Amber McCune's Prove-It Border Collie Wins 2026 Westminster Masters Agility Championship

Prove-It the Border Collie, handled by Amber McCune, claimed the overall title at the 13th Masters Agility Championship finals with a 29.81-second run in the 20-inch class. The Westminster Kennel Club will donate $5,000 in the winner’s honor to the AKC training club of McCune’s choice or to the AKC Humane Fund, and $1,000 will be donated in the names of the highest-scoring All-American dog and the four remaining first-place dogs in their height classes.

The headline result was a function of normalized speed rather than raw time. Baddogagility summed up the metric succinctly: "By yards per second, Prove-It won the overall title with a YPS of 6.474 and a time of 29.81 seconds, even though two other dogs recorded faster raw times." That yards-per-second calculation, using course yards reported by Baddogagility, gave Prove-It the edge across heights despite Nimble posting the event's fastest raw clocking.

Winners across the five height classes combined tight handling with clean lines. In the 8-inch division, Gabby the Papillon, handled by Andrea Samuels, won in 33.42 seconds; an Instagram congratulatory post read, "Congratulations to Gabby, the 8-inch height class winner of the 2026 Masters Agility Championship with a show stopping time of 33.42 seconds." Baddog reported Nimble, an All-American dog handled by Cynthia Hornor, won the 12-inch class in 29.19 seconds and recorded the fastest raw time of the event. Iron Man, an All-American dog handled by Merritt Speagle, won the 16-inch division in 29.60 seconds and was listed as the Masters Agility All-American Dog Winner.

In the 20-inch class McCune placed two dogs up top: Prove-It earned first in 29.81 seconds and Shelby Cobra took second in 31.40 seconds. The 24-inch class belonged to Gerard the Poodle, handled by John Pittman of Saukville, Wisconsin, who produced a faultless, 36.55-second run noted for calm starts, crisp jumps and "a gorgeous one-step technique through the weave poles," as described in feature coverage. Them Us captured a moment from the crowd, quoting the author’s daughter: "That was really pretty."

Baddogagility provided the technical breakdown used by handlers and statisticians: 8" course 183 yards / 33.42 sec / 5.476 YPS; 12" 183 yards / 29.19 sec / 6.269 YPS; 16" 188 yards / 29.60 sec / 6.351 YPS; 20" 193 yards / 29.81 sec / 6.474 YPS; 24" 193 yards / 36.55 sec / 5.280 YPS. Those figures explain why a smaller-dog raw time can look faster on the clock while a larger-dog normalized speed wins the overall crown.

Fox Sports noted scheduling items tied to Westminster week, reporting that Prove-It and Iron Man were slated to race head-to-head at MSG on Tuesday and that Best in Show will be crowned that same evening. For local clubs and handlers, the immediate practical takeaway is twofold: the WKC donation offers financial support for training programs and the event’s YPS-focused conversations give clubs a concrete metric to discuss with students and judges as they prepare dogs for multi-height, multi-course competition.

Expect handlers to analyze video and timing data in the coming days, and watch for any official confirmations of scheduling or name spellings from Westminster results. For competitors and fans, Prove-It’s win is a reminder that clean lines, efficient handling and course management can trump raw clock speed when the title hangs in the balance.