2026 WKC Dog Show: Prove-It The Border Collie Wins Masters Agility Championship

The 150th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is in full swing! Prove-It, a Border Collie, won the 13th Annual Masters Agility Championship Finals on Saturday, continuing the herding breed’s dominant reign in the competition. Vanish’s win marks the 10th for Border Collies, which are renowned for their intelligence, intensity and nimbleness, out of 13 all-time winners — more than two-thirds of WKC’s agility titles. Prove-It, who represented the 20-inch height division, sped her way through the course in just 29.81 seconds alongside veteran handler Amber McCune. Just as impressive, Prove-It had zero faults, making a clean run to victory. Prove-It did not, however, complete the course in a quicker time than last year’s winner, Vanish, a Border Collie who ran it in a blazing 26.49 seconds — the fastest winning time since the event began in 2014. Prove-It came closer to wins by Nimble the All-American dog in 2024 (28.76 seconds) and Truant the Border Collie in 2023 (28.68 seconds). Dogs participated in two rounds of preliminaries before the field was narrowed down to 50 finalists, the top 10 finishers from five respective height classes — 8-inch, 12-inch, 16-inch, 20-inch and 24-inch. Fan-favorite Nimble participated in this year’s event once again in the 12-inch height class and turned in one of Saturday’s top five performances, winning her division after flying through the course in 29.19 seconds. Another standout this year was Iron Man, an All-American dog from the 16-inch height class, who won a special award for top mixed-breed dog with handler Merritt Speagle after zooming through the course in 29.60 seconds. The largest dog to win their respective division was Gerard the Poodle, who won the 24-inch class with a time of 36.55 seconds, while the smallest pup to win was Gabby the Papillon in the 8-inch class with a time of 33.42 seconds; Gabby also won the same division in last year’s championship event with an impressive time of 30.05 seconds. The Masters Agility Championship Finals was the highlight of the Canine Celebration Day on Saturday. Agility is a timed competition that tests a dog’s ability to complete an obstacle course — including any combination of tunnels, seesaw, bar and wall jumps, weave poles and more — following the commands of its handler. Participants are not given the course map ahead of time, and agility is judged by both time and accuracy (minus faults) of the course. The WKC donates $5,000 to honor the winner to the AKC training club of their choice or the AKC Humane Fund, along with a donation of $1,000 in the names of the four remaining first-place dogs in their height classes and the highest-scoring All-American (mixed breed) dog. The 2025 WKC Dog Show resumes Monday, with events taking place at Madison Square Garden and Jacob K. Javits Convention. The 2026 Masters Agility Champion, Prove-It, and the highest-scoring All-American dog, Iron Man, will go head-to-head in an agility race at MSG on Tuesday. Best in Show will also be crowned Tuesday evening at MSG. For full results from the 13th Annual Masters Agility Championship Finals, click here.