THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 17, 1995 TAG: 9509150188
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
The Chinese Shar-Peis came to the Pavilion last week, 941 strong, looking for all the world like a bunch of loosely stuffed velvet sofa pillows sporting snoots, tails and lots and lots of wrinkles.
With them they brought owners, breeders, handlers, judges, vendors and a whole lot of money for the city's coffers.
``We haven't counted yet,'' Pavilion Assistant Manager Courtney Dyer said, ``but I'd estimate that their six-day show generated 1,200 to 1,300 room nights at Beach hotels.''
Add to that the amount of money raised from the sale of food, beverages and and those trinkets that visitors feel compelled to take home and you can understand why Dyer and others in the city's tourism business are smiling these days.
``I think we've become the dog haven of the world,'' Dyer said. The Chinese Shar-Pei Club of America's six-day national show is just one of many national and regional dog events that the city's convention center has attracted.
``We've got Afghans coming in October of '97,'' Dyer said, ``and we're talking with the mastiff people, too.''
While the national specialty (single-breed) shows draw the largest number of visitors, it's the local and regional all-breed events that attract them in the first place.
Owners who present their dogs at those events find the Virginia Beach set-ups to their liking and advocate for Pavilion as the site for their national shows.
John Hartman of Chesapeake, the Shar-Pei show's chairman, was one of those local breeders who worked to bring the show to the Pavilion.
``They've been wonderful to work with,'' Hartman said, ``just real cooperative.''
Pat Roach, a Cincinnati breeder who showed six dogs at the event, echoed Hartman's sentiments and added a special one of her own. ``The food is so great here in Virginia Beach,'' she commented.
Roach is staying at a nearby hotel. So, too, are her dogs. ``We have adjoining rooms,'' she said. As with most show dogs, hers stay in crates. ``You don't ever let six dogs run loose in your hotel room,'' Roach explained.
Nor did the Shar-Peis run loose at Pavilion. The well-wrinkled, mid-size dogs for the most part stood quietly, snuggled up to their handlers, exchanged friendly sniffs or begged confirming head-pats from passers-by.
``They really are an amazingly quiet breed,'' Dyer said as he observed them from his glass-enclosed office well above the convention hall floor. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by CHARLIE MEADS
LEFT: Bonnie Stoney of Junction City, Ore., shows her dog, Stoneys
Kelliopei Drum Major.
Handlers and their well-wrinkled Shar-Pei puppies wait their turn to
perform for the judges during a national Shar-Pei show at the
Pavilion.
ABOVE: Grayland Audrey DeBazan, a 10-month-old Shar-Pei, awaits her
judgment.
by CNB