|
Written by Caroline Zentner
|
|
Sunday, November 22 2009, 10:31 PM |
Professional dog handlers have to know how to roll with the punches as 30-year veteran Shannon Scheer can testify.
“You can win everything one minute and lose it all the next,” she said Sunday as she combed and snipped Teddy’s, the top Bichon in Canada, white coat at the Lethbridge and District Kennel Club’s annual dog show. “I had two big-winning dogs that went down in flames. It’s a big lottery.”
Primped and preened pooches, hundreds of them from 83 breeds, strutted their stuff for judges beginning Friday at Exhibition Park.
Take Iggy for example. The Old English sheepdog was best in show Saturday but that wasn’t a guarantee he’d come out on top Sunday, given different judges were eyeing him up and down. In his wire enclosure during a break Sunday, Iggy was still sporting the boots he wears to keep his white feet clean when he goes outside. To say Iggy has a thick coat is an understatement. Scheer said it takes 12 hours to blow dry his coat after he has a full bath.
As a professional handler, Calgary-based Scheer takes dogs to shows across the country. She and a couple of assistants brought 17 to Lethbridge. Along with the dogs, Scheer packs along their food, bins full of brushes, combs, coat sprays, leashes and more.
“It’s a great job. I’m self-employed; people pay me to take (their dogs) on the road,” she said. “No day is the same.”
Scheer’s working day typically starts at 6 a.m. and can last until midnight. She comes from a “dog” family and first started showing when she was nine or 10 years old. Her parents train dogs for obedience, tracking and rescue but she and her sister went into the show dog side of things.
“I was an assistant for 10 years with some of Canada’s top professionals,” she said. “You have a mentorship. It’s a big learning wheel and a lot of people are born into it.”
Dog owners and handlers from all the Western provinces and northwest states were at the show. In confirmation, dogs are judged against a perfect standard of their breed. Judges look at the structure, movement, colour, coat, and temperament of the animal.
“It really is nose to tail,” said Bill Nykiel, president of the local kennel club.
Each day is like a separate show that starts with the various classes and proceeds to breeds, groups and finally best in show. The Lethbridge show also featured licensed obedience trials and rally obedience.
“Rally is just taking the country by storm,” Nykiel said.
Owners can talk to their dogs in rally obedience but they still have to show they have control of their dog, although not with the same precision a dog must demonstrate in licensed obedience.
”It is about the owner showing to the judge the good control and precision that they are as a team,” Nykiel said.
Whether a dog is being shown by a professional or their owner, they all have a love of dogs in common.
“They’re our pets and companions foremost,” Nykiel said. “This is a sport but they are pets and part of the family first.”
Dogs are social and intelligent creatures and Nykiel said kennel club members can act as a resource for the community. They may be able to steer people toward a good breeder, help them decide what breed fits with their lifestyle and encourage them to wait until after the holidays to add a dog to their family.
“We’ll be starting our Christmas campaign soon and our motto this year is ‘A puppy is for a lifetime, not just for Christmas,’” he said.
For more information on the club call 403-317-9256 or visit www.ldkc.net.
|
