Local Terrier wins Best in Breed at Westminster Dog Show
By Bill Lee - Contributing Writer
Lowell has had its fair share of celebrities over the years. A few that come to mind are novelist Chris Cosmos, NYC fashion designer Daniel Vosovic, and Paralympic gold medalist Kate Brim. Recently, Lowell has named another champion. His name is High Society Whatever Floats Your Boat at Jingle, a mix of kennel and other names. His shorter name is Teak, and he is the Boston Terrier, who just won Best in Breed at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in Manhattan, NY on February 10 and 11.
Teak, the 1-year-old Boston Terrier, bred by Jill and Glenn Moore of Vergennes Township, took the top prize in his group. It was a bit of a stunner. “We entered, and my sister and I flew out there just to watch, and he won,” said Jill Moore. “It was a total surprise. There were 30 dogs. The dogs go in, the judge goes over and they make a cut, then make another cut and another. By the third tim,e there were 10 dogs left. Then the judge stood there and looked at Teak for a long time, and then he pointed to Candice Waters (Teak’s handler) and brought her out. Somebody standing beside me turned to me and said, ‘Congratulations, you just won your third Westminster.’”
Yes, you heard that right. It was Jill’s third consecutive year winning Best in Breed at Westminster. In 2023 and 2024, her Boston Terrier named Sparrow, took home the championship. Jill was not positive, but thinks it might be the first time something like this has happened. And to think it all started 15 years ago when she owned her first Boston, a dog that she only trained in obedience and agility. From there, she used a retirement gift from her colleagues to buy her first show dog. “I guess I had done everything else, and thought, I’d really like to do that,” said Moore. “Plus, it is one of the few sports that you can enter into and you are immediately competing with professionals. That was intriguing to me.”
She and Glenn love the Boston Terrier breed because of their temperament and versatility. “They are truly like Labradors,” said Moore. “They can swim, dock dive, agility, play fetch until your arm falls off.” Then they thought about breeding them, obviously a big transition from just owning. There were many things to consider but Jill Moore went into the process with an important philosophy. “You don’t want to breed if you are not bettering the breed in some way,” said Moore. “You don’t just want to just produce puppies… you want strong health testing; it is the number one thing. Bostons have eye problems because their eyes are bigger and on the outside of their heads, and there are many breeding standards and gene testing to make sure the breed is not carrying diseases.”
Breeding Boston Terriers does not come without controversy. They are sometimes referred to by animal rights groups as “torture breeds” or breathing-impaired breeds, like Pugs and French and English Bulldogs. PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) has staged many a demonstration at dog shows, protesting the events and the breeders. Specific animal breeds have been around for hundreds of years and dog shows are beginning to change their standards to fit the health of the dogs. “At Crufts (the Westminster of England), you compete at the breed level, and if they win, they immediately take the dog from the ring and do all of these health tests to see if they can compete at Best in Show.” In Europe, dogs like Boston Terriers and Doberman Pinschers, are not allowed to have cropped ears/tails any longer and Moore sees that probably coming to the United States.
Moore understands the concerns of the animal rights groups but also supports breeding in a responsible way. In the end, she loves her dogs and loves to show the world what they can do. Sparrow, her female Boston Terrier, retired from competing in May of 2024 at the Kalamazoo Dog Show, the very competition where she began. Recently, Moore fell in love with another Boston Terrier, a puppy from Montana. After seeing it, she called the breeders and was able to buy Teak, deciding she would try showing him when he was only 1-year-old. Going into the 2025 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Moore knew that it would be difficult for Teak to place, as he was young and had not competed much. Teak not only exceeded her expectations, but he actually thrived. “You have to have a naughty-I-don’t-care-temperament,” said Moore. “You’ve got a huge ring with spotlights, with thousands of people standing around the ring, and there are cameras all around that make whirring sounds.” For a puppy like Teak, it should have been an overwhelming experience. Instead, he seemed to love the attention. “The longer he was in the ring the more he shined.”
To compete at Westminster, nevermind winning, is quite an accomplishment. To win three years in-a-row, with two different dogs? Now that is an incredible achievement. Moore gives a lot of credit to dog handler, Candice Waters and Family Friends Veterinarians Care in Ada. But Moore’s specific breeding techniques are also a major part of it. “I think it’s because I can see the faults in my lines,” said Moore. “People get too caught up on not seeing those, so they continue to breed two dogs with the same faults. I can see Teak’s faults and breed him to bring out his good features and minimize his bad. You’re only in the ring two minutes, so you want to emphasize your dog’s strengths and minimize the weaknesses, and if you don’t know what the weaknesses are as much as the strengths, you won’t go very far.”
For the Moores, breeding and caring for Boston Terriers is a huge labor of love. Unbelievably, there is no prize money for winning Best in Breed at Westminster. Moore and Sparrow won some prize money a couple of years ago, for winning Best Breeder and Best Boston Terrier, but besides that, it is all about the love of the dogs.
