Top dog: Kennel club names best

[DoozyDog]

Thousands of canines bark their way to fame at show
By Julia Scott, STAFF WRITER

DALY CITY — You smell them before you see them: dogs. More than
1,600 of them, in every corner of the Cow Palace. All weekend, they prepared to compete for the ultimate honor: Best in Show.

Boirzois and brittanys, poodles and pugs — the immaculately groomed contestants at the 96th annual Golden Gate Kennel Club Dog Show worked hard to impress the judges this Saturday and Sunday.

Alas, only an elite few could advance from Best in Breed to the final selection of seven dogs who compete for Best in Show.

Sunday morning brought hope to many dog handlers furiously spraying, scrubbing, drying and clipping their dogs on little metal tables in a vast hall filled with barking under the main judging arena. Some, like Nancy May of El Cerrito, had seen their dogs lose out the day before. But with a new Best in Show chosen both days, there might still be a fighting chance.

May petted her dog, Louise, an exotic looking 4-year-old Bedlington Terrier with a long neck and thin nose covered with a tuft of curly hair.

"She's very beautiful. She has one of the best heads I've ever seen," said May, who grooms dogs and occasionally breeds them as well. She said Louise is descended from prize-winning show dogs. But sadly, she confided, beauty isn't everything.

"She's not really showy in her personality. She doesn't tell the judges, 'Give the win to me.' I wish she had a little more of that," said May.

Anyone can show their dog at the Golden Gate Kennel Club Dog Show; dogs must be pure bred and not spayed or neutered. The event is one of more than 50 competitive shows in the greater Bay Area. Dogs compete first against other dogs of their breed; the one who garners the most points moves on to Best in Group, where they are shown alongside other dogs in their category (hounds, for instance). One dog from each category eventually competes for Best in Show.

No two dogs are equal, according to show judge Eva Berg, who started entering her Dalmatians in competitions in 1969.

"Every breed has a written standard, and every standard is different," she explained. "What makes an Irish setter abeautiful Irish setter? Part of it is having a good eye for a dog."

Each round of judging is the same. A handler leads the dog in a circle around the ring. Then the dog is lifted onto a table, its limbs arranged into a muscular standing posture while the judge inspects its teeth and ears.

When Berg is judging a group of dogs, she considers everything from their gait to the shape of their ears and feet.

A dog also is expected to appear as though it could do what it was bred for hundreds of years ago. Terriers of all breeds used to chase badgers and rats from their holes. Dalmatians were trained to guard carriages and run next to horses.

"Each dog should be able to perform what their original function was. That instinct should be there," Berg said.

Other judging standards are more inscrutable, and they come into play when choosing between two otherwise perfect dogs.

"There's a sparkle a dog has. It's an attitude that says, 'Here I am. Look at me,'" May said.

In an exhibition hall far from the reverent hush of the judging arena, barking dogs fill hundreds of towel-lined cages. Children ogle the animals as if in a 4-H barn. Their parents shop for canine supplements, kibble, stuffed animals and dog statuettes. Other visitors munched on popcorn or fried calamari.

In the next hall, hundreds of children cheer on a team of dogs as they complete a dizzying obstacle course that involves jumping through hoops and clearing hurdles to test their aptitude, obedience and speed. Many gave a perfect performance.

But even the most perfect dog cannot prevent itself from answering the call of nature at an awkward moment, as spectators in the judging arena were amused to see.

"Clean up on ring eight," echoed a voice over the PA system.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmate...ews/ci_3451969