What makes a dog a winner? A Westminster Kennel Club judge explains

NEW YORK (AP) — The competitors can come in forms as different as a Chihuahua, a great Dane, a bulldog and a greyhound. Each one is a champion. So how is a judge to decide which dog is the best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club competition?

To the casual viewer, it might be hard to fathom what judges glean from patting down and peering at carefully prepped canines. But choosing a winner at the United States' most storied dog show requires an encyclopedic knowledge of 201 different breeds and varieties. And it takes some steady nerves.

“When you’re judging at Westminster on any level, it’s unlike any other judging experience,” said Donald Sturz, who awarded the top prize in 2022 to a bloodhound named Trumpet. Sturz is now the kennel club's president as the show returns to Madison Square Garden this week after four years elsewhere.

“You walk out onto the floor of, you know, the world’s most famous arena, and the world is watching,” he said. “And you do have a moment where you’re like, ‘My God, what am I going to do?’”

Judges perform hands-on examinations and watch dogs in motion to discern which one comes closest to the ideal for its breed, as set out in a “standard” that details desired features. It's meant to reflect a breed’s roots and historic function.

Consider, for example, a Pekingese — specifically, Fiona, Sturz' 18-month-old pet, show champion and obliging model when he demonstrated for Associated Press journalists how judges work. (Fiona, a niece of 2021 Westminster winner Wasabi, is not competing at this year's show.)

A clinical psychologist and retired suburban school district superintendent, Sturz has shown dogs since he was 10 and judged them for decades. He looks for “presence of virtue, versus faults” and focuses on “the dog that rang the most bells of virtue for me as I went from nose to tail.”

Demonstrating with Fiona, Sturz started by scrutinizing the big, round eyes on the little dog's dark, flat face. He rested his hands on top and bottom of her head to check whether it was duly “envelope-shaped.”

“The head is a hallmark of the breed,” descended from ancient Chinese palace dogs that were prized as self-assured companions with a lionlike look, he said.

Then he felt the shape of Fiona's forelegs, the depth of her chest, the length of her neck, the breadth of her ribs and how much her body tapered from her forequarters to her rear. The standard calls for Pekingese to be pear-shaped, compact and low-slung.

As Fiona continued to stand serenely on a table, it was time to check out the shape of her back, the texture of her voluminous, tawny coat and the way her tail sits. The hands-on examination ended with Sturz gently lifting Fiona — her breed is supposed to “pick up heavy,” or feel quite substantial for its size, he said.

The next step is, well, steps. Judges watch each dog walk with its handler. Pekes are known for their slow, rolling gait, which Sturz describes by invoking both the stride of a heavyset rugby player and the wavy grace of a swimming goldfish.

Judges also pay attention to a dog's temperament — Fiona projected a comfortable, tail-wagging confidence — and whether its overall condition indicates proper exercise, nutrition, care and grooming, Sturz said.

Dog shows start with judges picking a top dog from each breed. Each of those competes against the others in its “group,” such as hounds or, for Pekingese, toy dogs. The seven group winners then face off for best in show.

Westminster sequesters the best-in-show judge through all the preceding action. The person is expected to know the standard for every breed but is allowed to ask which ones (though not which particular dogs) are going into the final ring. Sturz said he chose not to inquire because he wanted a completely blank slate.

“As a judge in best in show at Westminster, you really can’t go wrong because you know a case could be made for any one of the seven of them,” he said.

So what makes a winner?

“A great dog having a great night,” Sturz said. “There’s just something that that dog brings that night that just put them a notch above the other great dogs in the ranks.”

President of the Westminster Kennel Club Donald Sturz, not pictured, shows Fiona, his pet pekingese, during an interview with The Associated Press at The New Yorker hotel, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

President of the Westminster Kennel Club Donald Sturz shows Fiona, his pet pekingese, during an interview with The Associated Press at The New Yorker hotel, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

President of the Westminster Kennel Club Donald Sturz shows Fiona, his pet pekingese, during an interview with The Associated Press at The New Yorker hotel, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Colleen Swierkocki takes a photo of Diane Stenberg and her golden retriever, Brook, at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

President of the Westminster Kennel Club Donald Sturz shows Fiona, his pet pekingese, during an interview with The Associated Press at The New Yorker hotel, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

President of the Westminster Kennel Club Donald Sturz, not pictured, shows Fiona, his pet pekingese, during an interview with The Associated Press at The New Yorker hotel, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Nico Hutkin, center, reacts after feeding a dog during the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Benny, left, and Tansey, Norwich Terriers, sit in a stroller at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Dogs compete in the Flyball tournament at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Katrina Wallace poses for a photo with her mixed breed, Beatrice, at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

President of the Westminster Kennel Club Donald Sturz, not pictured, shows Fiona, his pet pekingese, during an interview with The Associated Press at The New Yorker hotel, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

President of the Westminster Kennel Club Donald Sturz shows Fiona, his pet pekingese, during an interview with The Associated Press at The New Yorker hotel, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

President of the Westminster Kennel Club Donald Sturz shows Fiona, his pet pekingese, during an interview with The Associated Press at The New Yorker hotel, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Venezuelans on Saturday were scrambling to understand who is in charge of their country after a U.S. military operation that captured President Nicolás Maduro.

President Donald Trump delivered a shocking pick: The United States, perhaps in coordination with one of Maduro's most trusted aides.

Delcy Rodríguez has served as Maduro's vice president since 2018, overseeing much of Venezuela's oil-dependent economy as well as its feared intelligence service. But she is someone the Trump administration apparently is willing to work with, at least for now.

“She’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” Trump told reporters of Rodríguez, who faced U.S. sanctions during Trump’s first administration for her role in undermining Venezuelan democracy.

In a major snub, Trump said opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was awarded last year's Nobel Peace Prize, didn't have the support to run the country.

Trump said Rodríguez had a long conversation with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in which Trump claimed she said, “‘We’ll do whatever you need.’”

“I think she was quite gracious,” Trump added. “We can’t take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn’t have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind.”

Rodríguez tried to project strength and unity among the ruling party's many factions, downplaying any hint of betrayal. In remarks on state TV, she demanded the immediate release of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and denounced the U.S. operation as a flagrant violation of the United Nations charter.

“There is only one president in this country, and his name is Nicolás Maduro," Rodríguez said, surrounded by top civilian officials and military commanders.

There was no immediate sign that the U.S. was running Venezuela.

“What will happen tomorrow? What will happen in the next hour? Nobody knows,” Caracas resident Juan Pablo Petrone said.

Trump indicated that Rodríguez had been sworn in already as president of Venezuela, per the transfer of power outlined in the constitution. However, state television has not broadcast any swearing-in ceremony.

In her televised address, Rodríguez did not declare herself acting president or mention a political transition. A ticker at the bottom of the screen identified her as the vice president. She gave no sign that she would be cooperating with the U.S.

“What is being done to Venezuela is an atrocity that violates international law,” she said. “History and justice will make the extremists who promoted this armed aggression pay.”

The Venezuelan constitution also says a new election must be called within a month in the event of the president’s absence.

But experts have been debating whether the succession scenario would apply here, given the government’s lack of popular legitimacy and the extraordinary U.S. military intervention.

Venezuelan military officials were quick to project defiance in video messages.

“They have attacked us but will not break us,” said Defense Minister Gen. Vladimir Padrino López, dressed in fatigues.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello appeared on state TV in a helmet and flak jacket, urging Venezuelans to “trust in the political leadership and military” and “get out on the streets” to defend the country’s sovereignty.

“These rats attacked and they will regret what they did,” he said of the U.S.

A lawyer educated in Britain and France, Rodríguez has a long history of representing the revolution started by the late Hugo Chávez on the world stage.

She and her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, head of the Maduro-controlled National Assembly, have strong leftist credentials born from tragedy. Their father was a socialist leader who died in police custody in the 1970s, a crime that shook many activists of the era, including a young Maduro.

Unlike many in Maduro’s inner circle, the Rodríguez siblings have avoided criminal indictment in the U.S. Delcy Rodríguez has developed strong ties with Republicans in the oil industry and on Wall Street who balked at the notion of U.S.-led regime change.

Among her past interlocutors was Blackwater founder Erik Prince and, more recently, Richard Grenell, a Trump special envoy who tried to negotiate a deal with Maduro for greater U.S. influence in Venezuela.

Fluent in English, Rodríguez is sometimes portrayed as a well-educated moderate in contrast to the military hardliners who took up arms with Chávez against Venezuela's democratically elected president in the 1990s.

Many of them, especially Cabello, are wanted in the U.S. on drug trafficking charges and stand accused of serious human rights abuses. But they continue to hold sway over the armed forces, the traditional arbiter of political disputes in Venezuela.

That presents major challenges to Rodríguez asserting authority. But experts say that Venezuela’s power brokers have long had a habit of closing ranks behind their leaders.

“These leaders have all seen the value of staying united. Cabello has always taken a second seat or third seat, knowing that his fate is tied up with Maduro’s, and now he very well might do that again,” said David Smilde, a sociology professor at Tulane University who has conducted research into Venezuela's political dynamics over the past three decades.

“A lot depends on what happened last night, which officials were taken out, what the state of the military looks like now," Smilde said. "If it doesn’t have much firepower anymore, they’re more vulnerable and diminished and it will be easier for her to gain control.”

Shortly before Trump's press conference, Machado, the opposition leader, called on her ally Edmundo González — a retired diplomat widely considered to have won the country’s disputed 2024 presidential election — to “immediately assume his constitutional mandate and be recognized as commander-in-chief."

In an triumphant statement, Machado promised that her movement would “restore order, free political prisoners, build an exceptional country and bring our children back home.”

She added: “Today we are prepared to assert our mandate and take power."

Asked about Machado, Trump was blunt: “I think it would be very tough for (Machado) to be the leader," he said.

“She doesn’t have the support or respect within the country.”

Venezuelans expressed shock, with many speculating on social media that Trump had mixed up the two women's names. Machado has not responded to Trump's remarks.

Goodman reported from Miami.

Venezuelan Vice President and Oil Minister Delcy Rodriguez gives a press conference at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

A supporter of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro stands on a median strip waving a national flag in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)