting event, behind only the Kentucky Derby. It has survived power outages, snowstorms, a national depression, two World Wars, and a tugboat strike that threatened to shut down the city.