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Lila Holberg wins Best Junior Handler at the 2024 AKC National Championship, reflecting on her journey and offering advice for Juniors.
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Lila Holberg: Yes! It’s a huge dream come true, for sure! I started showing in Juniors right after my ninth birthday. Winning in Orlando has been a goal of mine since fourth grade when my sister helped me put a PowerPoint presentation together for show-and-tell. My mom brought our Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Indy, to the school, and I did a stacking presentation and showed the PowerPoint of my goals for getting my qualifiers to go to Royal Canin for the first time!
Lila Holberg: It was fantastic! This was my fifth year attending, and it has always been a favorite show of mine, as it wraps up the show year and the excitement builds over the last few months leading into it. For me, attending the show isn’t solely because of the competition it entails but for the education, beautiful dogs, and the overall experience and atmosphere the show provides. People from all over the country and the world attend, bringing in many show prospects! The club members of each show throughout the week do a spectacular job making sure everything is in order! I thought the Junior Preliminaries this year had some very deep-quality competition. My judge’s ring procedure was smooth and easy to follow. She put us through the paces and made us work hard for it!
Lila Holberg: I honestly can’t recall who the first person I texted or called back was, but my phone and my mom’s phone didn’t stop buzzing for quite a while! The evening was quite a blur after that, but I do remember my mom, my boss, Terri, and my breeder, Lydia, running backstage to come give me a big hug!
Lila Holberg: I didn’t do anything super-special, as I was pretty exhausted and running on the last of my adrenaline from the day/week—as was my dog! We went back to the Airbnb we were staying at with friends, had dinner, and watched the Groups on AKC.TV! For me, that was a pretty great way to spend the evening, as my dog and I got to sit and watch the Groups together and have a nice, relaxing night after such a big, exciting day!
Lila Holberg: For me, it was a difficult choice, because for the past year I had been showing a Shorthair named Brisby. Both he and my Pointer, Nate, are great show dogs! It came down to wanting to finally show my own dog that I had raised from a puppy and being eager to see what he could do at a big show like Royal Canin. That was the big push that led me to my decision. I started entering Nate in Juniors at the end of September, to make sure he was ready for the long Junior ring times that happen at Royal Canin, and he did not disappoint! I had given him the time he needed to grow up, by taking on another Juniors dog for the past year, so he would be mature enough to handle the heavy competition at a big venue with grace—and he gave it everything he had all week!
Lila Holberg: It means the world to me! Nate is a dog I purchased with my own money, raised, trained, and have shown myself. To me, he is a culmination of two and a half years of hard work, dedication, and time. I finished him at seven months old and then put him away for a while to let him grow up. While it was hard for me not to show him all the time (I was very eager to finally show him), I put a lot of roadwork in and just let him be a puppy. I showed him sporadically, just enough to keep his mind sharp, and patiently waited for him to grow up more. Royal Canin felt like the perfect venue to get him showing more, finally. It’s exhilarating that I could do it with him since he’s my pet whom I own, love, and adore.
Lila Holberg: Junior Handling has certainly been an amazing place to cultivate my skills as a handler and to create my own style. I found early on that I had to be a better student, something that was tough for me in the younger grades, to meet the grade point average requirement to show at Royal Canin. I am grateful for the rule that pushed me to become the dedicated straight A student I am now. I also have found that Juniors has encouraged me to work harder to present myself better, both in the dog fancy and to others in my day-to-day life. Junior Handling has been wonderful for me and my family, thanks to the support of clubs that offer college scholarship prizes. Over the years, I have been fortunate to have been awarded quite a few scholarships to apply towards college soon!
Lila Holberg: The two judges I had were extremely professional, clear, and concise with their ring procedure, and an overall delight to show to! While it was apparent that they had a job to do (as did I!) you could tell they were having a great time judging all the kids!
Lila Holberg: Some advice I would offer any Junior exhibiting at next year’s AKC National Championship is to breathe, relax, stay focused, and have fun! While it’s easier said than done, I think it’s important to always keep in mind that we participate in this fancy for the love of dogs!
Lila Holberg: I look forward to showing my own dogs in the breed, co-breeding some litters with my mentors, and apprenticing and learning under some of the greats in the sport!
American Kennel Club (AKC)
The AKC has released the judging panel for the 2026 AKC National Championship Presented by Royal Canin in Orlando this December.
