The Hot Springs National Park Kennel Club's 32nd annual all-breed dog show concludes today after breeding, obedience and rally competitions among nearly 700 dogs this weekend, show Chairwoman Debra Johnson said Saturday.
The annual show fills three exhibit halls at the Hot Springs Convention Center; one hall is lined with rows of grooming stations where handlers and owners prepare their dogs for the competitions taking place in the other two halls.
In the breeding competition, or conformation, the judges look at the dog's structure, said handler Trudy Akins, of Jacksonville. She said that judges look for dogs whose features best match the standard for their particular breed and how fluidly the animal moves across the show ring.
Akins has been showing dogs since the 1980s and said her overall love of dogs and the satisfaction of breaking through to the animal are what drives her passion for showing dogs in competitions.
"I like the challenge of a critter, especially if they don't like me. I'm going to win them over," she said.
Akins showed a 2-year-old Australian shepherd named Temujin, who ended up taking home Best of Breed and Best of Winners, beating a top five-ranked competitor. Although Temujin has only been shown in about 15 competitions, Akins and his owner, Marilyn Martin, of Alexander, said they are excited about his future.
"I was shocked," Martin said.
Akins said, "This is just a class dog, not a champion like Miss Tori," another dog that she shows. With Miss Tori, "we almost expect that ribbon every time; with him, we don't expect it, so it was like, 'Woah!' because we just beat all the other champions and he isn't even a champion yet," Akins said.
The other competitors included April Burchfield and her 1-year-old bracco Italiano, Rocco, who is not yet recognized by the American Kennel Club and competes in the open show. Burchfield said she believes she owns the only Bracco Italiano in the state.
The breed was just recently introduced to America but has been in Italy for thousands of years. Burchfield said she hopes they are added to the AKC by next spring.
"They are a forerunner of some of the other pointers and has mastiff and hound blood in him," Burchfield said.
The dog itself was initially bred as a sporting dog, trained to hunt birds but it is now used to hunt a wide variety of birds and other small game and is a natural retriever.
For many of the people in attendance, showing dogs is just part of their passion. They are also typically involved in other types of competitions or work with animals for a living, Johnson said.
For Akins and Martin, it's a fun hobby and a great way to make friends. They met in the 1980s after they first began showing and have enjoyed working together and competing over the years.
"Some of its social thought. We've been friends for 35 years. We all set up together, we go out to dinner together, have a big potluck. It's just having friends that have the same interest as you," Martin said.
Local on 09/30/2018