It takes a lot to get a dog show-ready.
There's the brushing, the teeth cleaning, the washing, the trimming and infinitely more brushing.
But for those who enter the annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden, New York, the effort will be worth it if they take away the top prizes for their prized pooches.
This year's competition has taken place this week, and among the entries are seven new breeds.
It's three full days of testing for the 2751 dogs, with agility trials, obedience tests and breed judging and of course the Best in Show.
The seven finalists were Lucy, Panda, Annabel, Rumour, CJ, Bogie, and Charlie.
And while appropriately-named Rumour was tipped for top dog, three-year-old CJ -- or California Journey -- got the prized trophy.
CJ will now jet off on a media tour and the other pooches get to go home -- probably none the wiser, to be honest.
Here's what it was like behind-the-scenes:
A bichon frise groomed on a bench area before judging (Reuters)
These bergamascos were one of seven new breeds at this year's show (Reuters)
Yorkshire terriers are groomed before judging (Reuters)
A Boston terrier put through its paces in the ring (Reuters)
Watson the French bulldog is wheeled to the ring for judging (Reuters)
Skip, a Yorkshire terrier, groomed before her big moment (Reuters)
A saluki put through its paces in for judging in the Hound group (Reuters)
Dogs line up for a news conference (Reuters)
Newshub.
