The annual westminster kennel club Dog show concluded on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden when the best in show award was bestowed upon Flynn the Bichon Frise in front of a packed Madison Square Garden. Flynn's victory stunned the crowd and silenced the whole arena before the white fluff took a victory lap around the stadium and was booed upon by the fans in the stands.

The history of the illustrious canine competition

The first edition of the competition was held on May 8th, 1877 when hunters from various parts of USA came together at the Westminster Hotel giving rise to the Kennel Club.

The competition is the second-longest continuously running sporting event in America. The modern format of the sport involves all the trainers and breeders entering their dogs in the competition where they are judged by their breed standards. The dog should have the physical makeup, eye color and other significant characteristics particular to its breed and should also be able to perform the tasks the breed is known for.

In the preliminary stages of the competition, the dogs compete amongst other dogs of its breed, and the winner of the group is awarded the Best Of Breed award and progresses to compete in the final round where the Best in Show title is on the line. The dogs are broadly classified into seven groups based on their breeds which are Sporting, Hound, Working, Terrier, Toy, Non-Sporting, and Herding.

The prize for the winner includes a trophy, the title of "America's Dog of the Year," a media tour, and all of its breeding fees. The prestigious canine competition is held every year in February and lasts for two days.

The 2018 edition: As it happened

The 142nd edition of the competition attracted 2882 entries and fans flocked in from the very first day to witness the best-groomed dogs from around the world in action.

The group stages saw 2017 winner Ty the giant schnauzer, Biggie the pug, Lucy the Borzoi, Winston the Norfolk terrier, Bean the Sussex spaniel and Slick the border collie were the other finalists that went head to head with Flynn the Bichon Frise in the last round of the competition.

Flynn whose full name is GCHP Belle Creek’s All I Care About Is Love, as the best, was guided by expert handler Bill McFadden.

The six-year-old Bichon Frise stole the judges' heart just through his greeting gesture when she offered her paw to the judges who came to inspect him. Meanwhile, all the other dogs in the show put up a great show and were stiff competition for the Bichon Frise. However, Biggie the pug and Bean the Sussex spaniel were the crowd's favorites and had the packed stadium going with their cute and innocent antiques. The crowd continued to cheer for Biggie and Bean until the very end, but the eventual results stunned the audience and silenced the jam-packed Madison Square Garden as soon as Flynn was named Best in the Show. Flynn became only the second Bichon Frise to win the competition, and her victory even threw Twitter into a frenzy with people questioning the judges' decision.

Here are some of the tweets from the fans who expressed their disdain at the decision:
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