Westminster Dog Show 2012: Winners, Best Photos of Day 1

New York -- Day one of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden has come and gone with much fanfare.

On Monday, the kennel club announced group winners in the Hound, Toy, Non-sporting, and Herding groups. The groups pitted the best of each breed within that division against each other making for an extremely competitive scenario. The highly contested groups saw some major upsets on the night, while also a few disappointments for well regarded dogs.

Martha Stewart's Chow Chow, Ghenghis Khan, didn't place in the Non-sporting group, while the lovable Affenpinscher Banana Joe finished second in the Toy group.

The winners for the four major groups decided on Monday were:

Hound: Raydachs Playing with Fire V Gleishorbach, a wire-haired dachshund

Toy: Ch Palacagarden Malachy, a Pekignese

Non-sporting: GCH Spotlights Ruffian, a Dalmatian

Herding: GCH Babheim's Captain Crunch, a German Shepherd

On Tuesday, the competition will feature dogs from the Sporting, Working, and Terrier groups. Some of the well known dogs within these divisions are: Golden Retrievers; Great Danes; Cocker Spaniels; and more. After winners from each of those groups are decided, a judge will chose one out of the seven group winners as the best-in-show.

Here are a few of our favorite photos of the first day of the dog show with much more to come tomorrow.