A handsome German shorthaired pointer named CJ was crowned Best in Show at the 140th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in front of a capacity crowd at Madison Square Garden on February 16 in New York City.Junior Showmanship FinalsAgility And Obedience WinnersLisa Peterson - lifelong equestrian, show dog breeder and award-winning podcaster, communications professional and journalist - writes about horses, hounds and history at lisaunleashed.com. Reach her at elvemel@gmail.com or @LisaNPeterson.

After two days of judging more than 2,750 dogs it all came down to Best in Show judge Dr Richard Meen of Canada to select from the seven group winners who would be top dog. The competition included a German shepherd dog, a borzoi, a Shih Tzu, a Samoyed, a bulldog, and a Skye terrier. First he awarded the borzoi, CH Belisarius Jp My Sassy Girl, Reserve Best In Show. Then he pointed to the three-year-old GSP dog from California and his owner/breeder/handler Valerie Nunes-Atkinson as the Best in Show winner. Valerie hugged CJ and then happy pandemonium broke out on the arena floor.

Dr Meen presented a huge purple and gold Best in Show ribbon. Stewards ushered out big gleaming trophies and a handler sash was placed around Nunes-Atkinson. Then came the official show photos, then the purple velvet ropes were placed around the purple stage and CJ and Valerie were now ready for the crush of photographers. A life-fulfilling dream come true to be captured by the media and fans alike.

CJ is officially known as GCH Vjk-Myst Garbonita's California Journey. He is owned by Nunes-Atkinson, Alice Manning, Yvonne Hassler-Deterding, and Laurie and Mark Ulrich. His breeders are Manning, Weiss, and Nunes-Atkinson. Last year CJ was the top-winning German shorthaired pointer in the country. His Westminster win is only his 18th Best In Show award for a dog who only started his show career six months earlier.

But CJ comes from GSP royalty. He is the grandson of Carlee, the German shorthaired pointer who won Best In Show at Westminster in 2005. Carlee was also owned by Nunes-Atkinson, but was piloted to her top award by professional dog handler Michelle Scott.

But to hear Valerie talk about her dogs, you learn that CJ comes from a long line of GSPs that was started by her father more than 45 years ago. Valerie is no stranger to winning at the Garden. When she was a teenager she was awarded Best Junior Handler at Westminster.

Early on Tuesday night the 2016 Junior Showmanship finals kicked off the competition. The Best Junior Handler was awarded to Sophia Rogers with her American foxhound GCH Kiarry's Back in the Saddle from Bordentown, N.J. She is one of three sisters that showed at Westminster this year. Her younger sisters, the twins Faith and Emma Rogers, both showed in juniors, with Emma also among the eight finalists.

On Saturday, February 13, the Masters Agility Championship at Westminster crowned Holster, an Australian shepherd owned by Wendy Cerilli of Greenwich, N.Y., top Agility dog in a live broadcast on Fox Sports 1.

On Monday, February 15, the Masters Obedience Championship at Westminster crowned Labrador retriever OTCH Rhumbline's Once In A Blue Moon UDX OM2 BN GN RE, known as "Heart," owned by Linda Brennan of New Jersey top obedience dog. Both winners were introduced to the fans at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.