Carson City dog chosen as Select Dog at Westminster

Ryker didn’t come away with a top prize at the Westminster Dog Show, but the three-year-old Spinone Italiano made his mark nonetheless.

Ryker was named as the Select Dog in the Spinone Italiani breed during the dog show held on Monday and Tuesday at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

While Ryker didn’t win the Best of Breed in the Spinone Italiani class, as the Select Dog, Ryker was chosen as the best male dog in the class after the Best of Breed winner.

Ryker entered the Westminster show as the No. 1 ranked Spinone in the country and competed against 19 other dogs in the class at Westminster.

Ryker is owned by Carson City’s Elaine Bergenheier and his handler this week at the Westminster show was Joshua Hargis. The Best of Breed winner in the Spinone Italiani class went on to compete in the Sporting Group competition.

The winner of the Sporting Group went on to compete with the winners from the six other groups on Tuesday night for the ultimate prize, Best of Show, won by “King,” a wire fox terrier.

It’s the second straight year Carson City has had a dog in the Spinone Italiani class at the Westminster Dog Show. Last year, Adele, owned by Carson City Deputy Director of Emergency Management Stacey Belt, won Best of Breed in the Class. Adele went on to be judged as one of the top eight dogs out of 32 breeds in the Sporting Group.