You can tune in this weekend for a chance to watch dogs from around our region, along with their handlers, compete as the largest dog show in the country is televised.
Three hours of highlights from the 25th American Kennel Club National Championship dog show — which may show canines, owners and handlers who are members or former members of the Lancaster Kennel Club — will air at noon Sunday on ABC.
If you’re watching Sunday, you may see one dog from our region receive a ribbon.
The dog show, presented by the Royal Canin pet food company, was held, and filmed, Dec. 13-14 in Orlando, Florida.
“People like dogs, and you can see so many different breeds in one place,” Dave Martin, Lancaster Kennel Club president, said of the championship show.
READ: Some dog handlers from Central Pa. embrace sparkle in showing canines at national championship
Regional competitors
Some 5,500 dogs entered the conformation portion of the event, where judges determine which dog best meets the standard parameters of a breed’s attributes, said Brandi Munden, public relations and communications vice president for the American Kennel Club.
Breed-standard attributes include the dog’s head, body, coat and gait.
Another 4,000 dogs participated in companion performance events — including dogs that dove into pools, raced around agility courses, chased lures and followed commands from handlers.
Almost 150 canines came from Pennsylvania.
Lancaster Kennel Club members Barry Brunner of Dillsburg, York County; and Shawna Brooker of Marysville, Perry County; and former club member Brian Flory of Enola, Cumberland County, own, breed and — in Brooker and Flory’s case — also show Siberian huskies.
“I’ve loved dogs since I was a little kid,” said Brunner, who did not travel to Orlando.
Brooker showed 3-year-old Wyatt, currently ranked No. 3 Siberian husky dog nationally in the owner-handler classes, while Flory showed Wyatt’s litter mate, Hope, ranked No. 1 Siberian husky bitch nationally.
Wyatt, whose registered name is GCHB CH Barynuk’s Takin Care Of Business DCAT, won the Second Award of Excellence at the AKC National Championship show — an award bestowed on especially hard-working canines.
Hope, whose registered name is GCHB CH Barynuk’s Some Kind of Wonderful, came home without a ribbon.
“This is a highly competitive event with some of the top dogs in the country,” Brooker said. “It does help to be in decent shape physically,” she noted, describing the trek from the grooming area to competition space as “a little bit of a hike.”
Brooker, who offered to walk neighbor dogs while she was growing up, estimated she enters about 100 dog shows a year. Flory put his yearly number of competitions at between 35 and 40.
“It was a nice experience,” Flory said of the Orlando competition. He said he decided to become an owner/handler about 30 years ago to help Brunner, a former coworker, cut down on expenses involved with paying a professional handler.
Judges from Lancaster County
At the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, more than 1 million square feet covered several arenas, grooming stations and rows of vendors offering everything from heated dog coats, dental tools and fancy leashes to breed-specific jewelry and acupuncture and chiropractic appointments for canines, Munden said.
“It was fabulous,” judge Deirdre Petrie of Gordonville said. “It was a huge arena, and the show was just massive. Even the crowd was wild and crazy and into it.”
Petrie judged the hound group for the championship event.
“Almost never do you judge a dog show where every AKC-recognized (hound) breed is there,” she said, noting that all 35 recognized hound breeds entered. “The quality was so great — it was near perfection.”
Petrie said she looked for dogs who showed their hearts and called the breed winner “breathtaking. It’s glamorous seeing dogs groomed to perfection.”
Beth Sweigart agreed.
“There is tremendous quality,” said the Bowmansville resident, who judged terriers. “It’s always difficult to judge really good dogs.”
Sweigart, who handled terriers until 2006, transitioned to judging animals.
“It was the next logical step,” she said.
Jill Distler and husband Zach Weire of East Donegal Township entered Rue, a 3-year-old Hungarian mudi.
“This is a huge show,” said Distler, who manages Elizabethtown Animal Hospital’s veterinary practice and serves as lead veterinary technician.
Rue, whose registered name is GCHG CH Flyaway Grus BCAT CGCA CGCU FITB, and who also competed at the National Dog Show televised on Thanksgiving Day, also did not place in the main event in Orlando, though Rue did place during three of five days of companion competitions before the actual championship, Distler said.
Julie Cramer of Elizabethtown deliberately left her Rhodesian ridgebacks at home because she wanted no distractions while seeking education to transition from showing dogs to judging them.
“It’s the biggest show in the country,” the yoga teacher said. “I’m just at the beginning of that.”
Cramer attended seminars and worked one on one with handlers.
“I was able to study the standard and talk to breeders,” she said. “I was able to put my hands on dogs.” She said she appreciated learning how to identify a dog’s shoulder placement and feel the length of a dog’s rib cage.
“I went without dogs so I could be free to participate,” Cramer said.
The Lancaster Kennel Club’s 85 members own about 60 different breeds of dogs, Martin said.
The club meets on certain Wednesdays at the Mountville Public Library.
Go to lancasterkennelclub.org for more information.
For more results from the AKC championship, visit akc.org/sports/conformation/national-championship.
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