Middletown Teen Wins Westminster Kennel Club Junior Competition

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — A woman who grew up in Middletown won the Best Junior Handler from the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show this past June.

The young woman is Erin Bernecke, 18, who grew up in Middletown and now lives in North Carolina. She won Best Junior Handler with her 1-year-old Lowchen, Rip, in the dog show held June 22.

To win, Bernecke and her dog beat out 86 other youth and teen competitors in the junior division of the dog show, held at the historic Lyndhurst Estate just 30 miles north of New York City. As the first-place winner, Bernecker won a $10,000 junior showmanship scholarship.

Bernecke spent her entire childhood in Middletown and attended Middletown High School South. Her parents chose to home school her during the pandemic and in the past two years, the family relocated to North Carolina.

She said it was only after she got injured playing high school lacrosse that she started getting into dog shows.

"I always loved watching the Westminster Dog Show and I thought this looked fun, I could get into this," she told Patch. "It's not athletic the way soccer or lacrosse are, but you have to keep the dogs in peak condition, so it does require muscle and training for both of us."

This is Bernecke's and Rip's fourth show and the first time they won; Bernecke said she was thrilled to win first place. She said she will use the $10,000 to help pay her way through college at North Carolina State, where she is studying business administration and marketing.

The hard-working young woman also works multiple part-time jobs, in addition to her college studies and her hobby of dog training.

"I have hundreds of plans," the young woman shared with Patch. "I definitely plan to enter more dogs shows and keep competing and I have plans to breed dogs. This show was the last time I can compete in the junior showmanship competition, as I am now 18 so I will begin competing as an adult. I love Rip and I've always had a special bond with him. He was my favorite puppy from the moment I saw him."

And she also shared that she misses New Jersey.

"I definitely miss Middletown! North Carolina is nice, but everything is so far away; you have to drive a really long way to get to the store or a Starbucks. And the food is better in New Jersey."

Congratulations, Erin and Rip!