Having beaten her only competitor for Best in Breed, Rassa, the Icelandic Sheepdog from Vashon Island, Wash., took to the ring again Monday night to compete against the other winners of their respective breeds in the Herding Group.

Her handler, Tammie Wilcox, jogged Rassa onto the emerald green carpet in Madison Square Garden in front of thousands of dog enthusiasts. Twenty four other dogs of various breeds all competed to make it to the next and final step at Westminster, Best in Show.

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

Rassa, and Icelandic Sheepdog from Vashon Island, Wash., trots in the ring with her handler Tammie Wilcox during the Herding Group competition at the Westminster Dog Show on Monday night, Feb. 14.

After each dog stood, trotted, and did everything they could for the judge scrutinizing them, first place went to a Bearded Collie named Mr. Baggins from Washington, D.C. Rassa didn’t place. Her Westminster ride was over.

"I think she fell in love with the judge," Wilcox said after the show, "I think Rassa might have thought the judge was Donna and she wouldn’t taker her eyes off her." Wilcox was referring to Donna McDermott, Rassa’s owner.

"Did you see her out there?" McDermott asked after the show, "She looked great, and Tammie did such a great job showing her!" McDermott had been watching from the stands. "I wasn’t nervous until I looked up and saw the big screen and it read, ‘135th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show,’ and I heard the announcer’s voice booming over the sound system. That’s when it hit me. That’s when I realized just where we were."

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

Rassa, and Icelandic Sheepdog from Vashon Island, Wash., shows for the judge in the ring with her handler Tammie Wilcox during the Herding Group competition at the Westminster Dog Show on Monday night, Feb. 14.

Wilcox said even though Rassa showed well, she wasn’t surprised at the outcome. "We don’t expect a dog to place in group on their first time out,” she said. “There’s all the lights and the people, we’re so proud that she made it this far."

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

Donna McDermott hugs Rossa, her Icelandic Sheepdog, after the Herding Group competion at The Westminster Dog Show on Monday.

After the show, McDermott was backstage in the benching area with Rassa, hugging her and telling her what a good dog she was. She then gathered up the crates, hairbrushes, leashes and other dog show apparatus and wheeled them toward the elevator. "It’s time to go home," she said.

See Rassa at home on the farm outside of Seattle, Wash., and experience her entire trip to Westminster.

Check back for our ongoing coverage of the furry underbelly of Westminster Dog Show.

Send us your questions about the dog show by clicking the comments link below. Is there a breed you like or a part of the show you don't understand? Let us know.

On Friday, we introduced you to Donna McDermott and her partner Terry Warnock who were headed from rural Washington state to New York City to show in Westminster for the first time. But they ran into problems with their travel plans. In the hours before her first appearance at the big show, McDermott describes what happened and her first reactions to hitting the big time with her Icelandic sheepdog Rassa.

 See more of our ongoing coverage the furry underbelly of the Westminster Dog Show.

As part of our ongoing coverage of Westminster, watch the video below to meet the six new breeds that will be making their Westminster debuts in 2011 now that they have been recognized by the American Kennel Club. You'll see a Boykin Spaniel, a Bluetick Coonhound, a Redbone Coonhound, a Cane Corso, a Leonberger and Rassa, the Icelandic Sheepdog from Vashon Island, Wash., that we first introduced you to in the first entry in this series, here.

Dogs like Kol and Rassa, two energetic fur balls from a Vashon Island, Wash. farm, have never been seen before at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.  That’s because in the 135 year history of the competition, Icelandic Sheepdogs have never competed.  Kol and Rassa’s owners, Donna McDermott and her partner Terry Warnock are going to change that.  

McDermott and Warnock are packing up their dogs and leaving their farm on an island a ferry ride away from Seattle and heading for the Big Apple for their first Westminster experience.  "We've heard that it's crazy," Warnock says, "there are so many dogs and it's such a big dog show and it's in NYC and there's not really any outside area or places for the dogs to go run."

The women, both retired probation officers, stumbled into dog shows.  When Kol was a puppy, McDermott used to take her to work at a juvenile correction center in California.  "She was trained by the juvenile hall girls and we accidentally got into showing because we trained her to do tricks," McDermott recalls.   "Then they begged me to take her to a show, so I took her to a show and she won a little blue ribbon. So then I took her to another show and then I got the bug."

McDermott and Warnock say they have mixed feelings about the upcoming show. "I've never been to NYC so i'm actually a little nervous about, it," says McDermott. "We've heard there's just people everywhere you go and we'll be right down in Madison Square Garden.  We've heard when you go outside you kind of get mobbed and I think it's going to be a really fun adventure and I also think we'll be very happy to get back home."

Msnbc.com will be following Donna McDermott, Terry Warnock and their dogs Kol and Rassa as they arrive in NYC and head to the dog show.  We’ll also be filing regular updates from other stuff happening behind the scenes at Westminster right here in Photoblog.