Westminster Kennel Club sets plans for its 150th dog show next year

NEW YORK (AP) — It's still just 21 in dog years.

But the Westminster Kennel Club is gearing up for its 150th annual dog show next year and announced plans Tuesday for the milestone event, expected to draw about 3,000 champion dogs.

It's slated to start Jan. 31 with agility and other canine sports, including the relay-race-style flyball tournament introduced last year, at the Javits Center convention venue in Manhattan.

The traditional breed-by-breed judging happens Feb. 2 and 3, with first-round competition during the days at the Javits Center.

The show moves in the evenings to nearby Madison Square Garden. U.S. dogdom's most storied best in show trophy will be awarded late on Feb. 3 by David Fitzpatrick, who handled two of his Pekingese to Westminster wins in 2012 and 2021.

The Westminster show began in 1877 and has been held every year since. In 2020, it happened about a month before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. New York shutdowns began soon after.

The show regularly draws protests from animal welfare activists who consider dog breeding wrongheaded and insensitive to shelter animals that need homes. Westminster says it celebrates all dogs while promoting the preservation of “purpose-bred” canines, with their varying traits, capabilities and histories.

FILE - Katie Bernardin and Monty, a Giant Schnauzer, celebrate after winning best in show in the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, file)

FILE - Comet, a Shih Tzu, right, competes in breed group judging at the 148th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Monday, May 13, 2024, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, file)

FILE - Handler Willy Santiago competes with Afghan Hound Zaida during breed group judging at the 148th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Monday, May 13, 2024, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, file)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s motorcade took a different route than usual to the airport as he was departing Florida on Sunday due to a “suspicious object,” according to the White House.

The object, which the White House did not describe, was discovered during security sweeps in advance of Trump’s arrival at Palm Beach International Airport.

“A further investigation was warranted and the presidential motorcade route was adjusted accordingly,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Sunday.

The president, when asked about the package by reporters, said, “I know nothing about it.”

Trump left his Palm Beach, Florida, club, Mar-a-Lago, around 6:20 p.m. for the roughly 10-minute drive to the airport, but took a circular route around the city to get there.

During the drive, police officers on motorcycles created a moving blockade for the motorcade, at one point almost colliding with the vans that accompanied Trump.

Air Force One was parked on the opposite side of the airport from where it is usually located and the lights outside the plane were turned off.

Anthony Guglielmi, the spokesman for U.S. Secret Service, said the secondary route was taken just as a precaution and that “that is standard protocol.”

President Donald Trump departs Trump International Golf Club in the presidential limousine, known as The Beast, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)