Showing the best of the best
The fur flew earlier this month (and that's a good thing) when nearly
1,500 dogs competed at North High in Torrance during the annual dog show sponsored by the South Bay American Kennel Club.
If you've never been to one of these shows, it's a great opportunity to get a peek behind the scenes: owners and handlers doing the last minute grooming and preparations before the dogs go into the ring, the judges as they check the dogs and make their final calls. (This show will be back again next year, but in the meantime, if you missed this one, there are schedules for other local dog shows listed online.)
There were dogs of all breeds, sizes and colors, from Welsh terriers to Great Pyrenees to greyhounds to dalmatians to bull terriers to border collies. You knew you were getting near the Old English Sheepdog station by the clumps of groomed hair seen skittering along the ground like tumbleweeds.
The overall Best in Show winner, as Josh reported in his Daily Breeze coverage of the Aug. 9-10 event, was a black standard poodle named Champion Randenn Tristar Affirmation -- from New York, no less.
Saturday's program was devoted to breed conformation where judges choose the best of
breeds and then the best in a group of breeds, such as this judge at right who's ready to make a final call in the sporting group.
I missed the Sunday program due to church, but that was the day the dogs competed in obedience and "rally."
Barbara Millman, a San Pedro dog trainer (Rocket's trainer, in fact) who has raised and trained champion Shetland sheepdogs, was overseeing much of that part of the show.
She told me later that a border collie, Highland the Next Generation UD (OK, so the name was really a lot longer but, as border collie people like to say, "That'll do") owned by Louise Meredith of Los Angeles earned a perfect score -- 200 out of 200 points -- in the rally competition. The dog earned 199 out of 200 in the utility obedience portion of the show.
To put it mildly, that's really quite remarkable, Barbarba said. And she should know, she's been the obedience trial chairwoman for the Lomita Obedience Training Club for more than a decade now.
"It's one amazing dog," she said of "Highland." But it doesn't come without top breeding qualities in a dog and lots and lots of work, both by the dog and owner.
As for Rally, that's fairly new to dog competitions in which owners work as a team with their dog to navigate a course with signs posted at various obedience stations.
If your dog knows basic obedience skills -- sit, stay, down and come -- you can sign up for the rally class offered at 7 p.m. Fridays by the Lomita Obedience Training Club. They have lots of other great classes as well.
But back to the show.
While I was there on Saturday, I snapped some pretty random pictures you can see here and on the jump to get a feel for the event if you missed it.
Here's a handler giving a blue merle shetland sheepdog a final once-over before heading into the judge's ring.
At right is another blue merle "sheltie" getting checked out for breed conformation.
Below, another sheltie gets a once-over.
There were hairless dogs and hairy dogs,
.
One dog got a pretty cushy job assisting the announcer.
There were some beautiful large dogs, like this white kuvasz breed.
And lots of little dogs -- some of whom needed shaves before they went on.
About the Bloggers
Daily Breeze reporter Donna Littlejohn has shared her homes with a succession of wonderful, funny, and occasionally difficult canines -- Muffin, Fritz, Ellie, Mercy, Pilgrim and now Cowboy, an Australian shepherd-border collie, and Tess, a border collie. From strong-willed terriers to weirdly obsessed Australian shepherds, they've invaded her world with boundless energy, wet noses, muddy paws and soggy tennis balls. But they've really brought so much more than that -- like laughter and joy, some unexpected life lessons, and more than a few tears along the way.
E-mail Donna at donna.littlejohn@dailybreeze.com.
Josh Grossberg grew up with the usual array of animals: goldfish, dogs, hamsters, parakeets and turtles. He now owns the loudest dog in the South Bay(Video: Rocket the Dog) and is the least popular person on his block. He spends his free time in dog parks, pet shops and always has an extra plastic bag in his pocket just in case. He also has a cat.
E-mail Josh at josh.grossberg@dailybreeze.com.
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