Judge Change for Westminster Kennel Club Best In Show

The Westminster Kennel Club announces that Ms. Elizabeth “Beth” Sweigart of Bowmansville, Pennsylvania, will replace Mr. Geir Flyckt-Pedersen and select the Best in Show winner at the 147th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on May 9, 2023.

Ms. Sweigart was born on Long Island and has been involved with dogs all her life. First, with the Labrador Retrievers that her father used for duck hunting on Great South Bay, and later, after marriage, she started breeding and showing Labradors under the Yarrow prefix in the 1960s. She started breeding Norwich and Norfolk terriers in the 1970s and Affenpinschers in the 1990s. Ms. Sweigart has bred National Specialty, Best in Show winners, and top-ranked dogs.

As a highly successful professional handler, she piloted dogs to Westminster Group wins in the Terrier, Toy, and Sporting Groups. She handled top-winning Toy and Sporting dogs in the U.S. and the number one dog all-breeds Ch. Cracknor Cause Celebre, a Norfolk Terrier who also won Best in Show at Crufts Dog Show in 2005.

Ms. Sweigart is approved to judge the Sporting, Terrier, and Toy groups, and several Working, Herding, and Non-Sporting breeds, Best in Show, and Junior Showmanship. This will be her sixth judging assignment at Westminster, including the Sporting Group in 2018.