Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 27, 1994 TAG: 9403240067
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 22 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Karen Davis
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Roanoke Kennel Club put on its 80th all-breed dog show and 54th obedience trail March 12 at the Salem Civic Center. More than 1,300 dogs representing 122 different breeds or varieties were shown. The James River Kennel Club of Lynchburg held its show there the next day.
The Roanoke Kennel Club meets every month on the first Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the Salem Civic Center and has 89 members. Those interested in joining must complete a membership application and attend meetings for six months before they can be voted in as new members. Annual dues are $15.
The club often invites speakers to address meetings on topics ranging from tracking to seeing-eye training. Members have access to books and videos. The club also provides some educational materials on dog care and training to public libraries.
"You don't have to own a dog to become a member," said club president Marlene Halsey. "You just have to be interested in dogs and in furthering the cause of purebred dogs."
Halsey and her husband, Bert, are professional dog handlers who travel to about 80 dog shows a year. They located their kennel business in Bedford County, where no local ordinance restricts the number of dogs they can keep.
Halsey started showing dogs in her teens with her own pet Pomeranian.
"Someone saw my dog and said, `That's a pretty dog. He meets the standard. You should finish that dog.'"
A dog is "finished" once he completes his championship, but that doesn't mean his show career is over. From there, he goes on to compete in championship-caliber classes in hopes of winning Best of Breed. Breed class winners go on to compete in group judging for sporting dogs, hounds, working dogs, terriers, toys, non-sporting dogs and herding dogs. The ultimate winner in a dog show, of course, is Best in Show.
A dog show offers an organized way to select the best representatives of each breed through competition, and as a result, allows breeders to improve the overall quality of purebred dogs by breeding only the best. Most major recognized dog shows are governed by the rules of the American Kennel Club.
Every breed has a "standard," the criteria judges use to pick the dog with the best overall conformation, demeanor and way of going.
Different breeds require different conditioning. "Rottweilers and Norwegian Elkhounds must be conditioned like athletes," said Bert Halsey. He harnesses them to weighted drags to help them build muscles. He keeps himself in shape, too, walking, jogging or biking alongside the dogs.
"It's not a job you can leave at the office," said Marlene Halsey. "When you're on the road, it's even more responsibility, because the dogs don't belong to you. You can't put a dog to bed until about 11:30 or midnight. Then you have to take them out of the crate early in the morning" so they can stretch and relieve themselves. On the road, they must take each dog in their care out of its crate every few hours and exercise it several times a day.
The Halseys periodically put on handling seminars for those who want to learn. The Roanoke Kennel Club, will sponsor concurrent handling and obedience classes starting April 26. Each class meets Tuesday nights at 7 for eight weeks on the parking lot of Shenandoah Life Insurance Co., 2301 Brambleton Ave. S.W. Sessions last about one hour and take place outdoors. To register, simply show up early on the first night with your dog and its vaccination records. Classes cost $30-35.
The recent Roanoke Kennel Club dog show had about 80 obedience entries. Unlike conformation classes, obedience trials are open to spayed or neutered purebred dogs. Often, the entries are trained and handled by their owners.
Obedience trials exemplify the centuries-old basic training given to hunting dogs and police dogs. Each exercise has a practical application in a dog's field work.
For more information on seminars and shows, call the Roanoke Kennel Club at 772-3033, or drop in on one of the meetings.
by CNB